The Avett Brothers Revive The Cranberries’ ‘Linger’ After 480 Shows

The Avett Brothers broke out The Cranberries’ “Linger” on Thursday at Westville Music Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut. The rare cover began the encore and ended a 480-show gap.

The Avett Brothers first performed “Linger” during a January 2018 run in Louisville, days after Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan died. The band played the song once more at Avett Brothers At The Beach that February before putting it back on the shelf for more than eight years. Backstage rehearsal footage of the arrangement surfaced on YouTube just after its 2018 debut.

Seth Avett handled lead vocals on “Linger,” while Joe Kwon on cello and Tania Elizabeth on fiddle added a dual-string arrangement to The Cranberries cover. Scott Avett contributed harmony vocals and banjo.

Watch audience-shot video of The Avett Brothers’ return to “Linger” below:

Guster opened Thursday’s concert. The Avett Brothers’ set also included “Spell Of Ambition” for the first time in 72 shows. The band last performed the song on July 11, 2025.

Setlist (via db.nov.blue)

Set: Shame, Die Die Die, Left on Laura, Left on Lisa, Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise, Forever Now, Vanity, Kick Drum Heart, Through My Prayers, Backwards With Time, Satan Pulls the Strings, Spell of Ambition, Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Me and Jesus, Ain’t No Man, No Hard Feelings, Murder in the City, I Wish I Was, Laundry Room, Talk on Indolence, I and Love and You

Encore: Linger, Distraction #74, Will You Return?, Hand-Me-Down Tune