The Avett Brothers Dust Off Rarities & Randy Travis Cover In Chicago

Last night The Avett Brothers played the second of the three sold out shows in the Windy City at the historic Chicago Theatre. The North Carolina-based Americana act rewarded their hardcore fans with a heavy dose of material from early in their career dusting off handful of rarities and seldom played songs, which included a Randy Travis cover that they hadn’t attempted in over four years.

The Avetts kicked off of the night with “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise,” from their 2009 break-out record I And Love And You. From there, all bets were off as the band reached deep into their catalog offering up a selection of tunes from ten studio albums in focusing the bulk of the setlist on lesser known songs from their pre-2009 output. After a handful of tour staples, which included just the 49th version of “Part Of Me” from 2013’s Magpie And The Dandelion, the band served up their first bust out of the night with “Late In Life,” playing the unreleased track for the first time since March of 2013. Two songs later they reached back to 2004’s Mignonette for just the ninth version of “Please Pardon Yourself” in two and a half-plus years. After a pair of old favorites – “Die Die Die” and “Murder In The City” – The Avetts treated the crowd to a true rarity with “Black, Blue,” as they performed The Second Gleam tune for just the 13th time ever and for the first time since October of 2013.

Later in the set the band offered up a pair of their “Pretty Girl” tunes with “Pretty Girl From Michigan” from 2012’s The Carpenter played for just the tenth time this year and “Pretty Girl From Annapolis” for just the second time in 2017. The rarities didn’t stop there as they dusted off their cover of Randy Travis'”Forever and Ever, Amen” marking just the fourth time they’ve done the track from the country star’s 1987 release Always & Forever and their first rendition of it since October of 2013. The band still had more deep cuts up their sleeve playing “Paul Newman vs. the Demons” for the first time since July of 2014 and 41st time overall, while “Hand Me Down Tune” from 2007’s Emotionalism was played for just the 56th time ever.

The Avett Brothers close out their three-night run at the Chicago Theatre tonight, watch fan-shot videos from last night and check out the full setlist below:

Videos

[If It’s The Beaches | Captured by DCRANGERFAN]

[Hand Me Down Tune | Captured by Dale Martin]

[Pretty Girl From Annapolis | Captured by Mitch K]

[Black, Blue | Captured by Adam Hunt]

[Paul Newman vs. The Demons | Captured by Adam Hunt]