Sister Hazel

On March 4, 2011, my brother and I went to see Sister Hazel.  Being a more famous group than Back Door Slam, the Sister Hazel concert was held in the Music Hall, where there was much more room for the larger audience.  The first opener was Armand Margjeka, an Albanian-born country folk singer.  For his performance, he only used his guitar and his voice.  His music is a fusion of folk pop and blues and given that he is Albanian born, his music is the perfect example of the worldwide influence of blues. 

 Next on stage was the Edwin McCain band.  Their music is bluesy country with wide, crossover pop appeal.  In fact, the single, “I’ll Be”, which he closed his set with receives substantial airplay on local pop radio stations.  On a few occasions, during a peppier song, McCain would be very energetic and would jump around the stage with his acoustic guitar and microphone, which was entertaining in and of itself, adding to the concert as a whole. 

 Finally, the headliner, Sister Hazel, took the stage.  The crowd became very excited and was very responsive to the lead singer asking questions of the audience.  The audience was a mix of young and middle-aged people, since Sister Hazel has been in existence since 1993.  There were five members in the group, of which four sang.  There were two that played guitar, one bassist, keyboardist, and the drummer.  Similar to the Edwin McCain Band, Sister Hazel’s style of music is a blend of folk rock, country, pop, and Southern blues.  Their music, contrary to normal blues, has more optimistic and upbeat lyrics.  They’re very talented vocally, with almost the entire band singing in harmony.  This is present in their most famous song, “All for You”, which has a very melodic chorus and a tight harmony.  This entire concert, from beginning to end, lasted nearly five hours, and the audience was responsive and energetic into the night.  I apologize for the quality of these photos and videos.  I forgot my camera so these were taken with my phone.  Also, since Sister Hazel is a much more famous band, the security placed a firm rule against recording equipment during their show.

This is Armand Margjeka

This is the Edwin McCain Band