The Bluegrass Situation

great show and beautiful venue! will be back in 2015 for the next function!!!

Langhorne Slim, solo opening act, was by far my favorite performance of the night. Moving performance by a true artist. He made all the other artists seem like they were the studio version of themselves, not a live performing artist in front of a few thousand fans. Will definitely be looking to attend more of his shows.

We had an amazing time! All but one artist were new to us and they were all fabulous! Looking forward to next year!

This was one of the best concerts I have ever attended. The Carolina Chocholate Drops gave me one of the greatest evenings of pure American folk music.

First about the venue: The physical surrounding is breathtaking. The frescos (at least that s what I thought they were), the gilding, just generally the architectural design its scope and execution suggested no expenses spared in the pre-Recession theater. Moreover, it refurbishing appeared flawless. The acoustics at least for me were less than perfect although it may have been due to the sound person rather than the space or because of my particular location about two-thirds of the way back in the orchestra, quite right of center. The handling/seating of the audience was terrible. People were seated while performers were in the middle of a piece and there were a lot of people quite late. Also, the ushers had very, very bright led flashlights that they shined just about everywhere, seemingly unaware there were people watching the stage. About the performers: In general I was expecting bluegrass from the first two people and old time African-American string band music from the Drops. There was no bluegrass and, unfortunately, little string band material. Willie Watson pretty much recycled old African-American material like Odetta s version of Take this Hammer, and Leadbelly s When I was Cowboy (although it had slightly different lyrics) without attributing these to the source. In short, the program was rather like his guitar playing, unimaginative and simply workman-like. Josh Ritter strummed his way through a quite dreary program of songs he had written (I think). He seemed to have about three different strum patterns and about two or three rhyming schemes. He droned on (There s no other way to describe this.) endlessly with a program that seemed ten hours long. It was torture. The Carolina Chocolate Drops were musical and interesting. Rhianon Giddings has a voice that won t quite and a wonderful stage presence. Her musicians were that, musicians. These were professional and they were artists. There were, though, unfortunatelies, however. The first was that there wasn t enough string band material and it seemed that they have now gone for entertainment as much as good musical scholarship. The second that I very much missed Dom Flemons. What a talent and scholar! Without him, the Drops seemed like Rihianon Giddings and her guys. With him, they were a tight cohesive unit reminiscent of the New Lost City Ramblers. These are the people I drove 325 miles to see not the people on stage. About the audience: It was amazing to me how loud and rowdy they were. They were behaving as if they were listening to bluegrass but they weren t. They also seemed inappropriately appreciative of simple things: for example, scales and cliches Watson played I guess with a public like this, one can put on an event like this and get away with calling it bluegrass.

This was an amazing performance! All three groups were fabulous.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops far surpassed what I expected. Their stories, historical trivia, and foot stomping music made for a memorable night. This was musical storytelling at its finest!

All went as advertised. Seating was good. Venue was intimate. Performance was stellar.

Ever go to a concert and feel like you're witnessing history? The band is at some perfect moment in their evolution, the audience, music, everything just - transcends? Well, me neither. I KID! That's exactly what watching the Carolina Chocolate Drops felt like. So glad to have gone, and here's hoping history repeats itself, because I have vowed to be in their audience whenever they venture near. And just might even plan a trip to the east coast to catch them on their usual tour routes... Yes. They're that good.

I have Genuine Negro Jig, but I had never seen the Carolina Chocolate Drops perform live - THAT won't happen again! Friday night's show was fabulous from the beginning to the incredible end. Though I was so sorry to miss Ed Helms, the Watkins were wonderful hosts. Willie Watson and/or Josh Ritter would have made a great show all by themselves. But CCD - WOW!!!

Loved it all, except Lord Huron and Blind Pilot. LH is not bluegrass, though their music is good. Carolina Chocolate Drops were FANTASTIC!!! Would totally go see them again!