American Acoustic tour

[MediumMando5722]

I went Saturday night.

Julian Lage, I'm With Her (Sarah Jarozs, Sara Watkins, Aoife O'Donavan), and Punch Brothers. Holy hell, what a show... They each played mini-sets throughout, but otherwise it was a variety of different combinations of all 9 musicians.

Anybody else seen a show?

[CES]

A friend of mine saw them in Raleigh, NC, and said it was an outstanding show! I had to work and couldn't make it Glad you got to go and enjoy it!!

[Dylan Turner]

I saw the first show they played in Portland, ME. One of my favorite concerts in recent memory. The way they switched people in and out and each artist had their own moments to shine made for a unique show. Highly recommend seeing them if it is still possible!

[Perilous Deep]

Apparently there are still plenty of tickets available for the lawn at tonight's show at Ravinia. Really looking forward to seeing these groups--especially I'm With Her--as well as what's sure to be a gathering of the mandolin geeks of Chicago and environs!

[MediumMando5722]

Everything was spectacular, but a few standouts were:

I'm With Her. Those voices... they covered an Adele song, with Paul from PB on bass and the three women singing. Astounding.

A trio consisting of Chris Thile, Julian Lage, and Paul Kowert. I've never seen Thile in a mando/guitar/bass format. He and Lage did a little back and forth head chopping, and Kowert hung with them every step of the way. I would LOVE to hear an album from the three.

[Tom Hart]

Saw them last Wednesday in the Cleveland area. They encored with "Gentle on my Mind ".

[BradKlein]

So many of my favorite players. And I love the format that Thile has settled upon, of having each group play a set, but shuffling players freely as well. Keeps everything interesting for everyone. And of course it works like a charm with this group who have all been sitting in with each other for years in the clubs around NYC, on PHC, and elsewhere.



Sara, Sarah, Gabe, Chris, Paul, Critter, Julian, Noam
(apologies to Sarah whose face is hidden. But a nice shot of her Octave Mandolin!)

[MK in NC]

I can confirm the Raleigh show was great. The encore: "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)."

The show started with a Thile/Jarosz/O'Donovan vocal trio accompanied only by Thile's mandolin. Then they mixed and matched among the nine musicians for the next couple of hours. Only I'm With Her (about 35 minutes) and the Punch Brothers (45 or so) played sets exclusively on their own.

Other standouts included the Thile/Lage/Kowert trio and an excellent version of the Punch Brothers backing Jarosz on a tune from Radiohead's "OK Computer" album.

[jefflester]

Sara Watkins is pregnant, BTW. Due in September I believe. She announced it on Twitter about 2 months ago.

[BradKlein]

Sara Watkins is pregnant, BTW. Due in September I believe. She announced it on Twitter about 2 months ago.

Aww... so is Aoife! (she'd hidden behind Thile in my photo above)

[Perilous Deep]

Well it was a staggeringly good show last night! Highlights for me were the I'm With Her set, which included a fantastic new song they said was titled "Overland". Can't wait to hear more from them soon. Noam said they had "made an album", so maybe that's a hint that they've recorded more than the one studio track from the new EP.

Punch Brothers were great too of course. I was really grateful to get to hear them do "Another New World," which I don't believe I've caught at a previous show.

And of the ensembles, the arrangement of "Julia" was just stunning. But everything was wonderful. What a great idea to bring this show on the road!

[Prelude]

Well it was a staggeringly good show last night! Highlights for me were the I'm With Her set, which included a fantastic new song they said was titled "Overland". Can't wait to hear more from them soon. Noam said they had "made an album", so maybe that's a hint that they've recorded more than the one studio track from the new EP.

Punch Brothers were great too of course. I was really grateful to get to hear them do "Another New World," which I don't believe I've caught at a previous show.

And of the ensembles, the arrangement of "Julia" was just stunning. But everything was wonderful. What a great idea to bring this show on the road!

I was at the show in NYC-- front row seats, even. Such a great show. And I must say, things are better when They're With Her. The Aoife, Sarah, and Sara spots were amazing.

Agree about the Lage/Thile/Kowert being a highlight, and also the sublime version of Julia. The harmonies were just heaven sent.

[Tyler K]

Well it was a staggeringly good show last night! Highlights for me were the I'm With Her set, which included a fantastic new song they said was titled "Overland". Can't wait to hear more from them soon. Noam said they had "made an album", so maybe that's a hint that they've recorded more than the one studio track from the new EP.

Punch Brothers were great too of course. I was really grateful to get to hear them do "Another New World," which I don't believe I've caught at a previous show.

And of the ensembles, the arrangement of "Julia" was just stunning. But everything was wonderful. What a great idea to bring this show on the road!

They played Another New World in Raleigh as well. So so good. Josh Ritter is such an amazing songwriter, and Punch really blows it out of the water.

[Paulmazz]

I also saw them in Portland a few weeks ago. Definitely one of the best shows I've ever seen.

[John Soper]

Also saw them in Raleigh. Superb chamber music with Americana instrumentation!