Crooked Still, an acclaimed bluegrass group based in Boston, packed Crowell Concert Hall over Homecoming Weekend, playing a sold-out show on Friday, Oct. 17. The quintet alternated between original work and more traditional songs throughout their lively performance.
Band members kept the atmosphere light by cracking jokes and interacting with the crowd between pieces.
“The banjo is not supposed to be appealing to people with traditional brains,” said Greg Liszt, while tuning his instrument. “It’s supposed to be for weirdoes, for tinkerers.”
Crooked Still did more than joke around, however. The talented performers played around with different tunings, styles, and instruments (such as the baritone ukulele and guitar) throughout the set.
Listeners found this experimentation immensely gratifying.
“It was incendiary,” said Michelle Garcia ’10. “I love that they included shape-note singing. It was a wonderfully authentic touch, considering their act.”
Currently touring to promote their new album, “Still Crooked” features five individually acclaimed performers: Liszt on banjo, Brittany Haas on fiddle, cellist Tristan Clarridge, vocalist Aofie O’Donovan and Corey DiMario on double-bass. Liszt, DiMario and O’Donovan have been working together since 2001, releasing two albums with former band member Rushad Eggleston: “Hop High” and “Shaken By A Low Sound.” After Eggleston left the group last year, the three remaining members recruited Haas and Clarridge.
Ever-increasing levels of audience enthusiasm marked the performance. After noticing that many students and parents were unable to stop tapping their feet along to the music, O’Connor remarked delightedly that people in the crowd should feel free to move around even more.
“I’m surprised that no one is dancing,” she said.
Once the group started playing the lively tune “Shady Grove” from their debut album, O’Connor’s wishes were soon realized. Students poured from their seats to dance to the last three numbers in front of the stage: hooting, hollering, and stomping their feet to the music. The band even played an encore, while many students (if not their parents) remained dancing in the aisles.
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