AKUS concert review

[BeatlesFan]

I saw AKUS over the weekend near Cape Cod, Massachusetts and it was a great show. The venue had a rotating stage, which I had never before experienced. Alison said that she felt like a “rotisserie chicken.” Having seats in-the-round meant that there wasn’t a bad seat in the place. The trade-off is that for portions of the show, the band is not facing you. If you were lucky enough to be in the right aisle, the band walked right by you to get to the stage. Alison looked very svelte wearing a long, blue silk skirt with a black top; she just looked radiant. She sounded so great live; her voice never faltered. Once, mid-song during Oh, Atlanta, she started laughing and told Dan to “stop doing that” and then continued (I think he was making funny faces at her). I had heard other fans say that she appears very shy and reserved, but she was grinning the whole time and talked a lot in between songs. She told some very funny stories about her bandmates when she introduced them. The woman who opened for them was named Julie Lee and she had a great voice. She joined Alison during the encore and they sang beautifully together. Another highlight was seeing Jerry Douglas hold the audience spellbound during his solo playing what he called a medley of tunes and then having the rest of the band return one-by-one to join in on The Boy Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn. I listed below the songs they played in no particular order:

Let Me Touch You for Awhile
Lucky One
Bright, Sunny South
Baby, Now that I’ve Found You
Every Time You Say Goodbye
Hide and Seek
Take Me for the Longing
Cluck Old Hen
Faraway Land
Maybe
Forget About It
Jerry’s solo medley
Boy Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn
When You Say Nothing at All
Man of Constant Sorrow
Broadway
Oh, Atlanta

Encore:
Down to the River to Pray
(song I didn’t know)
There is a Reason

[kerchi]

Ooh, I'm so jealous!:D

[mindy]

Down to the River to Pray is a song off the O Brother CD. It's a lovely song. My Dad saw them last week, and said it was an incredible show.

[BeatlesFan]

Oh, I meant there was another song besides Down to the River, which I didn't know. Sorry, that wasn't very clear. They sang three songs in the encore: Down to the River, There is a Reason and this other song.

[mindy]

No problem. I'm glad you enjoyed the concert. They are supposed to be coming my way again next year, so hopefully I can catch them then.:)

[BeatlesFan]

Okay, I found out the name of that song, it's an old Hymn called Blessed Assurance.

[mindy]

That's a good ol' hymn. I'd like to hear them sing it.

[LuckyGurl2001]

That sounds really awesome! Rotating stage, huh? I think I would have felt like a rotisserie chicken too...either that or I would have been extremely dizzy. :) Anyway, sounds cool...wish I could have been there. (Of course, I would like to be at any AKUS concert...) Oh, yeah, did she do the whole huntin thing to introduce Barry? I just think that's hilarious...

[BeatlesFan]

Yes, she did talk about how Barry Bales is a big outdoorsman, etc. and watching his videos on how to hunt turkeys. That was funny.