Alison and the band treated the crowd to a two-hour show featuring many songs from their latest album, "Paper Airplane", along with a bunch of selections from the past ten years. The show opened with the title track of that CD, sang beautifully by Alison and performed flawlessly by the band. Next in line was the 2nd song from the same album, "Dust Bowl Children", which Dan Tyminski sang the lead vocals. Among the other songs from the new album were "Dimming Of The Day", "Bonita and Bill Butler" and my personal favorite, "Miles To Go".
Other highlights from the show included songs from Krauss' last compilation, "A Hundred Miles Or More" as well as albums with Union Station such as "Lonely Runs Both Ways", "New Favorite", and "Forget About It". The band blended traditional bluegrass songs with the more contemporary sound that Alison has become known for during the past decade. Some of these highlights included "Ghost In This House", "Let Me Touch You For Awhile", "Baby, Now That I've Found You", "Oh Atlanta", and Tyminski favorite "Man Of Constant Sorrow", which was made famous when George Clooney "lip-synced" it in the movie "Oh Brother Where Art Thou".
To listen to Alison Krauss and Union Station (AKUS) perform live is to be transported to a musical world that few get to truly experience. In a world where flashy effects, auto-tune and even pre-recorded tracks are commonly found in concerts, this band had kept it simple and real, while pushing the envelope and boundaries of musicianship. Live or recorded, you will simply find no better a band than this one in music today.
Krauss' amazing vocals shine on every song she sings. But she also plays a mean fiddle on many of their songs. Dan Tyminski sings lead on the more traditional bluegrass songs and plays mandolin and guitar. Ron Block plays guitar and banjo and sings some harmony vocals. Barry Bales plays upright bass as well as electric bass. He also sings background vocals as well. Both Bales and Block have written some of the band's songs. Jerry Douglas joined Union Station as a special guest more than ten years ago. He is a quite simply a master of the dobro and lap steel guitar. Douglas' contributions to the band have been nothing short of amazing and he fits right in with the rest of the group who have been performing together for more than twenty years.
If I had to pick something negative from this show it would be the lack of songs from the earlier years of AKUS, as well as the omission of some of Alison's more well-known mainstream hits. It would have been nice to hear songs like "When You Say Nothing At All" and "Whiskey Lullaby" (even without Brad Paisley). And a show without songs from earlier albums like "I've Got That Old Feeling", "Too Late To Cry" and "Two Highways" would have been welcome at this show, and they would have shown more of the band's versatility.
Opening the show, from Portland, Oregon was a musician who went by the name of M. Ward. His brief set seemed to warm-up the audience as they continued to file into the amphitheater. The Greek Theatre holds about 8,500 people. I would estimate a crowd of near 6,000 at this show. It's hard to tell if the absence of a country music station in the Bay Area had any affect on the crowd size, because Krauss' songs were never played on country radio anyway. Overall, the Berkeley seemed a bit subdued. There was very little crowd participation during the bluegrass numbers, and many people seemed to not appreciate or be familiar with most of the songs. I even noticed several people making early exits before the show ended. Their loss.
But for those like myself who have followed Alison Krauss and Union Station for more than twenty years, this was a wonderful show by an amazing group of musicians. The band is currently touring the U.S. and Canada to support their new album. If you have the chance to catch their show live, I highly recommend that you do. You will not be disappointed.
