Welcome to the pond

I'm home from the Nickel Creek concert, and it was awesome as expected! They're definitely one of the best groups I've seen live, and I've seen a lot of great live bands.

My buddy Mike and I got there about fifteen minutes before the show officially started. We got seats up in the balcony, slightly obstructed but nothing truly complaint-worthy. Andrew Bird opened the show, and he was definitely interesting. He was almost (minus drums and piano) a one-man show. He mostly played the violin, either by plucking or bowing. He also played a little xylophone and some electric guitar as well. He used some sort of effect pedal that put certain sections of playing on a loop so that he could play around them with a live melody. His voice was very haunting and emotional, and his songs were mid-tempo and certainly like nothing I've ever heard. The standard for good opening acts is the question "Would I pay to see this person again as the main act?" and I think my answer to that would be yes.

About a half hour after Andrew finished, Nickel Creek started playing. Their first songs were "When In Rome," "Scotch And Chocolate," "This Side," "Reasons Why" and "Stumptown." The highlights of that group were "When In Rome," "Scotch And Chocolate" and "Stumptown." They do very well on instrumentals, and tonight was no exception. The other songs they performed were:

Somebody More Like You
Jealous Of The Moon
House Of Tom Bombadil (with "Short People" by Randy Newman played in the middle)
Anthony
Best Of Luck
When You Come Back Down
Smoothie Song
An extended version of The Lighthouse's Tale
First And Last Waltz/Helena

They also performed a VERY funny cover of Britney Spears' "Toxic." Chris handled the falsetto vocals well, and the group as a whole proved that the song is good even out of the pop genre. Their last songs before the encore were The Lighthouse's Tale, First And Last Waltz and Helena. After a thunderous applause by the almost-satisfied crowd, the group came out for an encore. They played the funny song about cocaine that they always seem to peform, The Fox, and Why Should The Fire Die? Another surprise came when they broke out into "The Weight" by The Band in the middle of The Fox. The entire audience sang along. Chris sang it very well and put the right amount of emotion into it. I really enjoyed hearing that! They also had their bass player (and Chris for a few moments) stepdancing during the last part of The Fox.

Once again, Nickel Creek proved to be a worthwhile group to see in concert. They really got going after the first few songs, and things just kept getting better from there. The audience seemed to fuel their energy and they responded by telling funny stories and breaking out into unexpected covers. Interestingly, their bluegrass side came out more in the encore than the rest of the concert. They started out in bluegrass, and damned if they aren't excellent at it still.

If Nickel Creek comes to your town, don't hesitate to pick up some tickets and get ready for the time of your life!