There’s rarely a moment onstage when all seven members of the Avett Brothers band aren’t frenetically moving. Theirs remains a high-energy, raucous cascade of strings and stomps that propels equal enthusiasm from the crowd. As such, it’s earned the North Carolina outfit a place among the progenitors of the past decade’s folk-pop explosion.
The group emerged piecemeal, highlighted by Tania Elizabeth’s fiddle and Joe Kwon’s dynamic cello, kicking into new live staple “Satan Pulls the Strings.” With Scott Avett’s banjo and melodic howl playing against brother Seth’s guitar and nasal, pinched-punk vocals, the assemblage rolled the easy melody of “Live and Die” and peaked harmonies on “Laundry Room” before rallying into a full-string breakdown instrumental.
Though never digging deeper in an extensive catalog than 2008’s The Second Gleam, the septet swept evenly across its past four LPs. The young crowd responded by joining in through “Another Is Waiting” and “Down with Shine.” The Avetts have taken cues from the success of follow-on contemporaries like Mumford & Sons in polished, emotional ballads, yet they haven’t lost their early unruly edge as evidenced when Seth slammed “Kick Drum Heart” with a heavy, rocking guitar that he worked out into the crowd.
The Avetts’ mix of emotional and existential sincerity (“Head Full of Doubt,” “Murder in the City,” “Morning Song”) created a communal sing-along sanctuary even at its darkest, but never faded in intensity, especially on the high-octane take of George Jones’ “The Race Is On” and rockabilly-tuned closer “Slight Figure of Speech.”
This article appears in October 10 • 2014 and October 3 • 2014.
