Ann Arbor Folk Festival

The acts were good, the seating left a lot to be desired...

We entered the venue late and had the misfortune of missing Theo Katzman and The Paper Raincoat. The openers exceeded my expectations and I thoroughly enjoyed The Spring Standards. Citizen Cope was a bit disappointing as he seemed not to be "in" the music and just stood playing songs. When the Avett Brothers took the stage the auditorium transformed into a breathing entity of pure musical euphoria. Every sone they played came from the heart with such passion you felt that they lived to play music to anyone who would hear it. Overall the Folk Fest was a terrific success.

The artists were great, the theater TERRIBLE! I could not see anything, seriously nothing, other than an occasional glimpse of part of a performer. Spent 3 1/2 hours with my eyes closed because all I could see was the back of the woman in front of me. I am short (5'3") and my knees almost touched the seat in front of me. Will never puchase tickets to an event at Hill Auditoriam again unless it's in the main section, towards the front. Seating needs to be reduced by about a third.

An amazing venue + amazing line-up = amazing time. I feel getting the chance to watch Judy Collins, then Mavis Staples, then The Swell Season play consecutive sets was a once-in-a-lifetime thing and the pre-intermission line-up was fantastic as well. Being as this was my first Folk Fest, I did not know what to expect, but I will be a returning guest. The event seemed very well organized and moved along at a nice pace allowing one to get a taste of each performer while not keeping you in your seat for 6 hours. I must say that I've never seen as big a gathering of middle-aged men in sweaters before, not that it's a bad thing - just an observation and, perhaps not surprisingly, the longest line I've ever had to stand in for the men's room.

This was the best concert/festival I've been to in a while. My seats were in the very back row, but the acoustics in Hill Auditorium are amazing no matter where you sit. Judy Collins, Mavis Staples and The Swell Season were wonderful and I would see them all again if ever have another chance. LIKED IT SO MUCH I'M ACTUALLY WRITING A TICKETMASTER REVIEW.

What a a great night and wonderful show! Not only were the Avett Brothers awesome, but the rest of the line up was outstanding as well.

Ann Arbor Folk Festival has a history of incredible musicians, and the 2011 Friday night did not disappoint. HIll Auditorium is an incredible venue for acoustics and is a beautiful piece of architecture, but the seating and lighting made the event slightly more formal than one may imagine when they hear "folk festival." The crowd sat in their seats for the entire night. This did not take away from the performances of headliners The Avett Brothers and Citizen Cope. And even the lesser known artists like The Spring Standards and Anais Mitchell set the stage well for the main events later in the evening. I will definitely be going back next year.

The two headliners, Avett Brothers and Swell Season, both delivered, and legends Judy Collins and Mavis Staples showed they still have it. Also seeing three of my favorite folk artists all together onstage (Kaplansky, Gilkyson, Gorka) was phenomenal. All the younger acts were fun too, from Paper Raincoat to Eileen Jewell and Spring Standards. Susan Werner did a fantastic job as the MC. The only slight disappointment was Citizen Cope. He seemed a bit uninterested in being there, and his songs range from mediocre forgettable fluff to "pretty good." Glen Hansard of Swell Season ended the weekend on such a perfect note, bringing all the acts onstage together for a fun singalong of Dylan's "Forever Young."

I wish each act could have played longer, it only ended at 11! But especially The Avett Brothers, who only got to play around 10 songs, and couldn't do an encore.