It was freaking amazing, that is how it was! But if you would like to know more details than that, let me just tell you.
Aoife O'Donovan opened the show, which I was ecstatic about. I love her voice so much (and apparently so does Chris Thile! He said if he could have his voice sound like anyone's and it wouldn't be weird that it was a girl's, it would be hers!). She did four or five songs, one of which was "Lay My Burden Down," which she wrote for Allison Krauss and appears on AKUS's last album, which I have yet to get from my parents. I know, I fail. Her set was beautiful and I am going to pick up her cd soon.
THEN IT WAS PUNCH BROTHER'S TIME! They opened with "Movement and Location," which is astounding live. We saw the set list before the show, but I couldn't read it from where I was standing (which was close, incidentally, I just ordered my glasses today) and I thought it said "Nevermind." Andrew and I were confused. Next came "Who's Feeling Young Now?" which also is amazing live. I thought my ovaries exploded when I heard it on the cd. Nope, but they sure did when it is live. I will post a picture of the set list so you can all see it. I think my favorite part was "Kid A/Down Along the Dixie Line". I just love their Radiohead covers, and I love seeing them do them live so I can see how they make all those interesting sounds. They went into Gillian Welch/David Rawling's song "Down Along the Dixie Line," and they did it super fast! Chris made a comment about how they do Radiohead cover's at normal speed and then super fast versions of Gillian Welch songs. Then Noam was joking about how they were just doing what they could to give these bands some exposure.
Rachel's post talks about a lot of the little jokes and things that they made throughout the night, so I will link it here so you can all check it out. They are so fun to see live! Such good guys with excellent senses of humor. Aoife came out and joined them for "Here and Heaven," which they joked about being about Chicago. I was so happy they did that, because I really, really love that song, and I got it on video! I will share that soon, along with some pictures. Rachel took amazing pictures with her super sweet camera, and I didn't bring in my big camera since we were in a hurry, so I just used my iPhone.
So this is the best part. After the show was over, we were waiting in the lobby for them to come out, which they did. Rachel bought one of the tour posters and I had a set list which I super stealthily stole. We got in line for them to sign them. Rachel went first. Gabe commented on my stealthy set list stealing. Chris E was next, and gosh, he is just the nicest guy! Then Chris was in the middle. Rachel asked him if they were going to be around for pictures, and he said that they would. Then when it was my turn to say hi and get my stuff signed, he said it was good to see me again and stood up and gave me a hug! I think I literally died. I think I said "You remember me?!" and he said "Of course I do!" Then I think after that I was chatting with him and said how much I liked the show and we talked about how good the venue was. Before I moved on I said how much I liked the album and how it makes my drive to work everyday much more enjoyable, and he gave me a high five :) Ugh, I die. I die. Then we moved on to Noam and Paul who also were both quite nice.
We hung around and chatted and waited for the crowd to clear out so we could get some pictures. Aoife walked out while we were waiting so I made sure to tell her what a great job she did, too. When the crowds were mostly gone, we got back into line to get pictures. We got pictures with all of them, and they were all very gracious. When we got our picture with Critter, I complimented him on his bow tie, which was super adorable. Chris came out for his pictures with him and gave us both some side squeezes. Rachel told him that they need to come to Indianapolis and I said to come back to Iowa. (PB hasn't been here since 2009!) I just can't get over how nice they all are!
I think that's most of the details I can remember. Let me know if you have questions, I'd be happy to answer them. I AM STILL SMILING! I just can't thank Rachel enough for hanging out with us, saving spots, and taking pictures! We had such a good time!
