Punch Brothers, fresh off a successful tour of Ireland and the UK, are back in the States and set to play tonight in downtown New York City as part of the River to River Festival of free summer concerts. The show begins at 7 PM. Please note: due to tonight's inclement weather forecast, the
concert has been moved inside, to Stuyvesant High School, across the
street from Rockefeller Park, at 345 Chambers Street. Click here for a map and directions.

The Financial Times calls the group among the "foremost practitioners"
of "progressive bluegrass," a genre name some might consider an
oxymoron, but not in the hands of Punch Brothers, who "treat
traditional bluegrass as an infinitely elastic musical form." Reviewing last week's show at the Arts Theater in London, the paper's Ludovic Hunter-Tilney writes that the Brothers "played intricate interleaved harmonies, each instrument jostling for the foreground, as playful as sparrows," evincing a "graceful, subtle exuberance."

Hunter-Tilney calls The Blind Leaving the Blind, the centerpiece of their Nonesuch debut, Punch,"an arresting work," one that moves freely from jazz "to fluid chamber-pop in the style of Sufjan Stevens or Joanna Newsom." In the end, he calls it "Americana played with adventure and accomplishment."

To read the full review, visit ft.com.

Before the shows, Punch Brothers' Chris Thile spoke with Metro UK's Mike Butler, who writes: "No one plays mandolin better than California-born Chris Thile." For his part, Chris is quick to praise his fellow Punch Brothers, saying:

I play a hundred per cent new notes with these guys. The goal of serious musicians is to play outside of yourself. That's most likely with people who suggest things that are outside your musical experience ... For us, music is something that changes our lives.

Read the interview at metro.co.uk.