Blind Pilot finished off the American segment of their Fall 2011 tour with a performance at Seattle’s Neptune Theater last night. The Portland-based, folk ensemble was joined by Point Juncture, WA for a sold out Friday night show. Blind Pilot’s tour followed the release of their sophomore album We Are The Tide, released in September. (Stream We Are The Tide or Point Juncture graciously opened for Blint Pilot, warming up the sold-out crowd with a brand of folk not so dissimilar to the latter. Point Juncture has been quietly cruising along building a well-deserved name for themselves and I was giddy to see their more recent material. Most notably, they demonstrated their multi-instrumental skills and ability to play musical chairs. No less than three members took the “lead vocal” responsibilities for separate songs. Moreover, they changed drummers mid set. Hats off to the band for doing so seamlessly and for great songs. Speaking of hats, shout out to the keys player for donning a Seattle SuperSonics hat.

Blind Pilot has gone through a hell of a transition since we interviewed drummer Ryan Dobrowski in 2009. The original two-man duo of Ryan and Israel Nebeker has filled out to a six-person folk ensemble. They’ve managed to expand their sound’s scope and size while still harnessing the charming, intimate allure of Three Rounds and a Sound. I’d also like to give a monster shout out to their new squeeze box and trumpet player for donning the biggest and longest lasting on-stage grin I may have ever seen. May more musicians follow your suit, sir! Blind Pilot’s set spanned through both Three Rounds’ and The Tide‘s discography, without any hiccups translating the former into full band arrangements. They closed their original set with “One Red Thread” and a performance of “We Are the Tide” joined by Point Juncture’s members.

While Blind Pilot could’ve ended right there on a very high note with stellar crowd reception, they took it a step further with the encore. This began with Israel explaining the story behind “The Bitter End”. Apparently, he wrote the song while waiting tables in his Oregon Coast town where Tsunami warnings were frequent. Watch Israel perform “The Bitter End” by himself before he’s joined by the full band below. After that, the band unplugged, hopped into the crowd and managed to quiet the entire two-story Neptune Theater for an unplugged, uber intimate rendition of “3 Rounds and a Sound”. Quite incredible to see that many people hushed and seated, then singing along. Pics below.