The Punch Brothers and Season 6 of Community

The Riviera's Marquee for the Punch Brothers

Whoa!! That's the first word that comes to my mind after seeing the Punch Brothers live this past Saturday night at the Riviera Theater. For an hour and a half, the Punch Brothers delivered an energizing, toe tapping, hit featured set. Just a few observations from the show:

1) They sounded impeccable. Step One, buy one of their CDs. Step two, put CD into CD player. Step three, listen. (I'm old fashion. You can also create a Spotify playlist.) The way they sound on their albums is the way they sound live. I was simply blown away by how great they sounded. The levels between the microphones and the instruments were perfect. You heard every word spoken or sung, yet you also heard all of their instruments. It was amazing. Plus I was able to leave a show without any ringing in my ears. Always a plus.

2) Great stage presence. The hour and half set flew by. The band interacted very well with the audience. They talked, they joked, they danced, they did it all. You could really tell that the band was having a great time. And seeing that, only added to the fun that I had.

3) Great set. They played a lot from the new album, The Phosphorescent Blues, they did a cover of Radiohead's Kid A, and a nice set of classics. I felt like they covered a vast array of great music from their catalog.

I cannot recommend enough that you go and see the Punch Brothers live. They have now joined the club of Paul McCartney, Muse, William Elliott Whitmore, and St. Vincent. Which is every time they come to Chicago, I must see them perform.

Below is their set-list from Saturday night, if anyone wants to make a Spotify playlist, I highly encourage it.

Punch Brothers Set-list 2.28.15 at the Rivera Theater:
My Oh My
Boll Weevil
Watch 'at Breakdown
This Girl
Familiarity
Movement and Location
Passepied (Claude Debussy cover)
Another New World (Josh Ritter cover)
Through the Bottom of the Glass (The Seldom Scene)
I Blew it Off
Flippen (The Flip) (Vasen cover)
Rye Whiskey
The Auld Triangle (Brendan Behan cover)
Julep
Kid A (Radiohead cover)
Wayside/Back in Time (Gillian Welch cover)
Magnet

Encore:
New York City
Little Lights

Also earlier today, Yahoo released the trailer for Season 6 of Community. It is entitled:
Community: Age of Yahoo. It is magnificent.