Modern South Music Festival on November 10  in St. Francisville was a new event to the Louisiana music scene. With the Avett Brothers headlining, and several alt-country supporting acts, the show appealed to a wide age demographic of Louisiana music fans. Supporting acts included Wade Bowen and Charlie Worsham- both up and coming singers in the alt-country genre.
The Avett Brothers, who hail from North Carolina, have a particular brand of alt-country and folk with a sentimental twist that is some of the most popular music from the genre in the last twenty years, with wide mainstream appeal. The brothers, Seth and Scott Avett, along with their touring band, have been enjoying ever-increasing fame in the last three years, and clearly they drove ticket sales—this was evident by the desertion of the rest of the grounds once they took the stage.
That said, Modern South Music fest packed Hemingbough Event Center—what looks to be a repurposed plantation, with hundreds of fans. Parking seemed a little unintuitive and lines were very long (thirty or more minutes) for food and drink. Even the lines for the “VIP toilets” for those with reserved seating (which I personally forwent for the classic festival toilet—the port-a-potty) were long. The staff, provided by Festival and Event Staffing and Security Services, based out of New Orleans, was a bit gruff with concertgoers.
All that aside, I would still say that Modern South Music Fest was a hit. Fans were pleased by the musical acts enough to stay all night, and worked around long lines by switching off with friends and getting to know their neighbors.
David St. Romain, Wade Bowen, and Charlie Worsham all put up great shows, with lots of original material interspersed with fun covers that appealed to the festival crowd during the day.
Once the sun went down, The Avett Brothers captivated the audience from seven o’clock until almost nine, playing songs from all throughout their catalog, including songs from their newest release Magpie and the Dandelion. Which was out less than a month ago on October 15, 2013. Most notably from the new album was the popular single “Morning Song”, which younger fans sang along with word for word.
There were some fun selections, like “Pretend Love” from Four Thieves Gone- The Robinsville Sessions. Towards the middle were many of my favorites, including a spirited rendition of “Kick Drum Heart” from 2009’s I And Love And You. Other fan favorites included “I Would Be Sad” from 2007’s Emotionalism, and more from I And Love And You, including the ever-popular title track and a heartfelt performance of “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise” which was part of a much anticipated encore.
Anchorline Events may have had some hiccups with Modern South Music Fest, but fans will likely return for subsequent years as long as they can deliver great acts as they did this year. Here’s to a new South Louisiana tradition!