PERFORMING ARTS

Punch Brothers

The five men of Punch Brothers aren't actually brothers, but they sure were punchy on Friday night at the Birchmere: Banjo player Noam Pikelny gently chided a table for not finishing their fries, while mandolinist Chris Thile joked about celebrating the end of the show with a high-five.

That goofy presence didn't distract the string band from a precise, engaging performance that ranged from rowdy originals ("Punch Bowl") to covers of the Beatles ("Baby's in Black") and Norman Blake ("Green Light on the Southern"). While Thile may be the group's logical frontman as its singer, main songwriter and most well-known member (in addition to his solo career, he was a member of Nickel Creek), the other four musicians boast equally impressive résumés. Their experience and skill made the show a clear group effort: Gabe Witcher's melancholy fiddle anchored the transitions on the instrumental "Sometimes," while "Wayside" was propelled by Pikelny's sprightly banjo line.

The group's most adventurous number was a four-movement suite titled "The Blind Leaving the Blind." The Brothers chose to break the piece into two 20-minute chunks with a few shorter numbers played in between. What this approach lost in continuity it made up in momentum: Having shorter songs lead into the third and fourth movements (which far outshone the first two in both power and passion) gave their nearly two-hour set a boost of energy that packed a powerful . . . well, punch.

-- Catherine P. Lewis

The Cowsills

Sure, the crowd that turned out to hear the Cowsills perform at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis on Friday night was ready to reminisce. But some folks, eager to sing and shout the evening away, appeared to have been waiting for the family band to return to the state capital since its last visit in 1969. Backed by a three-piece rhythm section, Cowsill siblings Susan, Bob and Paul happily obliged, delivering a robustly harmonized mix of hits, misses and cover tunes that evoked both the birth of bubblegum pop and the vocal influences of the Mamas and the Papas and the Beatles.

Shortly after the show opened with "Monday, Monday," Susan joked that introductions were in order, since the siblings "look nothing like we used to." Yet the family vocal brand remains distinctive, despite the group's numerous hiatuses and personnel shifts. (Brothers Barry and Billy died a couple years ago, the former in a Hurricane Katrina-related drowning incident.) During Friday's opening set, Bob and Susan shared the guitar work and most of the lead vocals, while Paul, the most animated member of the trio, added to the harmonies that buoyed "The Rain, the Park and Other Things," "We Can Fly," "Indian Lake" and "Hair."

Amusing career anecdotes peppered the show, including a recollection of how the Cowsills begat TV's Partridge Family, complete with an affectionately goofy reprise of "I Think I Love You." Susan also got a chance to display her considerable gifts as a contemporary singer-songwriter in a nostalgia-free light.

-- Mike Joyce