There are shows, that when you see them, inspire you to go home and dust off that ill-used instrument you have lying around the house and start playing it again. Maybe it’s because the band makes it seem like it’s an attainable dream to be a rock star. Or perhaps it just looked like so much fun that you want to get your defunct band from college back together to play for a handful of people at any bar in Austin that will have you. Punch Brothers was not one of these shows. While it may inspire going home and breaking out your old instrument, you are more likely ready to give it away, pawn it, or burn it. Every musician that took the stage had such mastery of their chosen instrument that you knew that you have no chance of ever coming close to being that good.
Those who have wondered what the progeny of bluegrass, formal chamber music, jazz, and alternative-rock would resemble most likely wouldn’t be enough to sell out even a small venue. Punch Brothers may not have sold out the Moody Theater in Austin on Wednesday, but the enthusiasm in the crowd was something that is rarely rivaled at any live show. Since their formation in 2006, Punch Brothers have helped to garner attention to the “prog-grass” movement by masterfully combining seemingly separate musical genres while continuing to make that sound more accessible on every album. Their current tour is in support of 2015’s The Phosphorescent Blues, produced by T-Bone Burnett.
In the absence of a new album their set list did not differ much from the last time they stopped in Austin two years ago and largely consisted of material from their most recent album and covers. They opened with the songs “Dark Days” from The Hunger Games soundtrack and “Movement and Location” from their 2012 breakout album Who’s Feeling Young Now? before launching into a more traditional sounding bluegrass rag, “The Hops of Guldenberg,” which front man Chris Thile introduced as “an instrumental song about beer.” Grammy-nominated banjo player Noam Pikelny introduced “Passepied,” a piano concerto written by Claude Debussy, and beautifully reinvented the tune for the band’s unconventional string quintet of mandolin, acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle and stand-up bass. Their cover of Radiohead’s title track from “Kid A” was included on their album Who’s Feeling Young Now? and was performed with a bowed bass standing in for Thom Yorke’s vocals and which they ended with a noise jam before launching into a cover of Gillian Welch’s “Wayside (Back in Time)”. Their last song of the night, “My Oh My,” had the crowd singing along and wishing the night would go on.
Though the venue wasn’t even close to being at capacity, the energy of the crowd as well as the band’s was palpable. This show marked the start of their tour and first time playing on a stage since ending their last tour in Australia almost a year ago, and it was evident that the band was ready to be back on the road playing music. As for the audience, every song was met with respectful silence while Thile & Co. played, and rapturous, encore-worthy applause followed each song. Thile’s new job as the new host of A Prairie Home Companion following the end of last year’s tour has most likely contributed to the lack of new material. However, judging by the reaction of the crowd, it doesn’t seem to be a problem.
