So -- we saw the Avett Brothers last night.

Do you all know these folks? There are two brothers, named Avett -- and a fair number of other musicans. Described as folk rockers, and (to that end) they do tend to play acoustic instruments (banjo, and guitar) -- and they have a guy who doesn't appear to be a blood relative who plays a cello (kinda strapped to his chest) and a Gaelic-looking woman who plays a mean fiddle, and a bassist who swaps between acoustic and e-lec-trick bass, and a keyboardist (who has only one or two shows left with the band) and a drummer and... did I miss anyone?

At any rate, the two brothers are kind of endearingly scruffy looking & sing in a high ( but not high lonesome) two-part close harmony that only brothers (or sisters) can usually achieve.

We saw them at Tanglewood, the famous BSO summer hangout in beautiful, pricey Lenox Massachusetts. True story: apparently there's a vigorous discussion raging in Lenox about the name of the town's high school sports team. Apparently, some don't approve of the moniker they've had for years: the Lenox Millionaires. I am thinking the opponents are either pulling for Billionaires, Robber Barons, or - maybe - Oligarchs. But I digress.

So, Tanglewood is a cool venue (literally, last night; we had a cold front blow through and it was in the 40s [Fahrenheit, that is] after dark last night). We had pretty good seats, too (in the "shed", not out on the lawn).

Pretty good seats.

So -- the concert? How was it?

Well -- actually it was pretty good. They are pretty good, and very high energy. I am not all that familiar with them but, not knowing quite what to expect, I was still kind of bemused by it all.

The music was pretty good. The musicianship was good to excellent. The sound was even pretty decent (although bass heavy in a way that shook my insides rather more than strictly necessary, I thought).

But, here's the thing. We actually go to quite a few concerts (albeit usually in smaller venues) -- but it's mostly our own music idols (you know, catchin' 'em one more time before they join Club Seventy-Four ). We're kind of used to older and - shall we say - lower energy audiences.

I mean, don't get me wrong. The vibe was very excellent. We even noticed the sweet herbal scent of Norwegian Wood a few times over the course of the evening.

The instant that the band hit the stage, the whole place was on its feet. Now, how does it happen that most (perhaps all) of the folks there (and it was a big crowd, if not sellout big in that huge venue) were diehard fans who knew this band inside out and upside down. How? Where did these guyses get all these rabid fans?

Anyway -- they whole place stayed on its feet for the whole freaking show.... and it was a pretty long show. Song after song, with essentially no breaks. With a half-hour long encore.

After a while, we, rather sheepishly, retreated to the back of the Shed, one of the friends we were with having realized or discovered that the big projection screens back there afforded good views of the band even if one had the audacity to sit down.

So -- all in all, I am still not sure how I felt about the show, other than the fact that I felt like I was at someone else's party.


http://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/for-the-avett-brothers-a-hello-at-tanglewood-is-also-goodbye,518163