Concert Review: The Avett Brothers at the Crossroads

If either the Avett Brothers or Railroad Earth had covered “Five Feet High & Rising” on Saturday night, it certainly would have been appropriate.

As it was, the crowd that was at the Crossroads showed an amazing amount of fanatical dedication. Through not one or two, but repeated torrential downpours and lightning scares, the crowd never wavered or thinned. They certainly ran for cover quite a few times, but other than that, everyone who was there seemed to be rather aware of what issues an outdoor concert presented. The exception to that seemed to be the fact that very few folks didn’t know that umbrellas were not allowed inside the venue, hence the large number left dangling on the entry gates.

The Avett Brothers are a band that rocks. You can try and dance to it — they’re not going to help, but you can try. The band is suited to playing outdoors, that’s for sure. Acoustic instrumentation always lends itself to summer nights with lots of beer, and even the amazing amount of precipitation couldn’t dampen spirits (again, pun intended), despite the 15-minute delay due to lightning concerns. If I could have stretched out on a blanket and knocked back beers while this show was going on, it would’ve been one of those perfect concerts.

Honestly, by the time the Avett Brothers went on, I’d been soaking wet for about three hours. It’d rained off and on for the entire time I’d been down in the Crossroads, with intermitent bouts of no rain that lasted just long enough to make me feel like everything was safe. Still — the Avett Brothers are somewhere in that nebulous region inhabited by Against Me! in terms of underground appeal (they’d been making records for a good long while before a major label deal came their way) and sonic dynamics (lots of hoarse shouting that wouldn’t be out of place on a Hot Water Music record). Really, the Avett Brothers share more with the whole folk-punk scene and bands like Ghost Mice, Defiance Ohio, and Andrew Jackson Jihad than they do with the jam band crowd courted by Wilco.

Sadly, the money is where the hippies go. Avett Brothers, please remember that you’re a band with some balls, and don’t go after the noodle dancers. I don’t want you to be my disappointment the next show you play.