The Avett Brothers with Trampled by Turtles – Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, MN – October 24th, 2024

The Avett Brothers with Trampled by Turtles – Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, MN – October 24^th, 2024

Presented by Live Nation

Review and photos by Kate Klaus

The Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN was on fire with the sounds of folk and bluegrass music from the pairing of the Avett Brothers and Minnesota’s own Trampled by Turtles.  It was an amazing honor to see Trampled by Turtles perform on such a big stage in their home state, and the performance exceeded all expectations.  Led by the amazing guitarist and front man Dave Simonett, their raw energy was on full display from the moment the lights lit the stage.  Trampled by Turtles have a vibrant energy, and with their acoustic and roots stylings paired with such intricate musicality, ranging from Dave Carroll’s banjo riffs to the subtle mandolin stylings of Erik Berry and Ryan Young’s exuberant fiddle playing, their show is such a completely immersive performance experience that is just captivating.  Their 20-song set spanned their discography, opening with “You Never Let Me Down” off their 2024 EP “Always Here”, a mid-set treat of “Whiskey” from their 2004 album “Songs from a Ghost Town” and closing with “Wait So Long” off 2010 album “Palomino”.   Their performance was a mesmerizing delight for the full Xcel Center of hometown fans.

The Avett Brothers rounded out this amazing night of music with a compelling 25-song set of music, characterized by their rock take on bluegrass and folk music.  They opened with “Never Apart” with a shadowy, foggy stage with minimal haunting lighting and melancholy harmonies from brothers Scott and Seth Avett and beautiful deep tones from Joe Kwon on cello and Bob Crawford on double bass.  Then joined by the whole band, they followed up with “Satan Pulls the Strings”, with Seth walking out to the end of the stage and playing to the crowd and Scott on the piano and vocals.  Their set was full of a range of great songs from their catalog.  They closed with an encore of a cover of Toby Keith’s “As Good as I Once Was”, a David Childers cover, and finally their hit “No Hard Feelings” to end a night of amazing music.