Nickel Creek wields acoustic power

It was a night that celebrated the power of acoustic instruments as Nickel Creek and the Ditty Bops hit the stage at Marquette's Varsity Theatre Sunday night. The audience may have been small, but neither band let that hinder the energy and fun in its set.

Nickel Creek entertained with its almost two-hour set. The music is what drove Chris Thile and Sean and Sara Watkins. The emphasis was put on playing music rather than singing, and there was no doubt that the group could play. The group executed hypnotic dance moves while reaching for certain notes. When singing was to be a focal point, Nickel Creek did it in style, harmonizing well and even going a capella on "Out of the Woods."

Sara Watkins took center stage with "Anthony" as she switched from the violin to the ukulele. But her vocals also took center stage on several songs, the best being a cover of Randy Newman's "Short People." The band also covered someone they declared a struggling, working mother: Britney Spears. The audience got a laugh out of Thile taking on the vocals "Toxic," which was actually a great addition to the night.

The audience seemed to be in awe of the band. In between songs at one point, all that could be heard was silence, which caused Thile to say how impressed he was by the occurrence.

Of course, when the band talked to the audience the conversation jumped from how beautiful Milwaukee was, to the weather and then to baseball. The band's playful banter would leave a smile on anyone's face.

Thile's skills on the mandolin stood out from the rest of the group that night, especially during the four-song encore by playing a Johann Sebastian Bach piece written for violin. The audience was left cheering for several minutes before letting the other band members play their songs.

The audience at the Varsity was sure to have left happy after Nickel Creek's set. The clapping during the songs was nearly ear shattering and no one was left in their seats. The band's passion was visible to any concertgoer.

The Ditty Bops, best known for songs played on "Grey's Anatomy," warmed up the crowd with music that could be described as having an old fashioned appeal.

Headed by Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWald, the group seems to have been born in the wrong decade, bringing images from the 1920s to mind, but in a good way.

A majority of the audience didn't know that there would be an opening band, but the Ditty Bops won over the crowd with its toe-tapping music. Several songs made use of props as visualizations. One song in particular had Barrett sucking helium from a red balloon to get a point across.

The band also asked for audience participation for several songs. A seemingly staged karaoke rendition of "Wishful Thinking," sung by two girls plucked from the audience. During the song "Obsessive Crush," an older woman was chosen to describe her own obsessive crush. Her story was amusing one: She had a crush on a Girl Scout camp counselor named Kiki whom she later named her first cat after.

Barrett and DeWald made light of Marquette's banning of the "Vagina Monologues" as well. The two said they met at that show and they wouldn't have been around without it. So hat's off to the "Monologues."

But the song that got the audience up off their seats and into the aisles was "Sister Kate."