Nickel Creek played an intimate warm-up show Wednesday at Largo at the Coronet for the lucky crowd who flocked to the LA theater for a night of skilled and captivating folk music.
At first it seemed impossible. How can such a good band play in such a small venue? At 280 seats, Largo is much smaller than the high school auditorium where our band regularly played jazz, reggae, etc.
The group is on tour with Kacey Musgraves, so this show was sandwiched between one in San Diego and two shows at the Forum in Inglewood. They interspersed songs from their new album, “Celebrants,” between recognized hits, introducing the crowd of about 250 to new material while channeling a lot of nostalgia for past releases.
With the band’s four members sharing one microphone, they opened with several crowd favorites, including “Smoothie Song,” one of the most technical instrumentals a folk band can play.
Nickel Creek’s songs have a theatrical quality. Many of the songs tell stories and some are quite funny. I had never seen comedy in tape lyrics, perhaps because the band’s recordings always immediately captivated me with the boldness of the instruments they featured. For example, “To the Airport,” a song about flying, was really fun and musically complex. There are few things that other artists can accomplish. If Weird Al had gone to Berkeley and met three other Weird Als, this song might have been born.
“Thinnest Wall” was probably the biggest hit of “Celebrants,” released in 2023.
The band played the album from start to finish and then took the audience’s request. And I mean really took them. Being able to sing such challenging and complex music all at once is another part of the band’s magic. It included a rousing cover of Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” which was probably the musical low point of the night. The cover was flawless and the crowd loved it, but it felt like a waste to spend Nickel Creek’s precious time on a few simple things. This song isn’t complex enough for the band to show off what they’re capable of.
There are concerts where the technical proficiency melts my face from the start. This was one of those nights that earned a place in the chops pantheon alongside acts like Thundercat and Anderson Paak.
In these cases my awe is usually limited to one or two members of the band. But Nickel Creek is made up of four truly outstanding musicians, three of whom play mandolin, violin, and guitar respectively and sing complex harmonies. All in all, it was one of the most dazzling displays of musical talent I have ever seen.
There was no one in the audience singing along, and most of the applause occurred mid-song, as everyone was focused on the exquisite and complex strumming. Phones are not allowed in the venue, so it was nice to see the crowd focused on the stage without hundreds of small screens recording a poor facsimile of the live event.
Nickel Creek is first and foremost a live band. I’ve loved this album for decades, but every recording involves using production tricks and multiple tracks to make the sound possible. So I wasn’t prepared for the idea that their studio album could actually be recorded live. The execution on stage left me in awe and made me willing to believe almost anything.
Writing this review was difficult because I wanted to keep my secret a secret. The best live bands in LA sometimes play in smaller venues. Next time that happens we may be competing for limited seats. I can only hope they continue to do so for the sake of music.
