As an update on the state of the world, pigs have not yet flown and it's still not anything resembling cold down under (not Australia, think further down...), but the next thing in line has now come to fruition.

Erasure started the U.S. leg of their Acoustic tour, in support of their new album, Union Street, Friday night in Nashville. Taking the stage at the historic Ryman Auditorium seemed both as odd and as fitting as the pairing the group uses for their latest release. Union Street finds the influential synth-pop duo ditching all the instrumentation that has made them what they are, and instead opting for an acoustic band setup that finds as much inspiration from country music as it does the actual songs the duo has penned over the years. It's the MTV Unplugged concept taken a step further, going past just stripping something down to the base, by rebuilding it back up with a new set of rules.

The choice of beginning their North American tour at the Ryman in Nashville, a city they've never visited as a headlining act, was both gutsy and refreshing. Refreshing, because many fans in the area had not had the opportunity to see the group live, short of driving or flying long distances to catch them in another city. But also gutsy, due to the nature of the release. On paper, the idea of a strictly electronic pop duo deciding to reinvent some of their catalog songs in pseudo-country style is about the most ridiculous stunt to be pulled this year. There's no reason for it to be anything more than a novelty act. Except for the fact the group has consistently churned out album after album of solid songwriting. Solid songs, delivered by a capable and confident vocalist in Andy Bell, should be able to stand on their own in many different settings. But if you're going to try to take your music in that direction, and you can make it fly in Nashville of all places, then you might be on to something really special.

The auditorium wasn't exactly at capacity level. There were some seats on the edges of the balcony level open. Plus the fact they were filming the show rendered some of the floor level unusable. But aside from that, it was a well-attended show stocked with hyper-excited fans. The audience did their best to assure the band that what they were doing was the right thing by giving a standing ovation upon their arrival to the stage. And again after the first song. And the second song. And the song after that... And after every single song that was performed. It was a very electric experience (if you'll pardon the irony); with the band and audience continually feeding off of each other until you were sure one was going to swell to the point of explosion.