The wife and I had the great pleasure of seeing The Avett Brothers perform live at Cain’s Ballroom this past weekend. We were both truly blown away. I would feel cheap giving the concert some sort of grade on how good or bad the concert was. It’s a such a subjective thing, that is completely relative to the individual attendee. Not to mention there are many variables outside of the artists control at each and every different show. But I’m going to give you all several reasons that I think you should attend the next Avett Brothers show that comes to your city.
1. They draw great crowds. With the exception of one song, the audience was enthusiastically engaged and attentive to what the band was doing on stage. Which isn’t all that out of the ordinary, but with the band playing 9 songs from their record that hadn’t even been released yet, I felt like that was pretty great. And this was one of the first shows in a long time that I didn’t have any drunk guys flailing all about right next to me.
2. They bring more energy to the stage than any other band that can fit inside the folk genre. I’ve seen anyone go crazy and yell and scream while playing the banjo. I’ve never seen anyone play the cello standing up. Not only standing up but Kwon was actually jumping around on stage while playing. And I love that while playing his guitar, Seth has a hi-hat at his feet and Scott has a kick-drum that he plays along with his banjo. It just creates something really special.
3. And finally these guys know how to draw you in. Each song, no matter the tempo, was very personal and intimate. Numerous times they took that risk and were very vulnerable and would slow things down and just stand up there all alone. Just a guy, a guitar, and his words. It’s much easier to hide behind a lot of noise, but these guys didn’t shy away from being real and trying to connect with the crowd. I love that their words are, more often than not, the primary feature of their songs. And boy do they have a way with words.
The hard thing about seeing a band you love, is that it is nearly impossible not to leave disappointed. I could’ve spent the rest of my weekend dwelling on all the songs that I wish they would’ve played. And even with them playing 20+ songs, there were still several that I would’ve loved to hear. But what they did was pretty special, and I am just grateful to be a part of it. Some personal highlights of the night: They got the whole crowd in a sing-a-long at the end of “Go to Sleep” while they jammed for a while. That was pretty great. I loved it how they played “Kick Drum Heart” off of the new record that hadn’t been released yet, but the whole crowd created their own stomping part to the chorus. And then the greatest moment of the night for me, was when Scott came out for the beginning of the encore by himself and played “Murder in the City.” I think that is easily the most beautifully written song, lyrically of this past decade. But what I really loved about the performance was how he changed the last verse of the song to “Let my daughter know I love her, Make sure her mother knows the same, Always remember there is nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name.” It was awesome and almost brought tears to my eyes. So that glimpse of why I am putting them high up on my list of “artists to see.”
The new album, I and Love and You, came out yesterday on Columbia records. I love it. I suggest you go out and get it.
Here is a video of a “Tiny Desk Concert” that they did for NPR a couple of months ago, to give a small glimpse into their live performance.
I also think it’s worth mentioning that Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers opened up the night with a pretty stellar performance. I’ve put their debut album, Songs in the Night, on several times over the past several months and enjoyed it every time. They have a pretty great sound and I was really impressed how together they sounded live, for how young of a band they are. Crain’s voice was awesome and she had a really great stage presence. They captured the attention of probably have of the people that were there, which I think is very hard to do as an opener. I think that Sam Crain is a name that you’ll continue to hear for many years to come.
One of my current favorite musical outfits, The Avett Brothers are releasing their sixth studio LP next week. I and Love and You comes out this Tuesday on Sony Records. They have been releasing a series of documentary shorts for each track on the album leading up the release date. I had really been enjoying watching them and I apologize for waiting so long til I shared them with you. But, as I often find myself saying, “better late than never.” So check out the first one here and I have links below to the rest of the ones that have been released thus far.
But I have even more exciting news than those little videos. For a limited time I and Love and You will be streaming for free on NPR. I’ve listened to it a couple times now and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I’m a little upset that there seems to be less banjo. And I was hoping to find some more of the high energy stuff that permeated through their early records. But like its predecessor, Emotionalism, the album is filled with a lot more intimate and fairly subtle ballads. But it is a gorgeous record that won’t disappoint. And that is why I am absolutely thrilled that I get to go see them perform tonight at the Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, OK. If you live in the area you should absolutely come out and join me. I’ve heard through the grapevine that they are absolutely brilliant live. So go listen to the new album right now. And I’ll report back on their performance soon.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Newport Folk Festival. This historic event is taking place this weekend (Aug. 1-2) at Fort Adams Park in Newport, RI. Pete Seeger, one of the co-founders of the festival will actually be there performing both nights. Tonight he’ll be joined by Judy Collins. The line-up is pretty incredible, including both the legends of folk music and the contemporary pioneers. Yesterdays line-up was simply stellar with acts such as The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, Billy Bragg, The Avett Brothers, Iron & Wine and more. I can only imagine what musical euphoria was experienced in Newport yesterday. Amazingly enough, today has just as great of a line-up with Joe Pug, Deer Tick, Elvis Perkins, Josh Ritter, Neko Case and of course closing with Pete Seeger and Judy Collins. I know what you’re thinking, and I feel your pain. Why can’t events like this take place closer to us. Well even though we may not have gotten to experience this historic weekend, thanks to NPR we don’t have to leave this weekend empty handed. The great folks at NPR Music have put together a 12-song folk sampler made up of artists that performed this weekend at the Newport Folk Festival. It’s a great playlist and is completely free to download.
The 2009 Line-Up for Austin City Limits Music Festival has been posted and it certainly does not disappoint. The festival is scheduled for October 2-4 with huge headliners as Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, The Decemberists, and Kings of Leon. I Hope Your Ears Bleed “approved” bands that will also be featured include, the music mash up master Girl Talk, Andrew Bird, Passion Pit, Bon Iver and The Avett Brothers. ACL festival has established itself as one of the premier festivals to attend; as well as the city of Austin securing its place as the “new” music capitol.
Leading up to this amazing festival stay tuned to I Hope Your Ears Bleed for an in-depth look into each band that will be featured this year as well as a pick list of bands to go see if you are fortunate to be in attendance this year.
If you would like to investigate yourself feel free to browse www.aclfestival.com which has bios, songs and videos posted showcasing each artist.
I hope some of these bands will make your ears bleed with anticipation.
The wife and I had the great pleasure of seeing The Avett Brothers perform live at Cain’s Ballroom this past weekend. We were both truly blown away. I would feel cheap giving the concert some sort of grade on how good or bad the concert was. It’s a such a subjective thing, that is completely relative to the individual attendee. Not to mention there are many variables outside of the artists control at each and every different show. But I’m going to give you all several reasons that I think you should attend the next Avett Brothers show that comes to your city.
