A night after headlining the SweetWater 420 Festival, The Avett Brothers headed to Mississippi for a gig at the Brandon Amphitheater. The Americana act dusted off a cover of Randy Travis’ “Forever And Ever, Amen” for the first time since 2017 during the career-spanning night.
The North Carolina-based band looked to one of their trio of newly issued singles, “Letting Go,” to open up their evening. A pair of deeper cuts followed with “November Blue” from their debut album Country Was and the Emotionalism cut “Go To Sleep.” From there, the Avetts would deliver a mix of setlist staples along with a handful of lesser played tunes. Fan-favorites were represented with “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise,” “The Ballad of Love And Hate,” “I Wish I Was,” “Live And Die,” “Ain’t No Man” and “I And Love And You.” The bluegrass-leaning collective would additionally serve up deeper catalog numbers like “You Are Mine,” “The Perfect Space,” “February Seven” and “I Would Be Sad.”
The biggest surprise of the night came towards the back third of their 21-song main set as they offered up Travis’ 1987 country hit “Forever And Ever, Amen.” The tune from the singer’s sophomore LP Always & Forever had been sitting unplayed since 2017 and offered up for just the sixth time ever. Watch fan-shot video captured by Matt Taylor below:
Forever And Ever, Amen
November Blue
Setlist (via Avett Brothers Setlist Database)
Trouble Letting Go, November Blue, Go To Sleep, Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise, Neapolitan Sky, Talk On Indolence, You Are Mine, February Seven, The Ballad of Love and Hate, I Would Be Sad, I Wish I Was, Satan Pulls the Strings, Live And Die, Shame, Forever and Ever Amen, Ain’t No Man, Who Will I Hold, Paranoia in Bb Major, Laundry Room, The Perfect Space, I and Love and You
Encore: Murder in the City, Black Mountain Rag, No Hard Feelings
