Brandi Carlile- Concert Review 2.11.12 Athens GA

February 12, 2012 | by Joseph Brownell

When Brandi Carlile sings Sometimes I lose my faith in luck/Don’t know what I wanna be when I grow up in the opening lines of the first single, Hard Way Home, from her soon-to-be-released 4^th studio album Bear Creek, you can’t help but feel that Carlile has already grown up and whether she knows it or not-she’s a star. Carlile wowed a sold-out audience in Athens, GA at The Melting Point with the premiere of this track telling the crowd that when she and the Twins made this record they let go of any “preconceptions of what they sound like” and judging by the tracks Keep Your Heart Young and Raise Hell fans are in for a more rootsy/Americana type album.

Carlile has always walked the fine line of becoming a household name. Prominent features of The Story on Grey’s Anatomy and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games coupled with her insistence of acoustic touring where she and the twins drive themselves from gig to gig getting back to their touring beginnings are all the factors in an equation that has Carlile selling venues out across the United States.

Carlile opened the show by herself on stage with Give up the Ghost’s opening track Looking Out before being joined by the Twins and rocking out with Dreams. They proceeded to work through tracks from all three studio albums including the unplugged Dying Day in which they previously used The Melting Point as the setting for the video. Carlile always infuses her shows with covers and previous fare has included Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah and Radiohead’s Creep. This time audiences were treated to a solo cover of Patsy Cline’s Crazy and an inspiring closing cover with Amazing Grace.

After first seeing Carlile grace the stage at the Paste Magazine Music Festival back in 2005 and watching her evolution at Eddie’s Attic, Variety Playhouse and The Buckhead Theater, her stage presence and confidence have grown exponentially over the last 7 years. This show was the first time I’ve noticed Carlile without instruments during large parts of the show and the way she worked the Athens crowd and stage was truly astounding. Carlile saved her best performance for the end of the night when she sang the moving tale This Year.

Carlile hinted at a possible Chastain summer headlining gig and Atlanta audiences can only cross their fingers because this would be the perfect venue for the summer tour to support the new album, due to be released in May. If you haven’t checked out Brandi Carlile’s earlier music, now is your chance—you have three months to get ready for Bear Creek.