Concert review: Avett Brothers at The Granada (April 30)

by Mike Orren

I've been excited about the Avett Brothers making their way through town ever since the announcement came down a couple months ago. I discovered them on disc last fall, and had heard that their live shows were legendary.

And indeed, their show tonight at The Granada was a corker. When a fella breaks enough banjo strings to need two(!) backup axes, as Scott Avett does, you know he's breaking a sweat. The band, which also includes brother Seth Avett, bassist Bob Crawford and cellist Joe Kwon, is all in the whole time, with various members kicking drums and cymbals or ducking low to use the standup bass as percussion when someone hasn't rotated out to sit on the drum kit.

Finally seeing the band live was a way for me to finally understand where they're coming from -- Based on their discs, I was part of the pack of hyperbolists that has a hard time describing them. Bluegrass? Punk? Something else? There's a lot going on in terms of traditional instruments, a rock attitude and discordant harmonies that make one reference The Violent Femmes and then feel a little dumb for doing so.

But in a 90-minute set that covered most of their two label albums and an upcoming EP, the pattern finally became clear. The songs themselves are pure folk: Murder, true love and the seed of alcohol. The instrumentation is skiffle. And there's a real pop sensibility that echoes the Beach Boys at their best. Yeah, there's the raucous energy of young guys rockin' out, but that's the sideshow. The main event is seemingly effortless songcraft. These guys write songs that feel lived instead of written, and perform them like their lives depend on it. (And maybe they do-- nominal maintenance of sanity is a recurrent theme.)

High points were "Talk on Indolence" (my favorite track going in); "Weight of Lies;" the Seth solo "Ballad of Love and Hate;" and the closing "Pretty Girl From Chile" in which the boys finally went electric, to nice effect.

Driving home with my Ipod on shuffle, I got a trifecta of "Don't You Rock Me Daddio" from The Skiffle Sessions; "Breakin' the Law" by the Supersuckers; and "Grace Kelly" by Mika -- Occurred to me that you could mix the three, shake 'em up with some Red Bull, and have a nice Avett Brothers tune.

I was sorry to miss opener Matt Butcher, but bidness obligations intervened...