Nickel Creek Relight The Flame At Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium

There’s a tipping point with nostalgia where, when you get enough of it in one room, the wistful warmth of a memory recollected becomes full-blown, palpable electricity. At the first of Nickel Creek’s two-night return to Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium this past weekend, that collective nostalgia provided a charged backdrop for one of the most anticipated reunions in recent memory.

Nickel Creek’s final two shows before their eight-year hiatus were also at the Ryman, though the mood then was considerably more somber. After the trio performed the final notes of an emotional, unamplified rendition of “Why Should the Fire Die?,” fans were left with an ellipsis.

Thankfully, those embers never quite burned out and Nickel Creek returned this month with the aptly-titled A Dotted Line, a record that bridges past with present by showing a band who’s grown up without forgetting its roots.

Tasked with kicking off an evening nearly a decade in the making, openers the Secret Sisters had their work cut out for them. Seemingly unfazed, real-life sisters Laura and Lydia Rogers did so with grace, humor and some serious chops, pulling mostly from their stellar, just-released Put Your Needle Down.

It’s hard to describe what it sounded like when Chris Thile, Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins finally took the hallowed hardwood. Thunderous? Yes. Deafening? A little. Like the Second Coming? Well, it was Good Friday (in an old church, no less), so, sure. Without much ado they kicked off “Destination,” the poppy lead single from A Dotted Line that boasts some of the strongest vocals of fiddle player Sara Watkins’ output thus far.

That newfound strength and maturity found its way into the rest of the set, enlivening older songs like “The Lighthouse’s Tale” and the Tim O’Brien cover “When You Come Back Down” with the kind of authority that only age can bring. Die-hard fans may have noticed that some songs were slightly re-worked, with some new solos on crowd favorite “This Side” and a fuller arrangement on “Anthony.”

Of course, everyone in the audience was a die-hard. This was the kind of crowd who, upon hearing a rogue note or two while Watkins tuned her fiddle, gasped in joyous recognition, even on cuts from the still brand-new A Dotted Line.

Though lacking that nostalgic magic of early hits like “Ode to a Butterfly” or “The Fox,” these new songs yielded many of the show’s standout moments. Sean Watkins introduced his end-times anti-elegy “21st of May” by asking the audience, “You guys remember a couple years ago when the Rapture almost happened?” Swaying along as the trio sang “Hallelujah,” it never felt more right to be seated in the unforgiving rigidity of a pew.

Toward the end of the night, Thile’s announcing, “I think it’s time folks,” meant one of two things: the revival of “Toxic,” or one of the first performances of another unusual cover, A Dotted Line’s “Hayloft.” It was the latter, which, and pardon my pun, really is a barnburner. Originally by Canadian band Mother Mother, “Hayloft” is an aggressive, percussive little ditty that would feel just as at home on any of Thile’s Punch Brothers records.

All in all, the night felt like a greatest hits performance by a band that’s still writing them. Those last couple of Ryman shows had an impressive roster of guest artists, but this time they only brought out one other musician, longtime contributor and bass virtuoso Mark Schatz. It was a relief, really, to hone in on Nickel Creek alone – fans had waited a long damn time for this, and, if their perma-smiles were any indication, Chris, Sara and Sean had, too.

The best moment of the show came early on, in the form of Thile contribution “Rest of My Life.” The harmonies on the recorded track are sublime (seriously, listen at 2:38), but live, at the Ryman especially, they became transcendent. Maybe you’ve never wondered if a three-part harmony could make you cry, but I’m here to tell you that it can.

Earlier in “Rest of My Life,” Thile declares, “No one claps because they’re sure that there’s more.” Listening now, I’m reminded of that final evening at the Ryman in 2007. Everyone clapped. We all wanted more. And, at least for the time being, we’ve finally gotten it.