CELLOS ARE GREAT. I have no problem with cellos. But sometimes there’s just no replacing a steel guitar.
It was during this realization, about halfway through their concert at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Wednesday night, when I had a minor epiphany of sorts: As a musical act, the Avett Brothers — for all their twee, uber-sincere, emo-country sensibilities — are a product of some specific, very deliberate decisions along the way.
Instead of featuring a steel guitar player — really a no-brainer for some of the melody lines naturally emerging from their songs — they use a cellist (the fine Joe Kwan, the Avetts’ “brother from another mother”), which inhabits the same register but has infinitely more novelty appeal.
Instead of a fiddle player, one of the brothers occasionally tinkles, Ben Folds-style, on standard electric keys.
Instead of letting Seth Avett, the most talented singer of the siblings, take most of the spotlight, it’s the rougher-voiced, more rock-style (grating?) vocals of brother Scott that do the heavy lifting.
Instead of remaining a purely acoustic band with no percussion, bluegrass-style — which their music really demands — they have a completely superfluous drummer, who provides a big boomy beat to bounce up and down to and not much else.
(Indeed, the kick drum was mixed so loudly, with so little regard for basic mixing, that — combined with the usual airplane hangar-like acoustics of the Johnny Mercer Theatre — whatever subtlety the Avetts themselves may have summoned up on banjo and guitar was nearly inaudible.)
These are not isolated things. They are a set of decisions that when taken together mean the difference between the Avetts performing with Bob Dylan at the Grammys and being on the cusp of millionaire status, or being just another critically-respected, little-known Americana act.
You can’t say they made the wrong decisions — they have certainly worked out very well for them. But it leaves one, or at least me, wondering what the alternative might have been….
Regardless of what I think, the Avetts have a large and devoted following of diehard fans who really enjoyed the show. I admit I’m not so diehard, which I’ve noticed seems to disqualify me from having an opinion on the band in the minds of some of their more ardent followers.
In any case, you don’t have to be a diehard to appreciate the Avetts’ scintillating, soaring songwriting skills — to me the overriding, undeniable key appeal of the group. The songs lose nothing live, and they have real impact and beauty. For me the high point of the show was “January Wedding,” a deceptively simple arrangement which was the perfect backdrop for Seth Avett’s fine, understated singing voice.
While their penchant for wearing their lyrical hearts on their sleeves isn’t my cup of tea — the whole point of country lyrics is to understate, to make people read between the lines — that’s exactly why the Avetts are able to appeal to such a large and wide audience, and why they are the early 21st Century version of the Dave Matthews Band rather than simply another talented but underappreciated newgrass/alt-country band.
Ah, yes. The audience. Let’s talk about the audience.
While the age diversity of the crowd in attendance was quite impressive and speaks very well to the Savannah Music Festival’s continuing successful outreach, the core audience at the Avetts’ gig was pretty much the same boorish frat-boy crowd which has ruined so many shows at the Johnny Mercer Theatre and Civic Center Arena over the last few years through their chronic rudeness and inability to handle the alcohol that the City of Savannah is only too eager to sell them.
(The same City of Savannah which routinely goes out of its way to entrap, bully, and otherwise harass privately owned alcohol-selling establishments to the point of going out of business. But I digress.)
During a truly beautiful — I use that word with care, but it’s certainly appropriate in this case — solo turn by Seth, each and every delicate pause in the music was met with a yowl of gibberish or a rebel yell by some drunken idiot or another, desperate to take that moment for themselves rather than letting it enhance the performance onstage.
It’s no fault of the Avetts or of the Savannah Music Festival, and it’s certainly no breaking news flash that frat boys still suck. But this constant, over-the-top behavior is a continuing black eye for Savannah itself, and all the more of a shame considering that a few simple tweaks would reduce the copious imbibing that has made almost all shows at the Civic Center nearly unbearable for real music fans.
This article appears in Mar 30 – Apr 5, 2011.
Aside from Savannah State, who’s fraternities I doubt made up a significant portion of the Avett Bros. audience demographic, and AASU’s 4 (count ’em, 4 fraternities [do they even have houses?]), who are these frat boys you’re referring to? SCAD has no fraternities. GSU is an hour+ away (I bet those students were all about a Wednesday night trip to Savannah and back). Please show us the actual number of active fraternity brothers who attended this show.
While you’re at it, explain how you can objectively state what, “the whole point of country [music] lyrics,” is. Or can we just agree that this review is entirely subjective, stereotypical, tunnel-vision blather?
I think we can agree that some people don’t understand the concept of a “review” and its inherent subjectivity! Thanks for reading, though…
You’re welcome for reading. I really do love Connect, and I’m thankful for your publication. I try to read it every week. I think you do a great job.
I’m educated- I graduated from med school last year, and I do understand that reviews are inherently subjective. I am not alone when I say that some of your contentions here do not hold weight- there is not enough evidence to back up your arguements. They’re illogical. You’re better than that. 😉
This review was 80% a review of the Avett Bros. generally, 5% a review the the actual concert they performed, and 15% hyper-sensitive protesting of the same BS you’d find in any market, at any show. In other words, this review fails.
If you want to criticize the Avetts for doing what they do, fine, but don’t speculate on how doing it your way would improve their career. Also, don’t do it in a concert review.
If you want to criticize drunk concert-goers, people who are there to chase girls, or people who weren’t raised right by their mommas, fine, but don’t do it in a concert review; write a letter to the editor about the decline of polite society.
Here’s a novel idea: if you’re going to write a concert review, actually review the concert. What songs did they play? From what albums? Any surprising guests? Any reason the Avett Bros. might have a unique relationship to Savannah? Write a review that makes people sorry they missed it, glad they missed it, or glad they were there.
That’s my subjective review of your “review.”
Grizzle, you make some good points but with all due respect this isn’t a fan site. We’re not going to give you a discography and a tour setlist and call it a review. You don’t even have to go to the show to write a “review” like that!
Sounds like a rant against “frat boys” with a concert review thrown in. I dismiss the audience distraction though (maybe you are better off listening to overproduced studio releases in your controlled home). I wonder if the clapping in between songs bothered you too.
I actually thought the crowd was subdued compared to last year. But then the show was more subdued also. The audience added a little more energy than the band was giving out compared to last year.
Yes, they made some very deliberate decisions along the way. I would like to think that all bands do that. Or did the Grateful Dead just decide to put Jerry Garcia on guitar when he is really better fitted for keyboards? They probably could have had Top 40 success if Jerry never sang a word also since he is more Seth Avett than Scott Avett. But I digress…
The Avett Brothers are an original talent and not a cookie cutter band. Label them how you want if you have a need to label them. You either like the music or you don’t. You went to this show looking for a steel guitar and were disappointed when it wasn’t there.
Maybe your taste is a little more Toby Keith or Hanson Brothers. It’s clearly not Avett Brothers, but I’m fine with that. Let them be and don’t tinker with their deliberate decisions.
“We’re not going to give you a discography and a tour setlist and call it a review.”
No, you’ll give us a specious argument that basically boils down to, “This isn’t the band *I* would have formed. Therefore, it’s lacking.”
However, I do appreciate being forewarned that you plan on stepping all over the music in YOUR band with the dated, overbearing sound of a steel guitar.
Get over yourself. This sounds more like an analysis and less like a review.