Punch Brothers leave sold out Durham crowd in a haze

The string quartet dubbed Punch Brothers, led by Mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, rolled into Duke's Reynolds Theatre on Friday night for a sold out show.

They kicked things off with the instrumental "Watch 'at Breakdown" from Thile's 2006 album How To Grow a Woman From the Ground, before launching into a set heavy on new tunes from the band's forthcoming album Antifogmatic, due out in May.

Punch Brothers kill in Clayton

Punch Brothers, Chris Thile's new band, brought their unique style of bluegrass to Clayton of all places Saturday night.

After listening to Punch last month, I didn't expect a lot from the band's live show, but the band really delivered.

The show opened with "Watch 'at Breakdown," a jaunty, upbeat instrumental tune from Thile's last album, How To Grow A Woman From the Ground." The band continued through the set playing "Punch Bowl" and "How To Grow and Woman From the Ground" before launching into Movements 1 & 2 of "The Blind Leaving the Blind."

The interplay between the band during "The Blind Leaving the Blind" is amazing, but after the first movement, I found myself spacing out during the long instrumental passages. They only played the first two movements during the first set, saving the last two for the second set.

Many of the crowd favorites throughout the night were songs that Thile didn't write. The band's versions of Gillian Welch's "Wayside (Back in Time)," The Strokes' "Heart In A Cage" and The White Stripes' "Dead Leaves On the Dirty Ground" were amazing.

Other highlights included a few older Thile tunes. "This Is All Real" from Thile's 2004 album Deceiver. The crowd cheered when he announced the song, which led Thile to reply "everyone who bought that album is here tonight." Deceiver was a departure for Thile because it was more of a rock album than a bluegrass album. It was not accepted widely by fans, but I think it's his best album to date.

For the band's encore, Punch Brothers pulled out Thile's oldest tune of the set, "Song For a Young Queen." The track is from Thile's 2001 album, Not All Who Wander Are Lost. The band ended the night with a great cover of The Beatles song "Baby's In Black."

The crowd at the Clayton Center seemed to be mostly season ticket holders and older people. I didn't know how they'd react to Thile's music and humor, but they seemed to love the music though the didn't get a lot of the jokes.

Throughout the show the band sounded great. It's amazing Thile managed to find a group of musicians that can play on his level. Though the show was good, I couldn't help thinking as I was leaving the Clayton Center that if they hadn't played the 42-minute piece "The Blind Leaving the Blind," that the band could've played 8 to 10 more songs. Next time around, I hope they leave the opus out of the set.

Out tomorrow: Punch Brothers - Punch

Anyone familiar with Chris Thile's music knows that he likes to think outside the box. In the past, his tendency for experimentation and complex musical passages have produced great music. On Punch, Thile's instincts finally fail him.

The record begins with a jaunty tune called "Punch Bowl." The songs continues where Thile's last record left off. It's a very traditional sounding bluegrass tune (well, as traditional as Thile usually gets). From there the record falls off.

Tracks two through five are four movements of a piece called "The Blind Leaving the Blind." While it seems like a good idea in theory, the movements end up being a series of drawn out, overly busy instrumental passages that resemble tracks from Thile's Not All Who Wander Are Lost. The problem is "The Blind Leaving the Blind" lacks the precise musicality of Not All Who Wander, leaving the songs sounding too sloppy and jammy.

There are moments in "The Blind Leaving the Blind" that are musically satisfying but you have to sit through a lot of mush to reach the good stuff.

Once you cross the hump that is "The Blind," things improve a little. "Sometimes" is an instrumental tune that while at times seems too busy, has clear melodies that don't just seem like the band is running scales.

The standout track on the album is "Nothing, Then." It's a droney three minute pop song that slowly builds, crescendos, then trails off in the end with an quiet instrumental passage. Lyrically, the song deals more directly with Thile's divorce than any other on the album, though it is the overriding them on the entire album.

The last song, "It'll Happen" is also a good song. It's a somber tune which Thile delivers well.

This is Thile's weakest record to date, well, at least since he reached puberty. He's still a brilliant songwriter and musician, but on this record his ambition got the best of him.

Punch Brothers will play at the Clayton Center on March 29. Tickets are available via etix.com.

Nickel Creek members' tours stop in NC

Nickel Creek played their last shows at the Ryman Auditorium in November leaving the band free to focus on other projects. Two of these new musical projects will stop in NC in March.

Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek will try out her new solo skills, opening for Tift Merritt at the Carolina Theatre in Durham on March 22. It's unclear yet whether Sara will perform solo or with a group, but it should be a good show either way. Sara will start recording a solo record in late February will Led Zeppelin bassist and bluegrass enthusiast John Paul Jones producing.

Punch Brothers, Chris Thile's new band, will play at the Clayton Center in Clayton on March 29. The band will also play in Asheville at Grey Eagle Tavern on the 27th, in Greensboro at the Carolina Theatre on the 28th and in Charlotte at the McGlohon Theatre on the 30th. Thile inked a deal with Nonesuch Records (home of Wilco) last year who will release Punch Brothers first album, Punch, on February 26.

Tickets for Tift Merritt with Sara Watkins are available via Tickets.com and Punch Brothers tickets are available via Etix.com.