North Carolina’s Avett Brothers’ — Scott and Seth — albums have achieved considerable success: Their major-label debut, I and Love and You, went to No. 16 on the Billboard Top 200, 2012’s The Carpenter reached No. 4 (and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Americana Album) –and 2016’s True Sadness peaked at No. 3. But the Avetts built their reputations on their dynamic shows, and they’re best experienced as a live band. Their recent show at Wolf Trap, with alt-rock stalwarts Guster opening — the second of two nights there — was exactly the kind of high-energy performance, we’ve come to expect from them.
Though the band started as an acoustic side project, they’ve long since moved beyond that, adding lots of electric, rock & roll muscle to their folk and bluegrass roots. But they haven’t abandoned those roots: Their Sept. 19 set included a cover of the traditional “Frog Went A-Courting,” which they introduced by talking about the influence of the old-time musician Doc Watson. The rest of set was all their original songs, beginning with “The D Bag Rag,” followed by “Left on Laura, Left on Lisa.”Â
They didn’t say much between songs, though I have to confess that, after the week I had, I was crashing pretty hard, and I may not have caught everything. They went straight into “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise,” then “Country Kid” and “Vanity.” The set continued with “Vanity,” “Kick Drum Heart,” and “Cheap Coffee.” The back half of the set included “Locked Up,” “Shame,” “Die Die Die,” “Go to Sleep,” “Ain’t No Man” “I Wish I Was,” “Laundry Room,” “Talk on Indolence,” “No Hard Feelings,” “Hand-Me-Down Tune,” and “Salina,” ending with the title track from I and Love and You.
Watch the official music video for “I And Love And You” by The Avett Brothers on YouTube:
The Avetts saved the covers for their encore: the Cranberries’ “Linger,” the Flatt & Scruggs instrumental “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” and Tom T. Hall’s “Me and Jesus.” They finished the evening with their own life.
Similar to the Avetts, Guster started as an acoustic, folky band, before shifting to a more muscular, dare I say even arena rock sound. They got an hour to open then show, and they delivered the goods, starting with “What You Wish For,” followed by “The Captain and “Long Night.” Again, much like the Avetts, they kept the chatter to a minimum, and the set continued with “Satellite” and “Terrified.” It drew widely from their work 1999 to the present: “Black Balloon” and the “Elevator” from Ooh La La; “One Man Wrecking Crew,” from Ganging Up On The Sun; “Happier,” from Lost and Gone Forever; “Come Downstairs and Say Hello” and “Ramona,” from Keep It Together;and “Do You Love Me” from Easy Wonderful. They finished their set with “Jesus on the Radio.”
I’d never seen either band before, though I certainly am familiar with both and their reputations as live acts. They more than lived up to the billing, and it’s easy to see why the venue was sold out for both nights. As much as I like the Avetts recorded work, seeing them perform gave me a better appreciation for just how good they really are. I wouldn’t call them a jam band, but they’re similar to that scene in being best experienced this way.
Here are some photos of The Avett Brothers performing live at Wolf Trap on Sept. 19, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Casey Vock.
Here are some photos of Guster performing live at Wolf Trap on Sept. 19, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Casey Vock.
