In the midst of their fall tour, the Wood Brothers played a homecoming show to a sold-out crowd on Friday night in Boulder. The evening began with a rollicking set from Amy Helm, daughter of the late drummer of The Band, Levon Helm. Amy’s set featured a handful of heavy, blues-rock tinged tunes, as well as a number of tributes to her father including “The Stones I Throw” and the beautiful hymn “Just Over in the Glory Land.”

Following Helm, The Wood Brothers took the stage shortly before 10 pm, leading with their moving, timeless classic, “Postcards from Hell” off of the 2008 album Loaded. The song worked perfectly in the opening slot, setting the tone for the evening before the band dropped into “Tried and Tempted” from 2006’s Ways Not to Lose. Guitarist and lead vocalist Oliver Wood led the intro with younger brother and bassist Chris Wood holding down the low end before the band broke into the first verse. The song built to a slow fury, eventually morphing into the funky, gritty “Sky High” off of the band’s recent release, One Drop of Truth.

The group played “Keep Me Around,” another fan-favorite from 2013’s The Muse, before Oliver took a brief moment to announce that the band’s latest album had just been nominated for a Grammy for “Best Americana” album, alongside notables such as John Prine and Brandi Carlile. The group kept chugging along, showcasing a pair of songs from the new album, “River Takes the Town” and “Sparkling Wine.” The lyrics and particularly the refrain of the former (“it’ll never be the same, it’ll never be the same”) ring especially true in today’s social, ecological, and political climate, a fact that was clearly not lost on Chris and Oliver as they introduced the song.

Next came a barn-burning take on “Who the Devil” off of The Muse, before eventually digging deeper into the catalog for “Pray Enough” and “One More Day” with the vocal intro to the latter echoing Oliver’s slide guitar work on “Sky High.” As multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix led the group out of the song and into a percussive jam, Chris Wood took to the drum risers with some of his now-signature dance moves. A slow, crawling reprise of the song in what felt like eighth-time gave way to a short speech from Chris about their beginnings in Boulder, and the incredible musician that is their father, Bill Wood.

Bill was an early component in the Cambridge, Massachusetts folk scene, playing with the likes of Joan Baez among others. Welcoming out their dad for the first time ever, Oliver and Chris huddled around an old-fashioned single mic, somehow managed to reduce the crowd to near silence, and performed a nostalgic take on The Dillard’s bluegrass standard “The Old Home Place.”

More guests took the stage for the next number as the brothers were joined by Amy Helm and a couple of her band members for a seasonally-appropriate take on The Band’s “Christmas Must Be Tonight” from their 1977 album Islands. The group then returned to the early part of their catalog once again, playing “Loaded” and a fast “Atlas” before a true-to-form take on “Wastin’ My Mind.” Practically taking the form of a power trio and seemingly summoning the spirit of Led Zeppelin, Chris, Oliver and Jano tore through “Shoo Fly Pie” in swampy blues fashion and carried the deep groove into an especially heavy version of “Luckiest Man.”

More blues followed with a cover of “Big Boss Man” and then “Snake Eyes” from the 2015 album Paradise, featuring Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. Once again and to the pleasure of all in attendance, the band played a well-known song with a newfound, thick, heavy, wall of sound: partially reminiscent of some of their recent work, but perhaps also indicating where they’re heading.

After a well-deserved bow, the brothers returned to the stage for a two-song encore of beautifully paired songs. They began with a slow, blissful “What Would I Do Without You,” bringing things down a bit before ending the show with a fiery take on “Honey Jar” to end the evening.

In their hometown show, the Wood Brothers brought out close friends and family, managing to floor a notoriously-picky local crowd with a thick, powerful new sound. The Wood Brothers winter tour kicks off on January 15th in Winston-Salem, NC. For a complete list of tour dates, visit the band’s website.

Setlist: The Wood Brothers | Boulder Theatre | Boulder, CO | 12/7/18

Set I: Postcards from Hell, Tried and Tempted, Sky High, Keep Me Around, River Takes the Town, Sparkling Wine, Who the Devil, Unknown Song, Pray Enough, One More Day, Old Home Place*, Christmas Must Be Tonight# , Loaded, Atlas, Wastin’ My Mind, Shoo Fly Pie, Luckiest Man, Big Boss Man, Snake Eyes

E: What Would I Do Without You, Honey Jar

* with Chris and Oliver’s dad, Bill Wood

# with Amy Helm and her band