The Avett Brothers

I have been reluctant to write about the Avett Brothers. There's that natural worry that comes when you love something so much and decide to share it with other people — kind of like taking a new boyfriend to meet your friends for the first time. Are they going to notice that sparkle in his eye? Are they going to think his jokes are funny? Are they going to get that he is, in fact, the greatest thing in the world at this very moment? You know what I mean.

I finally got a chance to see them — I had missed their now-famous (but dismally attended; it was the opening night of Bronco football) concert in Boise in August — last week at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland. There are currently four guys playing in the band: Scott and Seth Avett, two brothers from North Carolina who play the banjo and acoustic guitar, respectively; Bob Crawford, the stand-up bass player; and Joe Kwon, their sometime cello player. The Crystal Ballroom was sold out, but Parker and I managed to get really close to the stage. I thought the blonde girl to my right was going to faint, as if she were seeing the Beatles at Shea Stadium.

I've been to many, many concerts, but this was really one of the best. They seemed genuinely surprised to see so many people at their show and thanked the crowd profusely. For two hours, Bob twirled his bass and Seth screamed into the microphone; Scott jumped on the amps and Joe hoisted his cello into the air. They came out for two encores. By the end of the last encore it looked like they needed IVs. It was rad. It's amazing how much sound they can coax out of acoustic instruments and their voices, and it's amazing that they can put so much into songs that they have sung over and over and over again (they took about two months off this year. Their fans left messages on their website encouraging them to rest).

It's hard to describe their music, other than that they are anti-irony and emo without being emo. I started listening to them after several years of hearing overly self-aware math rock, and it was nice — and still is nice — to play music made by people who just love music and telling stories.