BR549 was excellent, as usual. Perhaps not quite as good as in the past because of personnel changes. Chris Scruggs left the band, so they are down to one guitar, Chuck Mead. Donnie Herron is simply one of the best musicians on the planet. It's no wonder Dylan asked him to join his band last year. His fiddle, mandolin, and steel guitar solos are amazing, and he often alternates between those instrument on the same song. Chuck Mead did lead vocals on all songs but two, which is a switch from their two vocalist format that they had first with Gary Bennett, then with Chris Scruggs.
The opener was the Avett Brothers (I referred to them as the Manson Brothers, based on their Grizzly Adams appearance coupled with their random screams and yelps). I'll give them points for originality, but most of the time they were annoying and unlistenable. Their style is "old time" but not bluegrass, or at least that's what I read. Their music was certainly way less structured than bluegrass, and was often punctuated by screaming and yelped vocals. They seem to appeal to the college jam band type of listener.
