The Avett Brothers Dust Off ‘I Shall Be Released’ Cover At Bonnaroo Farm

The Avett Brothers continued their three-night run at The Bonnaroo Farm in Manchester, Tennessee on Saturday. The Avetts unshelved their cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” during the encore.

The Avett Brothers got their 23-song set underway with “The D Bag Rag” off their 2003 release The Carolina Jubilee. After favorite “Live And Die,” Scott Avett plucked out the opening banjo strains to “Laundry Room” from the band’s landmark 2009 album I And Love And You. Seth Avett his brother on vocals for some high harmonies as the rest of the band trickled in and eventually built the song up into a folk rock rave-up. Next, the band returned to Carolina Jubilee material with “I Killed Sally’s Lover” ahead of “Swept Away” and “Vanity.” Scott then moved over to the keys and Seth slung on an electric guitar and led the group through the rocker “Kick Drum Heart.” Seth also delivered a rollicking solo on his Les Paul for the I And Love And You cut.

The middle portion of the set contained newer material like “C-Sections and Railway Trestles,’ “I Go To My Heart” and “Ain’t No Man” off The Avetts’ 2019 LP Closer Than Together, 2020’s The Third Gleam and 2016’s True Sadness respectively. The group also performed “February Seven” from 2012’s The Carpenter with Seth on keys and Scott on acoustic guitar. The only cover of the set proper came in the form of the George Jones popularized “The Race Is On.” The set would come to a close with the title track from I And Love And You.

The Avett Brothers returned to the stage for a three-song encore beginning with “Murder In The City” off The Second Gleam followed by “The Traveling Song” from Carolina Jubilee. The Avetts then delivered the Bob Dylan-penned, The Band-recorded “I Shall Be Released.” The Avett Brothers last played the Dylan classic in August 2019 at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, as per SetlistFM. Fiddler Tania Elizabeth stepped into the spotlight to sing the song with Seth, Scott cellist Joe Kwon and bassist Bob Crawford adding some gorgeous harmonies on the chorus. Kwon also delivered a beautiful cello solo ahead of an electric guitar run from Scott. The band built the chorsu into a spirited conclusion to bring the evening to a close.

Watch audience-shot video of “I Shall be Released,” “Laundry Room,” “Kick Drum Heart” and “February Seven” below via the Jambase Live Video Archive:

Setlist

Source: JamBase.com