Packing a classic Chicago establishment is no easy feat for a band floating outside the mainstream, but Punch Brothers filled The Cubby Bear on Tuesday night with their powerful bluegrass rock for a XRT Free Sample concert.
Loyal listeners gave a warm welcome to the Nashville quintet, who rocked songs from their new album Who’s Feeling Young Now, including “New York City” and a cover of Radiohead’s “Kid A.”
The covers didn’t stop there, though, as they tossed “Sexx Laws” by Beck and “Just What I Needed” by The Cars into their set list. Self-describing themselves as a band that focuses on camaraderie, Punch Brothers felt comfortable playing off each other’s energy with mandolin-violin duets between bandmates Chris Thile and Gabe Witcher. Yet their frontman Thile―former member of Grammy-winning acoustic trio Nickel Creek―looked perfectly comfortable capturing the attention of the crowd and joking about old relationships and New York.
The Punch Brothers Free Sample is part of XRT’s on-going 93 Days of Summer.
Story by: Eric Secviar / WXRT
