Avett

Nearly a week and a half ago, my friends and I bought tickets to see The Avett Brothers band in Portland. They were playing at the renowned Crystal Ballroom, a place continually described to me as a one of the greatest venues in the Northwest. As a social skeptic and recently re-invigorated scholar; I doubted the wisdom of attending a late Thursday night show over a hundred miles north of my house. Before I could let my conscious convince me otherwise though, my friends shanghaied me to the small university ticket office. I had told them previously in my characteristic non-committal style that I, “was down to go.” Being put on the spot as it were, I acquiesced and purchased a ticket to the show. The best decisions are made on the margin according to economics.

The following day we readied ourselves for a prompt 4ish departure allowing time to eat and drink a bit before the concert. Wallets, IDs, IPods and the other necessities for a pleasant ride were compiled. The ride was indeed pleasant, time flew by as we listened to nearly all of Avett’s recorded works and engaged in customary bullshitting between friends. Traffic was non-existent and our arrival came much quicker than expected. We drove around downtown Portland for about 20 minutes until my directionally challenged buddy finally found a metered parking spot about 5 blocks from the venue. Stepping out of the red Subaru wagon, I stretched and gazed upward at the stylishly hip condos that bordered the crisp cool night sky.

As a Southern California native and resident of Eugene nearly 2 hours to the south, I hadn’t had the privilege of spending more than a handful of days in Portland. In many ways the area around the Crystal Ballroom is similar to the ritzy districts of downtown San Diego. Grand 10 story-plus modern condos stretch for whole blocks framing the streets. However the city retained its Bohemian feeling that is more prevalent in other neighborhoods. As a whole Portland seems to have a scenester atmosphere and I fancy it European in many senses. We walked down the block towards a statue that looked like a giant inverted metal sperm with tentacles, similar to one of those weird things in the move The Matrix. Adjacent to the odd structure was a Pizza establishment that exuded localness. We each had a monstrous slice and shared a watery, but nonetheless, cold pitcher of Pabst. After finishing the carb loading, we once again set off down the street to a bar closer to the Ballroom. The next hour or so was spent ingesting inexpensive well drinks and playing pool in the dim green light of that bar lamps.

Finally the time came and we presented our tickets to the guy scanning them at the entrance to the venue. We followed a group of people from the ground floor landing and climbed the narrow 2 or 3 flights of steps into the upper landing. Nothing too extraordinary about the place had yet caught my eye, except it seemed old. We journeyed past the couches and bathrooms on the landing, made a right hand turn through a double door funnel and looked out at a vast expanse of a room with a good number of people already inhabiting the vicinity directly in front of the stage that sat neatly in the far left corner. As we continued toward the open center of the room I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was tighter than I should have been. I gazed at my moving feet for verification only to find the floor bending and wobbling beneath me and the other patrons. When we reached the center of the ballroom I was transported into another era. The walls were ornately carved and painted to resemble archways on the far wall that sat opposite huge tiled windows running the length of the entire room. The marvelously high ceilings made the altitudinous twinkling chandeliers even more remarkable. The whole vast room echoed with essence of rumrunners and flappers long gone. Anybody new to the place could tell the atmosphere was nostalgic and conducive to collective energy. Hell, the floor with its undulations even physically transmitted energy.

The house lights dimmed and the crowd pressed as close to the stage as possible. The man on the PA said something about Mayfield band, it was hard to understand. Throughout the opener the audience grew closer and closer to capacity, filling the place with a tentative humid excitement. When the opening act exited the stage they were showed warm appreciation for their folky-rock mix that was sure to resonate well with the evening.

After further sound checks and tunings the roadies were off the stage, and the brothers bounded onto the platform energetically. The exact set-list and order escapes me but it took awhile for the crowd to get really stoked. A good portion of their performance was dedicated to their most recent full-length album “Emotionalism.” The 4 performers crowded the front of the stage with their assortment of instruments. The sound had a really raw quality to it that their recorded tracks lacked or were unable to convey. A sound culmination barely conceivable for a: cellist, string bassist, banjo and guitar player. The group made their instruments their own. The cellist ripped dramatic riffs as the bassist plucked homey bass lines. The actual brothers Avett laid down the outlying rhythms using their respective banjo and guitar, all the while adding emotive power to the whole performance with a wonderful mix of tender and screaming vocals in juxtaposition.

Large portions of the middle part of the show are sadly lost in my clouded memory. I know I enjoyed that part of the music, but what proved more memorable were the sweaty swing dancing couple that continually, inadvertently, and probably drunkenly shindigged into me. There was also the tall lanky hick who carried on an inebriated dance of hilarious fluidity wherever he pleased, nearly resulting in fights throughout various songs. As much as these characters diverted my attention from the show, it was to be proven moot. They all made timely exits near the climactic ending to carry on their shenanigans elsewhere.

The end proved truly epic, with the crowd fired up bouncing eclectically to the vibrations. The fans sensed the first of many endings when Avett broke into a heart-felt rendition of “Go to Sleep,” one of their more moving tunes from “Emotionalism.” The vocals were pure and it was if the lyrics were especially for those at the ballroom that night. The cellist (Kwan I believe his name is) haunted the crowd with a driving riff that frenzied the audience like a bartender expertly shaking a stiff one. When Scott Avett cried “sing it to me,” the passionate ballroom erupted in to a refrain of “la la la la la la,” that mimicked the songs’ main riff. The band put down their instruments and gratefully disappeared from the stage. The crowd however continued the joyful refrain with unwavering volume and fervor. The collective consciousness said Avett was coming back onstage. The electricity was tangible and the chant seemed to last a lifetime, but we continued with undaunted enthusiasm. The band rematerialized from the darkness of the staircase and resumed the chorus to the crowd’s audible delight. Avett finished the song as if nothing had happened with even greater energy than before.

One of the members cried out words of gratitude into the microphone and announced a garbled message about the show ending. The crowd however only responded to the words “Will you Return.” The throng may as well have been the universe exploding into existence with unfathomable energy. Nobody could help but bounce on the quivering floor. Everyone sang and bounced, bounced and sang. The whole thing was almost patriotic.

The band looking ragged and spent departed into the abyss of the stairs again. The ballroom made it wishes known. People clapped, stomped, cacophonized in all manners. The place was deafening, if anybody had strength enough to shed tears of joy they would have. For one last time the band was drawn from the depths. However they were not alone, with them was the opening band with whom they toured. Everyone in attendance knew that it was coming to a close as the combined members began “Talk of Indolence.” The capacity Crystal joined in, and reveled in the last moments of what was surely a sonic friendship.