Jon and I went to the Punch Brothers concert last night at the acoustically-amazing, yet socially-inhibitive Largo at the Coronet Theater. (No talking, no coming in late, no drinking, no pictures, no laughing, no clapping...you get the point.) Besides the uppity venue, the performances never fail to disappoint. They played a great mix of their old album, some great new songs which make me very excited for their next LP, and as always, great covers.
The thing I love about the PB is that they are a collection of very talented individuals - all accomplished masters in their respective fields - that come together to create a perfect storm of harmonies (even bizarre, fun cacophonies), as well as a highly-entertaining on-stage performance. Their chemistry and banter adds a lot to the dynamic of their playing. Gabe Witcher is by far the most amazing fiddle player I've ever seen/heard. And Noam "Pickles" Pikelny is the perfect "straight man" to Chris Thile's smiling fool he tends to play on-stage.
The boys managed to play all 4 movements of "Blind Leaving the Blind," though in varying order, as well as an amazing cover of "2+2=5" by Radiohead. Other cover favorites were the White Stripes' "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" (as Chris Thile tipped his hat to Jack White remarking of the song: "[Jack] may or may not have meant to write one of the best bluegrass songs of all time.") and "How to Grow A Woman From the Ground" by Tom Brosseau.
But the obvious highlight for me was not only their cover of Fiona Apple's "On the Bound" - but then they brought out Fiona herself to join them in a rendition of "Walking After Midnight." Fiona, as she seems to be in all her Largo cameos (she did the same at the Watkins Family Hour I saw with Jon last year), was very "surprised" to be called on-stage and acted very nervous and humble. Shut up, Fiona, your voice is sick, you know why you're there. I did think she looked a little haggard, mentioned to Jon she almost looked like a older, rougher Miley Cyrus. He nodded and added "A VERY rough Miley Cyrus." Poor Fiona. Maybe a comb, would do her a good? Ok, bad lyric joke.
More fun was had when Chris called out his old Nickel Creek counterparts (Sara and Sean Watkins - or as I like to refer to them, Bossy and Fat Hobbit) for some great harmonies and even a very cool encore performance of them playing acoustic on the very front of the stage.
After the show it was great to see Noam again and catch up, as well as see a hovering Ed Helms by the green room door, trying to get back stage. As I texted my friend Rachel Pikelny (Noam's brother's wife and my old roomie from college) about this, she explained that they had all hung out with Ed Helms a lot that past week at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival because he's a big PB fan and an avid banjo player. Too bad Steve Martin didn't come out, that would have made my night!
All in all, it's always invigorating to see that much talent in one room, and the guest appearances are such a great bonus and make the ticket prices that much more worth it. Can't wait for their new album which should be coming out (per Noam) sometime in early 2010.
Bowtie,
Bowtie
Thanks for vicariously taking me to this show! I would have loved to see Fiona perform, bedraggled and all. She may not have stellar social skills, but the girl has some serious talent.
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