Words: Daniel Schneier
Pictures: Will Porter

It’s taken The Avett Brothers 9 years, 11 albums and a tireless touring schedule to abandon the indie label cradle and enter the musical mainstream, though one evening with this North Carolina foursome leaves no doubt as to why they have courted the interest of big city suitors. The group is currently in the throes of a touring and promotional blitz in conjunction with the late September release of I and Love and You, their major-label debut, recorded in collaboration with acclaimed producer, accomplished beardsman and recently minted Columbia Records co-helmsman, Rick Rubin.

Having sold out two straight nights at the formidable “Fillmore” at Irving Plaza back in June, the Avett’s took on an even larger New York City stage on Saturday, October 17th, delivering a high-energy set of music to a packed house at Terminal 5. The band, consisting of talented multi-instrumentalists, Scott and Seth Avett, longtime bassist Bob Crawford and cellist, Joe Kwon, wasted no time in setting the night’s hootenanny tone, taking the stage around 9:15 to a roar of raucous approval from the audience.

With a swarm of homemade signs and t-shirts pressed up against the stage, and denizens of flannel-wearing, 20-somethings leaning off the venue’s 2^nd and 3^rd story balconies, the Avett’s broke out the ringing acoustical chords to opener, Paranoia in bFlat Major and proceeded to power through a breakneck paced 90-minute set of rock-infused folk and bluegrass.

READ ON for more on the Avetts from Dan and Will…

Taking no reprieve as they transitioned from Paranoia into Go To Sleep, the four members danced and howled and attacked their instruments, engaging the crowd with theatrical onstage antics to complement the rich vocal and instrumental harmonies that echoed throughout the dark recesses of the cavernous music hall.

Barely a beat passed by as the band moved into their one requisite number of the evening, I and Love and You, title track and highly touted single off the new album. The song, a sort of hipster lullaby about wandering North Carolinians finding repose in the bosom of surrogate mother–borough, Brooklyn, is a soaring piano-led orchestration with simple, earnest and literal lyrics that seem destined to tug on the heartstrings of weathered music lovers and fresh-faced teenagers alike. It’s for this very reason that some longtime Avett-followers have balked at the band’s big label move, as a group that once lit up intimate music halls is now selling out huge rooms and reaching out to a broader, less discriminating audience.

To curb these concerns, the Avett’s garnished their set with a healthy mix of older standards, including a glistening Murder in the City, and a stirring Salina that featured Kwon’s chilling cello-work on the song’s classically gothic outro. New fixtures, like Laundry Room and the swinging Buddy Holly-inspired, Slight Figure of Speech are welcome additions to the band’s powerful, live performance, though it was the rare appearance of the gentle Pretty Girl From Locust that drew some of the most passionate rounds of applause from the audience.

The camaraderie of fans basking in the shared concert experience was tangible as brothers Scott and Seth belted out poignant words to The Perfect Space, the encore ballad depicting a search for a prideful sense of purpose amidst the company of true friends.  If that’s all this band is after, tonight it feels like they’re on the right track.

The Avett Brothers – 10.17.09 – Terminal 5 – New York, NY

Paranoia in bFlat Major, Go To Sleep, I & Love & You, January Wedding, Salina, It Goes On and On, Bella Donna, Laundry Room, Slight Figure of Speech, Murder in the City, And It Spread, Shame, Colorshow, PGF Raleigh, Head Full of Doubt Road Full of Promise, PGF Locust, Please Pardon Yourself

Encore: Late In Life (Electric), The Perfect Space, Will You Return