Alison Krauss + Union Station

Holy summer of amazing concerts, Batman!

Somehow it escaped my notice that AKUS was coming to the Fox Theater late last month, but luckily Dad alerted me just in time to go!  It was the final real "on-the-road" show of their summer tour; they had two more shows after ours, but both of them were in Knoxville, which is pretty close to home for most of the band members.

The concert was good, although I'm not as familiar with their latest album, Paper Airplane, as I am with their older stuff.  But there was lots of funny onstage chitchat, including a bit about how every song they sing is sad.  Which is practically true!  Apparently, according to Alison herself, they're just a depressed group of people.  But they did sing "Now That I've Found You," which is a happy one!

There were also some wicked solos, including one by the great Jerry Douglas, as well as one by the band's new pianist.  Dan Tyminski ("the singing voice of George Clooney in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?," as Alison introduced him) got lots of stage time.  They paid tribute to the movie soundtrack by doing not only Tyminski's famous "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow," but also "Down to the River to Pray."

There was one encore, which was an interesting collage of snippets of some of their older works, including "When You Say Nothing At All," "Whiskey Lullaby" (originally recorded as a duet with Brad Paisley; the official music video is here) and others.

It was a pretty low-key show, as concerts go, but that didn't surprise me.  Because the venue draws different performers and crowds, many shows at the Fox tend to be mellower than outdoor amphitheater concerts.  But the music was beautiful and it was wonderful to just relax my brain near the end of a tough week.