Langhorne Slim and the Law @ Detriot Bar (10.17.13)

Langhorne Slim (aka Sean Scolnick) is one of the most energetic, charismatic performers to come through Orange County in a long time.  He's witty, engaged with fans and not afraid to get real when the need arises.

The performer's earlier work is typically rootsy, smooth, introspective and on the whole down tempo.  Adding "the Law" to the mix has created a low-fi caffeinated version of that.  Their newest material skirts the boundaries between country, folk and rock, but live they also have elements blues, jazz, and gospel steeped in the mix.

Occasionally groups will hang around after their shows to meet people. Langhorne is the first performer i have ever seen come out early before the show to visit with fans.  Unlike most, he seems to revel in reminding the audience there's no glass wall that separates them.  He spent the night jumping into the crowd, dancing around and even joked around with specific audience members in seemingly impromptu lyrics.  Most impressively when woman was inches away taping him with her cell phone (it's camera light full on) jarring an otherwise soulful heartfelt song, he wittily shrugged it off.



Still seems surprising tonight's show wasn't a sell out.  This is one of the best bands and performers I've seen in a long time.  If you haven't heard of Langhorne Slim yet, you will be soon.

The Avett Brothers @ The Shrine Auditorium (10.9.13)

The Avett Brothers

If e'er an inkling to see the Avett Brothers strikes, go.  The group is fantastic live, putting everything into their music and making sure the crowd walks away happy.

Scott Avett

The energy and enthusiasm the Avetts display on stage is reminiscent of a punk rock band.  There are even elements of that music in some of their songs and it leads one to wonder what they did before picking up banjos, acoustics and uprights.

Seth Avett

The Avetts are the masters of timing on stage.  Many bands just play all fast all slow or some piss poor mix of either, but these guys know how to sequence their songs to keep the audience with them much like good DJ's.  They hit songs from across their wide range of albums, focusing on the later pieces in the last 1/3 of the show.  This seems a fair way to do it, as some people love them for who they are now, and some really love the songs they have written over the last decade or so as well.

Scott Avett

During the show, both both brothers played fantastic songs unaccompanied.  Seth played "The Ballad of Love and Hate" and Scott Avett came out and played an acoustic version of "Murder in the City" from The Gleam II.



During both of these songs it seemed the entire 6000 seat audience at the Shrine was singing along.

Seth Avett

The band did a fantastic old timey version of "Jordan is hard road to travel:"



Upon looking for the name of the song, I found out it was an old minstrel song from 150 years ago.  The banjo has a strange darker origin story with minstrel shows, one that has mainly been forgotten.  It would be interesting to know if this was why they played it or if it was just because it has since become a traditional song.

Bob Crawford

At one point I looked up during the show to notice Scott messing with some cables mid song.  I found myself wondering why they didn't have a guy for that. Amusingly, I soon realized his brother was attached to the other end inches from my seat.  Good gimmick, but these guys should really look into wireless units if they weren't doing a bit.  Just stay away from the ones they had in spinal tap.

Joe Kwan

There are some bands that can't entertain an audience of 100, there are some bands that can, but loose it at 1000. I feel confident that these guys could do any sized venue and still be an amazing show.  As I said before, these guys are a band everyone should see!

The Avett Brothers