“Sold Out-Tonight-The Punch Brothers!” reads the sign that greets anyone attempting to front up without a ticket to see this jamboree of first class musicians filling The Basement stage. Chris Thile, formerly of bluegrass super power Nickel Creek, took the stage with his mandolin along with the rest of the band and was greeted with rapturous applause before they even launched into a song.
It being their first visit to Australia and with jet lag still clouding his brain, Thile made sure he knew what night it was by asking the assembled fan; sardonically adding: “So it’s time for a big time Wednesday night, huh?”
Then, the driving sound of the fiddle kicked “Movement And Location” into gear and for the next two hours there was hardly a moment to catch a breath as The Punch Brothers delivered a near-perfect set which lasted almost two hours.
Pigeonholing this music under a banner of a singular genre is simply a worthless exercise. These are consummate professionals and each member of the band deserves a mention. Gabe Witcher on fiddle is an in-demand session player who has performed with Dave Rawlings, Lyle Lovett among many others. Witchier’s playing on the title track to their latest release,“Who’s Feeling Young Now?” was splendid.
Noam Pikelny, formerly of Leftover Salmon, is a banjo player who is rightfully being compared to names like Bela Fleck. Paul Kowert on double bass held it altogether and Chris Eldridge was the fine guitarist making this quintet a force to be reckoned with over the near-two hour set.
The set focused on the new album and it was bliss for the audience to hear these songs live. Fans had the opportunity to watch the live stream of the Punch Brothers set at Bonnaroo music festival recently, but to hear them in the small confines of The Basement in their only Sydney performance left an impression that will be talked for some time.
The playing was complex at times, but not to a level that would lose the less educated of their fans. “New York City” is one of their songs that displays how they are trying to blend a somewhat modern alternative sound to an old-time style of music. Thile’s vocals are so engaging and clear and lonesome that you get sucked into that vortex for a moment and then Witcher or Pikelny will fly away on an instrumental solo that will make your head swoon. Sometimes, it was hard to keep up with it all.
The Punch Brothers are young and talented and you know that ideas come to them as they travel and rehearse between shows. Their cover of Beck’s “Sexx Laws” is one you can imagine they fiddled around with at some soundcheck or on the bus until their take on it ended up sounding like a traditional bluegrass song.
“Rye Whiskey” and the closing song of the night, a cover of Jimmie Rodger’s “Brakeman’s Blues” were the closest to the form of traditional bluegrass throughout the night. But these are mere labels for music made by five talented young men. The Punch Brothers are one group that is splitting genres and that is what creation of art is all about.
– Paul Busch
