The Avett Brothers: ACL Live at the Moody Theater: 10/16/24

October generally becomes a music smorgasbord - between ACL music festival and all of the shows that the Fest spins off, there just end up being other tours that always seem to swing through town right now.  Well, this one was a little confusing to me, in that it makes you ask why in the hell they weren't on the ACL poster?  If they are scheduled to do an ACL TV show taping during the Festival period, then just add them to the lineup and let's increase the pleasure of the Fest?  Weird.

Anyhoo, this show was stupid good.  My wife loved it, and she is honestly a pretty damn hard grader when it comes to live music.  Her key attribute that she loved was that the whole set felt fresh and interesting the whole time - one song was country, the next was rock, something funky and loose, the next was a little folky acoustic thing, with violin and cello and stand up bass all thrown about in the midst of those things.  So, you never got a rut of sameness, it felt like a fun adventure with these guys guiding us along.  Like, "Love of a Girl" was a blast of Old 97's ish rock and roll that was deeply fun.

The Avetts are one of those bands who I kind of shunt to the side for long stretches.  I really like their tunes, but when I'm pulling up something to play around the house on or a drive, it is just almost never going to be them.  But then I hear a set like this one, where I am repeatedly smacked over the head with how great they are with lyrics and tune, and I realize how foolish that is.  They do a great job of telling wonderful little stories that are relatable and clever.  Singing about being poor but in love, cheap coffee, being a country kid getting your feet bitten by fire ants, or the girl on the bus.  I have seen them play live before, but something about this venue really made the lyrics nail me between the eyes.

Great stuff!  This is an old one from 2015, but you'll get the idea.