The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — As Seth Avett sang the opening lines of “Tear Down the House,” the seated, sold-out crowd at Tuesday evening’s Strings Music Festival concert thought it was getting what it had expected: a laid-back, folksy sibling act from North Carolina, full of pained nostalgia and unassuming banjo lines.

That impression lasted for about four more minutes, until rabid Avett fans poured onto the Strings Music Pavilion dance floor in anticipation of “Shame,” one of the many songs on which The Avett Brothers unleashed a fury of homegrown musical talent and rock band vigor.

The Avett Brothers’ live show has little or nothing to do with what the band sounds like on CD. It’s no better and no worse, it’s just completely different: Scott Avett slams a kick drum while he plays banjo, before he hops behind a drum set, where he continues to offer up lovely harmonies and wrenching lyrics. Seth Avett beats a hi-hat with an egg shaker, but he also plays deeply personal and poetic tunes while Scott sits on the floor and harmonizes. Bob Crawford spins his upright bass before he bows it gracefully, and Joe Kwon goes through the same motions on his cello.

The Avett Brothers are multi-faceted, and that comes through with staggering clarity in their live set.

Part of that power comes from the Avetts’ approach to every concert they play; each song is an audition for a new audience. On Tuesday — playing a venue that has very little to do with their normal setting, to a crowd that was probably at least 50 percent first-time Avett listeners — that approach was perfect.

As the two-hour set moved on, more and more people moved up to the front, dancing with abandon to rocked-out versions of “Die Die Die,” “Salina” and “At the Beach.” The Avetts kept pace with songs old and new, toning down the volume for the family themed “Murder in the City.”

I’m sure the concert gained the band some new Colorado fans. I’m also sure it exposed a new set of music appreciators to the Strings Music Pavilion, which supported the Avetts’ sound better than any venue I’ve heard them in.

The concert showed the uninitiated what the Avetts could do. But it also showed what the pavilion could do for bands like them.