12/10/2007

It was a fabulous show, a packed house..~700 people or so.  They were
there for the Avetts. It was a warm night, had on jeans and wish I'd
worn shorts.  Couldn't ask for a nicer evening in December in Florida.
 The opening band, the Lost Bayou Ramblers, put on an excellent set.
They just received a Grammy nomination so they were just beside
themselves; on fire.  I like Cajun music live well enough.  It's
always fun and danceable.  These guys' accordian player doubled on lap
steel, and that brought something extra to the mix,  They are
definitely worth seeing.
The Avetts lived up to their live reputation.  Back stage they were
very quiet. I was teasing one of them about his beard, said he should
lose it, it looked too much like Devandra Banhardt's.  Guess that was
Scott.  They went on and tore it up.  The crowd had packed in around
the stage early, and were singing along with every lyric.  I was to
the side of the stage 'cause I couldn't find my way to the front,
which is my usual perch, and it was amazing to watch from the
performer's perspective, seeing hundreds of faces reflected in the
lights singing along with the songs that you wrote.
It's traditional music but punk as fuck at the same time.  They do
their own take on it, like Split Lip Rayfield does.  Their tour manager sat at the
side of the stage and changed string after string, seemingly one after
every song.  I wish I'd brought my camera just to show that set up,
this guy on a stool with about  30 packets of guitar and banjo strings
right in front of him.
They did have a drum kit and an electric guitar, which they used for
just one or two songs at the end.  They played right up until the
midnight cutoff and had one encore.  The crowd was screaming for more.
I've foolishly missed them the last 2 times they were in town.  I'll
not make that mistake again.