Watch Audience Help Take The Load Off Trampled By Turtles When Sound Goes Out At Alpine Valley

Trampled by Turtles‘ set on Sunday opening for The Avett Brothers at Wisconsin’s Alpine Valley Music Theatre was marred by sound issues. The Duluth, Minnesota-based string band made the best of the situation and were aided by the crowd on a rare The Band cover after the PA fully failed.

Last night’s concert at Alpine Valley was the second of two co-headlining shows for the pair of Americana acts. The Avett Brothers and Trampled by Turtles began their short time on the road together on Saturday at Saint Louis Music Park in Maryland Heights, Missouri.

TbT were proceeding through their set when the sound started cutting out. After a performance of original “Codeine,” the band realized no sound was coming through the PA. The group powered through inventively rather than throwing in the towel.

Trampled by Turtles urged fans to sing along as they played a cover of “The Weight” without any amplification. Many audience members came through and belted out The Band’s 1968 single. New microphones were brought out and the sound returned as Trampled by Turtles and fans made their way through what according to Setlist.FM statistics was the group’s first cover of “The Weight” since June 25, 2015 and just sixth overall. “Thank you sticking with us,” TbT’s Dave Simonett told the crowd.

More rarities followed later as TbT continued to juice lemonade out of the lemons they were given. The sextet followed “The Weight” with their first take on Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” in over two years and went on to perform the fitting “Ain’t No Use In Tryin'” for only the second time since 2010. All told, the band turned in a 16-song performance.

Watch fan-captured video of fans coming to Trampled by Turtles’ aid at Alpine on “The Weight”: