It may have been the same night of the Academy Awards, yet the House of Blues show sort of felt like a homecoming for The Avett Brothers. Although the down home group is natives of Corncord, North Carolina, the band mentioned their fondess of Chicago because of childhood visits to family members in the area and their cousin even joined them on stage to play the drums during a song. Chicago is not known for its indie folk rock/ alt country scene, but the crowd in the room was warm and looked at ease and engulfed in an Avett Brothers hootenanny.
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Avett Brothers
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 Entertainment
Art
House of Blues
Chicago, IL
March 7, 2010
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The trio, is comprised of Scott and Seth Avett, who both play banjo and guitar, and Bob Crawford on stand-up base and they are joined on tour by cellist, Joe Kwan. The group recently released their major label debut album, I and Love and You. The new record and the songs performed at the House of Blues are a little more accessible to the general music listening public due to album producer’s Rick Rubin’s influence. For the first time on tour, they are joined by a drummer and the songs now have more of a roots rock feel.
If you’re not a fan of The Avett Brothers when you enter their show, you will be by the time the marathon two hours and fifteen minute show is over. One can’t help but get wrapped up in the band’s energy as the play their hearts out on stage. Because the trio was pouring their all into each song and playing their hardest, instrument malfunction became a reoccurring theme. Strings were breaking and Scott’s banjo wasn’t working so he would switch back and forth between two banjos, while a man on the sidelines complete with tools, desperately tried to keep the show moving forward. And while Scott waited in banjo limbo, he kept the beat by stomping and clapping.
The band played a sampling of songs, many off their new album and even older tunes that were more acoustic in nature compared to the new material. Whether the Brothers were screaming a harmony or belting a mellow ballad, the songs were earnest and the harmonies beautiful. One of these moments was “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise”, a song about screaming and singing the doubt away from your head. The group had so many strong moments during the show, they could have ended the performance right there and the crowd would have walked away on a high note. One of these moments is their title track, “I and Love and You”. The song is the perfect example of a ballad done well and showcased the group’s knack for songwriting. Scott’s pure toned voice held the crowd’s complete attention when he sang, “Three words that became hard to say, I and love and you.”
The group sang “January Wedding”, “The Ballad of Love and Hate” and got the revelers shouting during “Kick Drum Heart” with its strong beat. Before the encore, the Brothers ended their set with “Pretty Girl from Chile”. And one of the highlights was at the end of the song seeing Scott pick up an electric guitar and hearing him truly rock-out. You can’t help be excited about the band’s new expanded sound and I wouldn’t have minded to see a little more electric guitar in conjunction throughout the show.
As the group begins to reach a larger audience, you can tell they are still maintaining their original sound, while still adding a few more rock flourishes in between the rousing banjo playing. And it’s refreshing to see The Avett Brothers grin from ear to ear and have an amazing time on stage and in turn is passed to their audience who has a perfect evening too. Seth Avett captured the mood of the evening well when he said, “It feels like one of those nights when your face hurts from smiling so much.”
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