Greensky Bluegrass and Elephant Revival – Old and New Favorites at the DCA

By Carol Thompson

An old and new favorite performed at the Door Community Auditorium last night. An old favorite for me, but new to the county, was Greensky Bluegrass, and they played with three-time DCA performers Elephant Revival, a band I hardly knew before the show.

Greensky Bluegrass say they’re a twist on the traditional genre. They may have classic bluegrass instrumentation, but they’ve created their own sound and style. My friend, a banjo player and lover of old country music, put it best.

“I never realized the banjo could be so groovy!” she said, dancing in her seat as the audience applauded a solo.

The stage at the Door Community Auditorium was set up for American Folklore Theatre’s Victory Farm, giving the Greensky Bluegrass set with its funky brightly colored lights a psychedelic cherry orchard feel.

The band played through the first set with old songs from early albums, and newer songs like Don’t Lie and Beauty and Pain from the newest album, Handguns.

The first set ended and the anticipation for Elephant Revival, a folk group from Colorado, to take the stage was obvious.

I had no idea what to expect, and this is what I was told by a longtime fan:

“If you are a good person with an ounce of a conscious, you will love them. Honestly, I wouldn’t trust anyone who doesn’t like Elephant Revival.”

Well, good news for my soul. Elephant Revival was excellent. It sounds cliché, but they really were “transcendental.” It was easy to get lost in meditation and thought while listening to the simple but deep songs, which often get elevated by a driving bass drum beat.

Elephant Revival played older songs, like a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Atlantic City and some tunes off their recent album These Changing Skies.