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SXSW review: Avett Brothers
(11 p.m. Wednesday, Stubb’s)
Sometimes bands ask a lot of their audience in the way of patience required for a live show to blossom into something meaningful or at least entertaining. North Carolina-based Avett Brothers are not that band. The foursome, with brothers Scott and Seth Avett at the helm, hooted, hollered and plucked their way through a way-too-short set in the 11 p.m. slot on Wednesday night at Stubb’s.
For those not familiar with the group, the Avett Brothers draw from a variety of musical genres, most notable bluegrass and alt-country. In addition to guitar, banjo, some drums and keys, the band features a standup bass and a cello (which is also played standing up). They were clearly enjoying themselves (it probably didn’t hurt that NPR was broadcasting the show both on the radio and online), particularly Seth Avett, the more vocal of the brothers, who yelled to the crowd on “Go to Sleep” and fit SXSW references into some of the songs.
An interrupted version of “Paranoia in B Major,” from their well-received 2007 album “Emotionalism,” unfortunately disrupted the flow of the set, which only lasted around 30 minutes (it was unclear if this was planned, in order to set up for the Decemberists). Two songs that closed out the showcase, “If I Get Murdered in the City” and “I and Love and You,” were both particularly good examples of the duet-heavy vocals that make the songs memorable.
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