2019/10/5 The Avett Brothers @ Barclay’s; Lake Street Dive opened
“Ah Brooklyn, Brooklyn, take me in…”
Continued gratitude to the Freaks List for reconnecting me with my love for writing, and for newly turning me on to reviewing my experiences while livemusic’n. I write these equally for you and for me, as each time I sit down to write I get to relive my escapades in great detail while re-feeling all the feels. Sometimes, I get even better perspective after the fact, as some nights are just so intense that all I can do is take in as much as I can and sort it all out later. I’ve come to anticipate this time of reflection and writing nearly as much as the live experience itself. But laying your soul bare on paper leaves one permanently vulnerable, and so I especially thank you for giving me such a loving forum to post my ramblings.
I was super excited to see Lake Street Dive and prioritized getting there on time for the full set. While they are quite good and their set was very well played, I thought they fell well short of delivering any kind of meaningful offering in a ⅔ empty Barclay’s Center that they seemed lost in. It’s not a knock on them, but it just didn’t do it for me. And while I was quite taken with Rachel Price channeling her inner Dave Grohl with a walking boot and a throne, she also fell short of his one-legged ideal (totally unfair comparison, I know). In contrast, my fears that Barclay’s was too big for The Avetts were completely unfounded as they actually made a big room feel small, moving around, singing and playing from an extended stage at times, as each brother also took a lap to the upper reaches of the lower tier. It also didn’t hurt that we were seated in the best seats in the house (IMHO), first row of the lower tier, 10 rows back, slightly elevated above the floor and eye level with the stage.
I’ve never seen The Avett Brothers before and knew this was just the show for date night. My wife doesn’t often join me for concerts and this was shaping up to be a special night. Allow me to digress a moment with some personal history. For as long as I’ve been going to shows, I’ve never really had a female companion to share them with. From the earliest days, while I’ve always had a blast and experienced the full range of emotion from tears to ecstasy and everything in between, I’ve always looked on with something like longing tinged with jealousy as the Brokedown encore rolled around and people shared these moments arm in arm with a loved one. Fast forward 27 years, and I still get that same kind of feeling when the sappy stuff starts and I’m alone. I mean, don’t cry for me, I married my best friend and we live a life beyond our wildest dreams, and she graciously gives me plenty of time and space to repeatedly check the live music box, but love of live music is not something we share and, when we do, we tend to experience it differently. But I’ve always been a little jealous of Eric and Jenna. Okay, fast forward to last night.
Not sure why my expectations for the show were somewhat tempered, maybe it was the room, I don’t know, but these North Carolina brothers and their 7-piece powerhouse band delivered straight wizardry last night. I almost always have a hard time understanding lyrics, especially when delivered for the first time like some of their new stuff, but I heard, and felt, every word of their gorgeous poetry. Powerful, moving, and emotional stuff, that I was so grateful to share with my wife, arm in arm, as Seth sang Murder in the City, “Always remember there’s nothing worth sharing more than the love that lets us share our name.” Whoa. And I Wish I Was, a ballad of love if ever there was one, played from the end of the extended stage, with a sweater tossed from the crowd hung over the end of Scott’s banjo as his brother sang, “I wish I was a sweater wrapped around your hips, and when it got too cold into me you’d slip, and when the sun came back you would hang me up, and I would watch you while you undress.” All the feels last night as my decades old longing came to fruition thanks to Seth and Scott Avett.
And then there were songs like We Americans, off of the new album released the day prior, revealing both their love for the red, white, and blue and the hypocrisy that formed our country in the first place, “In a place built on stolen land with stolen people.” They rap, they rhyme, they jump around with anticipatory and infectious energy, and they rock hard as they run around from instrument to instrument to instrument, Seth at times playing a thigh-high hi-hat with a kick. Their band is amazing and the use of stringed instruments tugged on my heart strings nearly as much as their lyrical genius and beautiful voices. Lighting was subtle and perfect and the sound was A+, just like every other nuance this show had to offer.
And I and Love and You. Oh man. Major chills, head to toe, for 5 minutes, with my arms wrapped around my wife, squeezing her with everything I have.
Three words that became hard to say,
I and love and you.
I and love and you.
I and love and you.
In a word: magic.
