The Biltmore, built by George W. Vanderbilt circa 1895 and located in Asheville, NC, is billed as "America's largest home." It is also one of America's great tourist attractions and is a beloved brand around the Asheville area. So, when you book 31-time Grammy Award winner Alison Krauss and her band, Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, at the Biltmore's concert venue, well, you've booked a must-see and must-be-seen event for western North Carolina scene-makers.
C'mon, now, you know who you are. You're the folks who are willing to pay $75 to hang out and socialize and drink beer and, well, as I said, to be seen. But, what with your tin ears and all, listening to Alison Krauss is an afterthought. So, when the music starts at 8:10--and there's no opening act, that's Alison Krauss up there on stage--when the music starts at 8:10, that's when you start thinking about actually coming into the outdoor "hall" and finding your seat.
And so, as Krauss and Union Station are opening with the title song from their latest record, "Paper Airplane," here they come--all the Jerky Boys and Girls, stumbling and mumbling in with their beers and their ticket stubs. And as Dan Tyminski sings "Dust Bowl Children" and then the entire band rips into the traditional bluegrass breakdown, "Cluck Old Hen," still they come. Finally Krauss more or less closes out the Getting Seated portion of the show with "Lay My Burden Down."
Finally the focus is on the music, unless you're somewhere around the perimeter of the seating, where you'll find all the Jerky Boys and Girls who never even attempted to get themselves seated. They're still out there jabbering away.... But for most of us, the focus is finally on the music.
And, hey, Alison isn't in her best voice tonight but she's still Alison, the sweetest voice in all of pop music. And now she's knocking "A Ghost in This House" and "Miles to Go" right out of the park.
Then the focus returns to the band on Jerry's solo, Paul Simon's "American Tune" paired with Chick Corea's "Spain," from Douglas' new record, Traveller. Then Tyminski sings again on "The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn," and gets the biggest ovation of the night so far. A few minutes later he sings "A Man of Constant Sorrow" and gets an even bigger one.
That, in fact, concluded the main part of the show, much to the audience's consternation. I mean, it's only been an hour and a quarter, and about an hour since all the Jerky Boys and Girls quieted down. But fear not, the band returned--or, better yet, removed themselves to center stage where they gathered closely around Krauss in various combinations. One fellow described it as the "acoustic" part of the show but, of course, it was all acoustic. But now, Barry Bales and his bass was retired. A more stripped down sound with an emphasis on harmony vocals was presented, and with a medley of tunes in truncated form.
They included “When You Say Nothing at All,” “Whiskey Lullaby,”
“Down to the River to Pray” and “Your Long Journey." "Down to the River to Pray" was presented in an especially sparse form so that the audience felt compelled to join in the singing, which created a pleasing ethereal effect. Then, to cap the
evening was a full-length version and the show’s best song, “There Is a Reason.” Douglas may be the greatest instrumental in the world, as Krauss asserted, but Ron Block's guitar solo on "There Is a Reason" was every bit as beautiful as anything Douglas played tonight.
Overall, it was a fine performance by one of pop music's best working bands. The vocals were only at a B+ level, but the harmonies and Tyminski's contributions were as good or better than lots of bands all by itself. The instrumental playing, both as accompaniment or in solo form, was impeccable...A+. The crowd and the ambience generally was not so good though, again, by concert's end, most of the Jerky Boys and Girls had settled down.
But, you know, it's still a free country. Why somebody would feel compelled to spend $75 to have a conversation, I don't know.
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