Heart: Meet Hands

So hopefully this one doesn't take the three days the last one took, as tomorrow is another concert and I just don't have time for this tomfoolery.

The Avett Brothers @ the House of Blues, Sunday October 18

1. The Place
The House of Blues, as somebody funnier than I once put it: the Starbucks of concert venues. It's true, but I got in early enough that I was close, which is good given it's apparently like 2500 people, so that would've sucked. It's big, it's well lit, the sound's good. Not generally a common combination of details.
2. The People
It was an all ages show (I think HOB might actually be an all ages venue, which is nutso but sort of logical) so there were scrawny little 12 year olds with their dads and a gaggle of middle aged women with bleached hair and even a good smattering of people who CAME FROM NORTH CAROLINA FOR THE SHOW AND THE SHOW ALONE. Everyone was, like at Langhorne Slim, blindingly happy, ceaselessly energetic and knew the words to every song. If the fans are always this great I'm going to country/bluegrass/post-Civil War rock concerts more often. During 'Living of Love', one of the more ballady-type songs in the Avett repertoire, a woman in front of me, previously jovial and bouncy as they come, was smearing away tears, screaming at the top of her lungs. The concert was that good.
3. The Players
So the openers were Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea, and in addition to being kind of a precious looking 16-year-old (who's actually like 30, so good on her whatever's doing that) they were decent pop types. Nothing new, but she had a strong enough voice to keep it from drifting into Michelle Branch territory. Not a whole ton of energy though. A little drab.

But lo, then came the Avett Brothers. Darting between a keyboard and an electric guitar and a drum kit and a bass drum and a banjo and an acoustic, the brothers, assisted by Bob (switching between electric and upright bass) and Joe (switching between cello and not being on stage) it was two hours of sweaty, happy joy. The heyday of songs about cheatin' on your woman and runnin' off rang a little sour as their wedding rings (Scott and Bob are daddies now too) glinted in the spotlights, but goddamn if it wasn't a great show. Again: if all concerts had that much energy, I wouldn't be wasting my time chronicling them, because I could just write AWESOME AWESOME across a piece of paper all the time.

Plus, those are some damn good looking men. Oh my god are they good looking.

1. That photo is blatantly stolen from Rachel A and is a couple years old. Scott looks the same. Maybe a little less facial hair.
2. Soon, I will start putting up my own photos of concerts. Once I can afford a camera. That is a vital part of the equation.
3. Tomorrow is Andrew Bird at the Portland High School Auditorium WHAT?

Until then,
Stay beside some nice chicken fingers or something,
WF
I know, right?

Nicole Atkins - Neptune City
The Avett Brothers - Paranoia in B Flat Major
The Avett Brothers - Living of Love
The Avett Brothers - Gimmeakiss