CD review: Avett Brothers "Live, Volume 3"

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

Folk

The Avett Brothers “The Avett Brothers Live, Volume 3” (Columbia Records)

Too often, live albums polish away all the verve and fun along with the jagged edges.

Credit The Avett Brothers for leaving “Live, Volume 3” a little rough and warty because the record seems to transport listeners inside Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte N.C.

The folk-rock band played the hometown show a month before releasing its major-label debut, the acclaimed 2009 album “I and Love and You,” and the record captures the trio in a clearly comfortable and easygoing state of mind.

So, when Seth Avett bobbles the opening lines of the striking “Ballad of Love and Hate,” he politely tells the audience he’s going to start over because “I’m so happy right now I can barely stand it.” You have to admire and respect a band that not only leaves in the flub, but also gives it a track listing as “Ballad False Start.”

Along with four tracks from “I and Love and You,” the album samples the length and breadth of the band’s decade-long career, from the broody rocker “Colorshow” and the nimble, bluegrassy “I Killed Sally’s Lover” to the twangy classically country “Shame” and the buoyantly poppy “Kick Drum Heart.”