The Grammy-winning folk/bluegrass string quintet charmed with an evening of superlative musicianship, humor and sophisticated spontaneity. The review and photos.
Joyful Virtuosity: Punch Brothers creating magic on stage Wednesday night. (Photo/Steve Baran)
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There’s something wonderfully bittersweet about a September show at the oft-ethereal Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. The harshest climes have burned away and the sunset arrives early as music fans soak up the final days of outdoor music opportunities.
It’s a gift to spend those fleeting final moments of summer concert season with artists as adept as the Grammy Award-winning quintet Punch Brothers, as West Michigan fans did Wednesday evening as part of the winding down of Meijer Gardens’ popular series (just three shows remain).
The folk/bluegrass band, together since 2006, have spent the last few decades redefining and shifting the boundaries of live acoustic music. Chris Thile (mandolin, also of Nickel Creek fame), Chris Eldridge (guitar), Paul Kowert (bass), Noam Pikelny (banjo, formerly of Leftover Salmon) and Brittany Haas (violin, also of Hawktail and Crooked Still) have coalesced into one of the most technically dazzling contemporary string bands.
Their 2018 album, “All Ashore,” earned a Grammy for Best Folk Album, and they’re touring now in support of their latest, “The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers,” released in July. The band recently also branched into audio comedy with “The Energy Curfew Music Hour,” a musical variety show streaming its second season on Audible.
Wednesday’s show, in addition to absolutely perfect weather, delivered 100-plus minutes of more than a dozen songs covering the group’s catalog, plus a few particularly excellent covers (Josh Ritter’s “Another New World” and Bon Iver’s “Woods”, which closed out the show). Other highlights included “Julep,” “Just Look at This Mess,” “Familiarity,” “My Oh My” and instrumental “Song of the Water Kelpie (unsung)”.
In addition to an impressive display of musicianship and artistic chemistry (those riffs! those harmonies!) the band delivered a considerable dose of stage banter, including a somewhat-precarious, but solidly tongue-in-cheek quip about Meijer Gardens’ beloved “The American Horse” in relation to inflated food prices; perhaps a tricky proposition in the Gardens that groceries built.
It was all in good fun, though, with Thile and crew heaping the requisite praise on the venue’s art and landscaping, as well as destinations outside the its gates, including Alexander Calder’s “La Grande Vitesse” and Max’s South Seas Hideaway. God help us, but we’re just like any other city; we like to hear we’re pretty and that you like us best.
Nashville Americana singer-songwriter Liv Greene opened the evening after a sweet intro from Thile, and she earned audience adoration with her sharp songwriting and rich voice in a solid 30-minute set.
UP NEXT AT MEIJER GARDENS: Indigo Girls with Brian Dunne perform at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14. The show is sold out.
PHOTO GALLERY: Punch Brothers, Liv Greene at Meijer Gardens
Photos by Steve Baran
