Nickel Creek played an intimate warmup show at Largo at the Coronet for a lucky crowd Wednesday that piled into the L.A. theater for a night of skillful, spellbinding folk music.
At first, it seemed impossible: How could such a good band play such a small venue? At 280 seats, the Largo is much smaller than the high school auditorium that was regularly subjected to my bands’ takes on jazz, reggae and the like. The group is touring with Kacey Musgraves , so this show was jammed between a show in San Diego and two at the Forum in Inglewood. They sandwiched songs from their new album, “Celebrants,” between recognizable hits, exposing the crowd of about 250 people to new material while still delivering plenty of nostalgia from past releases.
With all four members of the band sharing one microphone, they opened with a few crowd favorites, including “Smoothie Song,” one of the most technical instrumental pieces any folk band will ever play. Nickel Creek’s songs have a theatrical quality to them — many tell a story, and a few are quite funny. I’d never noticed the comedy in the lyrics on tape, likely because the band’ recordings always grip me instantly with the audacity of the instruments they feature.
For example, “To the Airport,” a song about flying, was genuinely funny and musically complex. It’s a high-wire act that few, if any, other artists can pull off. If Weird Al had gone to Berklee and met three other Weird Als, this song might have been the result.