Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Review

License plates from as far away as Colorado clustered in various factions in Silver’s parking lot this past Saturday. Every seat of Hanaway Theater sold out for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band concert, and the audience bristled with collective anticipation in the moments before eight o’clock. The band took the stage quickly to an excited but politely reserved greeting from the audience, deftly selecting the correct instruments from the array of more than thirteen spread across the stage.Lead man Jimmie Ibbotson gave a simple “howdy” before the band exploded into their signature, hard-to-qualify style. At times blending country and rock in a style reminiscent of the Grateful Dead, they played across the acoustic spectrum, drawing on bluegrass, folk, and their own unique sound. The audience, smelling faintly of leather, whisky, and earth, roared approval at every solo – and there were plenty. Band members Ibbotson and John McEuen switched instruments frequently, changing at least every other song between mandolins, guitars, bass guitars, banjos and a fiddle. Drummer Jimmie Fadden simultaneously played the drums and harmonica for many songs. It’s always quite a task to describe music with mere words, and the complexity of the NGDB thickens the task considerably. They set a rich geography for the audience to glide over, and at each member’s solo, they brought out and enhanced their own aspect of the world they created, while maintaining the whole.In place of an intermission, some members of the band left for a few moments, while others played in smaller groups or went solo. Founding member McEuen gave a euphonious rendition of a classical piece, implementing techniques I’ve never seen used on a five-string banjo. Fadden effectively mimicked a steam engine with his harmonica during his own solo. Ibbotson and his right-hand-man, Jeff Hanna, danced and worked the stage for the duration of the show. Ibbotson acted out the lyrics of the band’s first radio single, “Mr. Bojangles,” clicking his heels and soft-shoeing across the stage while playing the guitar. Lacking a bassist for many songs, keyboarder Bob Carpenter compensated by playing a synthesized bass. While skillfully executed, the drop in fidelity was especially evident when contrasted against the rest of the instruments. When Ibbotson or McEuen picked up the real bass, it sounded far superior. It seemed that the band as a whole was more acclimated to acoustic instruments. The finer songs of the evening were the ones that ignored the electric guitars and synthesized effects. Seeing so many musicians on stage that could easily have stood on their own was quite an experience. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band embodies the same earthy soul that has been their claim to fame for almost forty years now. It’s easy to see how this cross breeding of musical genres has led to the modern Jam scene. All in all, they’re an experience worth experiencing. I give this show 7.0 out of 10.