On a rainy Friday night (2/11) in Hollywood, Virginia-born Steve Earle [ tickets ] and his scraggly country rock band, the Dukes, were all things maverick. Earle, dressed in tan cowboy boots, dark jeans and a striped, brown workshirt, assailed the Bush Administration, urged his audience to support unions, and even deemed himself a "borderline Marxist." Welcome to Hollywood, Mr. Earle.

For two-and-a-half hours, Earle railed against The Man with his bohemian brand of ramped-up country twang and rabid social commentary. Opening with the title track off his latest release, "The Revolution Starts ... Now," Earle barely acknowledged the crowd at the Henry Fonda Theatre, instead letting the songs do the talking. Next came the honky-tonk romp of "Home to Houston." Chanteuse Allison Moorer [ tickets ] joined the band for "Conspiracy Theory," off Earle's "Jerusalem" album.

With a blood-red bandana wrapped tightly around his strumming wrist, Earle really found his groove with "Ashes to Ashes," with its insightful lyrics, "It's always best to keep it in mind/That every tower ever built tumbles/No matter how strong, no matter how tall/Someday even great walls will crumble." Indeed, it's Earle's faith in such sweeping ideas that informs not just his music but his performance, too.

He'd raise his fist in the air as a song would end and leave it there frozen for effect, or he'd simply deliver plainspoken monologues hot with political fever. After the gorgeous heartbreak ballad "I Thought You Should Know," Earle stepped forward and announced, "Bill Clinton is the only Republican I ever voted for," earning himself a wild cheer. Elsewhere, he'd talk of his concern about a draft, mentioning his own two sons and the miscalculations of the Bush-Rumsfled-Cheney trifecta.

Despite the bluster, Earle did his best work between the measures of his music, particularly whenever his dark sunburst acoustic guitar appeared. On "Goodbye," the twang in Earle's voice sounded perfect between the guitar's warm chords. Add Moorer's smooth vocals, and these moments were obvious show highlights. "You're still Standing There" was such sweet, mid-tempo pop that, after the tune, Moorer and Earle shared a kiss.

The night included a few covers, including the Beatles "Revolution," which acted as a prelude to another stab at "The Revolution Starts ... Now." On "F the CC," Moorer and some others crowded around a pair of mics to spell out the F-bomb, sung to the tune of The Ramone's "A-Oh! Let's Go!" chant. Later, Earle revealed his cure for the post-election blues: "Number one, get out of the country. Number two, fall in love. And Number three, play one Rolling Stones cover every show." Friday night, Earle drowned his sorrows with the Stones' "Sweet Virginia."

Earle and the Dukes came out for a pair of well-deserved encores. First, Earle stepped onto the sparse theatre stage alone to play a sensual rendition of Townes Van Zandt's "Brand New Companion," perhaps in honor of Moorer.

Closing with "Time Has Come Today," from 2002's "Sidetracks" album, Earle sang, "Now the time has come/There are things to realize/Time has come today," urging his patrons to fight on against the war in Iraq, question the status quo and challenge their fellow citizens. Despite newfound love and a fistful of quality covers, it appears nothing could make Steve Earle forget the problems that face our times. Thank goodness for that.