Photo by Nathan Burrell. More on Flickr
“I’ll do this ‘till the day I drop dead in front of you,” Yonder Mountain String Band’s Jeff Austin shouted to a packed crowd at the Pageant Saturday night. This was the second night of their two-night stand, and YMSB were going to leave it all on the stage. At one point Austin, the group’s mandolin player, even looked at his watch and said, “we’ve got an hour and forty minutes till they kick us off.” It was that kind of night.
This four-piece from Colorado plays a style of bluegrass that nods to both their older bluegrass influence, as well as the newer jam scene of which they are part. The playful banter of a mandolin solo and the quick twang of a banjo both added an older texture to the modern aspects of their sound. The guitar work was skilled and steady, and the back-and-forth bass lines were the perfect metronome for the band. With bassist Ben Kaufmann providing this backbone, the dancing came easy, even for those on the balcony. As the crowd moved like a tide, the solos went from player to player, guided by the spotlights of their state-of-the-art light show.
Yonder Mountain String Band had spent the last month on the road, and they gave special props to the avid followers in the front row. But, these folks were just the beginning of a mass of bouncing heads and arms waving in the air. With each song YMSB played, the crowd picked up the groove immediately and started getting down. And with the end of YMSB’s second encore, no one was done dancing — House of Pain’s 90s rap classic “Jump Around” came over the PA, and the crowd took it to heart, vibing with the keyboard hook all the way out the doors.
Highlights from the show were the first set’s “Blue Collar Blues,” and “Troubled Mind” and “Snow on the Pines” from the second set.
I can feel it! They were great this summer at the Crossroads in KC. Top quality musicians who absolutely love what they do. So glad Eleven is covering them!!