I’m fortunate to have spent a career (turned side hustle) attending concerts. I’ve seen more shows than you. (Seriously. I promise.) I’ve seen nearly all the greats, caught up-and-comers at tiny clubs before they graduated to arenas, and have met many of my music heroes.
With hundreds and hundreds of shows under my belt, I’m asked more often than I would like:
“What is your favorite show that you have ever attended?”
I hate this question with a passion. What the heck do I say to that? Where do I start? “Favorite,” “most memorable,” and “best” all have distinctly different answers. Maybe the “best” (what the metrics would be to measure this, I haven’t a clue) is different than my “favorite.” It would be like choosing which of my three dogs I love the most.
No matter the question, I may have finally found an answer:
“…That time I saw Avett Brothers at Chautauqua Institution in August of 2025.”
Hyperbole? Nope. This show checks all the boxes. I had the time of my life tonight.
The show was a beautiful balance of everything that Avett Brothers have to offer. The Americana/modern folk act from Concord, North Carolina, can transition from soft ballads to raucous, foot-stomping jams with the drop of a hat. Brothers Scott and Seth Avett’s talents span equal parts superb musical composition and poetic lyrics that will make one say,”Darn! I wish I had written that!”
Every bit of their talents were on full display tonight. The setlist was a perfect sampler of everything that they have to offer. And, props to the audience, who knew when to hoot and holler versus quiet down to listen respectfully.
I used to attend church camp on Chautauqua Lake every summer while growing up. I stopped and visited the camp after my three+ hour drive to Chautauqua. An assistant director gave me a tour of the place that helped shape me as a person. It gave me all the feels! My heart was already full as I strolled through the gates of Chautauqua Institution.
I can’t even begin to describe the campus of the Institution. It houses a 4,000-seat amphitheater (nearly at capacity tonight) inside of a microcosm that I don’t have words to describe. It’s almost a town of its own with such unique characteristics and landscaped with as much detail as Disney World. (A visit is required to understand what I’m talking about.)
This concert reviewer attended the show solo after my beautiful wife bowed out at the last minute due to illness. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t leave my ailing wife home by herself, but as soon as I got the “you can still go,” I peeled out of my driveway without hesitation. C’mon! It’s Avett Brothers!
Scott and Seth started the show sans longtime touring members, just the two of them, and opened with “We Are Loved” from their 2024 self-titled release. Seth dominated the vocal duties while the crowd respectfully listened, saving raucous applause for the song’s conclusion. The beautiful tune includes the lyrics “We may be burdened” … “We may be lonely” …. “Pain comes and pain goes,” all followed by a reassuring “But we are loved,” setting a motif for the evening.
Immediately after “We Are Loved,” the rest of the musicians, including bassist Bob Crawford and cellist Joe Kwon, emerged, and the show kicked up a notch with the lively “Distraction #74.” The final verse of the song featured the band members taking turns with only a few words at a time each (sometimes as few as one).
The upbeat “Will You Return?” was followed by a tune for old-school fans; they reached deep into their catalog for “Left on Laura, Left on Lisa,” from their 2006 sophomore effort, ‘Four Thieves Gone.’
Early in the set, Scott made his way up the stairs and into the seating bowl, offering high fives and hugs to starstruck fans while continuing to sing.
In my fourth row seats, the person immediately to my left in the church pew seating, as well as the two patrons seated immediately to my right, all came to the show. Together, we sang, danced, stomped, and clapped without apology, as if nobody was watching (despite 3,000 fans having to look past us to see the stage). Collectively, we had more with our newfound friends than I’ve had at a concert in recent memory.
One of this writer’s favorite Avett tunes, “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise,” surfaced early in the set. Scott sat at a piano and raised his voice as he sang, “When nothing is owed, deserved or expected / Your life doesn’t change by someone that’s elected,” which was met with roaring cheers before he continued, “If you’re loved by someone, you’re never rejected / Decide what to be and go be it!”
Another trio of back-to-back-to-back diverse tunes gave way to a fiddle-heavy (courtesy of Tania Elizabeth) cover of “Farewell Trion,” which saw every able-bodied fan out of their seats and had them grooving to the song’s rhythm.
Seth showcased his love for NASCAR with multiple guitars that were decorated with tributes to some of the sport’s most prominent drivers. (Confession: I’m uninitiated with racing, and was clueless; unable to tell you which guitars were tributes to who.)
Seth stood alone on the stage for “The Ballad of Love and Hate,” from the 2007 record, ‘Emotionalism’ The song is a clever exchange of letters from the emotions (HEY! I just figured out the clever album title) “Love” and “Hate,” with both of them exchanging thoughts (and jabs) with each other.
“Ain’t No Man” and a cover of Doc Watson’s barn-burner, “Black Mountain Rag” continued to leave the audience with zero opportunity to sit down.
After the lyrical masterpiece “No Hard Feelings,” it was time for Scott to isolate on the stage for “Murder in the City.”
The song’s closing lyrics: “Always remember there was nothing worth sharing / Like the love that let us share our name,” were printed on the bulletin for my wedding.
The setlist included songs that span eight Avett Brothers’ records. Carrying on a waning touring act formula, the setlist was most heavy with numbers from their recent 2024 release, with tunes distributed throughout the set from the opening “We Are Loved” through the 22nd song on the list, “Cheap Coffee.” Ordinarily, this is a pet peeve of mine. I find myself clinging to songs that introduce me to an artist, and generally, prefer those to subsequent releases. In all honesty, the same holds true for my taste of Avett Brothers tunes. I fell in love with their debut album, which was one of three they released before 2005 (when I first discovered this act). 2016’s ‘True Sadness’ was an acquired taste for me, and the same could be said for 2019’s ‘Closer Than Together’ and their recent self-titled release. I love the albums, just with slightly less affection than the first seven. Tonight, the tides turned a bit. I’ve seen Avett Brothers a dozen(ish) times over the past decade, and some of the newer tracks in tonight’s set were live debuts for me. Songs off of the new record, “Country Kid” and “Love of a Girl,” had me on my feet, grinning from ear to ear.
Five personal favorites emerged during the final nine pre-encore songs, including the quiet “I Wish I Was,” back-to-back “Laundry Room” and “Talk on Indolence,” and two Avett staples, the impossible-not-to-dance-to, “Kick Drum Heart” and mellow set-closer, “I and Love and You.”
Before saying goodnight (for real, this time), there was one last treat: “Life” from ‘The Carpenter’ where the lyrics reminded fans that “We’re not of this world for long” and poses the question “Wouldn’t it be fine to stand behind / The words we say in the best of times?” True, we aren’t of this world for long, and these precious moments are well-spent at an Avett Brothers show. As for standing behind the words we say in the best of times. That’s what fans were muttering on the way out of the Chautauqua Institution. Tonight was, without question, the best of times.
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