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Backlit by strings of multicolored Christmas lights, the Punch Brothers floored the crowd with their pyrotechnic bluegrass/newgrass style in an intimate performance at the Lied Center of Kansas last Saturday night. As infectious as their namesake jingle, they fluidly incorporated new compositions and improvisation, traditional bluegrass with progressive harmonies and haunting melodies. As one continuous set a lasting a slightly over an hour and a half, this performance came at the tail-end of a tour segment yet they played with a freshness that belied the long hours on the road.

Welcoming the audience with a cheery “Howdy, folks” they started in with “Next to the Trash” off their latest album Antifogmatic. This was an ear-opener for anyone coming to see a traditional bluegrass band as it contrasted a lilting waltz in the chorus with a more rock-driven verse. An improvisatory segue was the first of many instrumental breaks that highlighted the prodigious skill and intense communication of the band members: Chris Thile (mandolin), Chris Eldridge (guitar), Paul Kowert (bass), Noam Pikelny (banjo), and Gabe Witcher (fiddle). This interlude led to “Don't Need No,” a bluesy rockabilly romp with a heavy off-beat.

After a quick retuning and light banter, they played “How to Grow a Woman from the Ground” from their first album, a ballad with a meandering melody grounded by bassist Kowert; it also featured distinct and equal voicing. With only hums and strums, they built a thick sound, even without their typical layered virtuosity. A shift to rhythmic picking brought in another improvisational instrumental on “Watch ‘at Breakdown” of a more traditional bluegrass vein. That feeling didn't last long though, before they switched to the harmonically darker and open sounding “You Are.” With a simpler melody, it was more pop-inspired than previous tunes with its narrow intervallic range and repetitive rhythmic activity. This mini-set was capped by a genuine honky-tonk rendition of Roger Miller's “Kansas City Star” with Witcher singing in an amusing twang.

The next series of tunes traversed the wide range of influences on the group. “Missy” began with a gentle banjo and mandolin duet and included a lonesome violin solo. Then yet again we were lead through a path of discovery as they passed the lead solo voice amidst intricate underlying rhythms. The lone offering from their second album Punch, “Punch Bowl” featured tightly wavering harmonies. As Thile announced the next piece I heard excited whispers from amongst the audience members; the Carter Family's “You Are My Flower” was performed as a duet, Witcher's nasal vocals blending well with the sonorous rasp of the bass. They then turned a complete about-face with a rock-driven, bitter-tinged cover of The Strokes “Reptilia.”

The next portion again rollicked around their seemingly infinite sonic influences. The instrumental “Friend or No More” seemed a straightforward bluegrass jam until the harmonies caught the ear at the end of each line of the theme. But they really got down to celebrating their roots in by the rip-roaring, yip-yodeling Jimmie Rodgers’ “Brakeman’s Blues” that exhibited Thile's impressive tenor, powerful control, and dynamic storytelling ability, along with the band's exuberant dexterity. “Me and Us” was much darker emotionally, with a transient harmonic progression; it manifested their newgrass style with a long vocal line over intricate picking, a reaching violin theme, and stark chords. They continued the stark soundscape with the violin and bass scraping their bows across the neck before transitioning into an easy beach-rock feel in “Alex” with ukulele-style strumming on the mandolin. The final improvisational interjection built from harmonics in the violin, progressively adding banjo ostinato and complex layering from the guitar and mandolin before billowing into a melody in the bass. The sonic invention continued with unpitched rhythmic strumming from the various voices in a disjointed jam that smoothly unfolded into an up-tempo version of the Gillian Welch/David Rawlings tune “Wayside/Back in Time.” Finishing with open three-part harmony over a banjo riff, the end of the set found the band exiting to a deserved standing ovation.

They didn’t make the audience wait long for the encore–Thile galloped gangly back on stage while the rest of the band following sedately. The heartfelt and intimate “This is the Song (Good Luck)” is the song that made me buy their album. Relatively simple compared to the flash and bombast of the previous choices, the interwoven lines and gentle vocals, direct message and poetic imagery made it a beguiling contrast. But with a “Let’s sing about whiskey together, shall we?” they leapt into their rousing final number “Rye Whiskey.”

Working from a multihued pallet, Punch Brothers continue to develop the tradition of bluegrass by both expanding the repertoire of their genre and gleaning from others. The songwriting was experience driven, therefore emotionally expansive which, coupled with their intricate musicality, made for an exciting concert. With the excellent mixing by sound engineer Dave Sinko, they created a coherent mélange of styles with sophisticated harmonies, gleeful humor, and vigorous virtuosity.

REVIEW:
Lied Center of Kansas
Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile
Saturday, October 2 at 7:30 p.m.
1600 Stewart Drive, Lawrence, KS
For more information visit www.lied.ku.edu or www.punchbrothers.com .

By Libby Hanssen

Traditional and New Classical, Theatre Contributor

Libby Hanssen holds degrees from University of Missouri-Kansas City (M.M.) and Ball State University (B.M.) in trombone performance and also studied music education at Indiana University. She has studied trombone with Carl Lenthe, JoDee Davis, John Seidel, John Huntoon and Denis Wick, and music education with Brent Gault, Estelle Jorgensen and Katherine Strand.

While at IU, she taught classes in general music, focusing on listening skills and music fundamentals through practical music usage and exploring new sound constructions. During the course of her studies at UMKC, she performed with many ensembles, including the Conservatory Orchestra and Musica Nova. She has also performed with the Kansas City Puccini Festival, the People's Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City, the New Jazz Order, the Indiana Wind Symphony and the Muncie Symphony Orchestra.

In 2010, she was a fellow (one of 23 journalists selected from across the US) for the seventh annual National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera at Columbia University’s Journalism School in New York City.

Most of her free time is spent with her three boys (son, dog and husband) and camera, exploring the many fine aspects of Kansas City living. She enjoys listening to KKFI - Kansas City Community Radio and KCUR - Kansas City's NPR station, visiting Kansas City's fine collection of museums and galleries, and scavenging in thrift and antique stores to add to her collection of toy instruments.

She writes for the joy of words and the process of constructing a story, maintaining the blog Proust Eats a Sandwich (www.prousteatsasandwich.wordpress.com). She is working on her first book: Murray Goes to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.