Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
three cups full of bottled lightning
From the category archives:
For the third consecutive year, Grace Potter brought her dynamic voice, sex appeal and The Nocturnals to All Good. After a much talked about set on the Magic Hat Stage in 2006 and their follow-up performances on the main stage in 2007, we awaited this moment with great anticipation. Precisely honed, blues infused rock joined with Potter’s powerful voice and delivery made it plain to see why these cats have risen up the ranks so quickly.
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You almost wished that the band, led by brothers Chris and Rich Robinson, played with the youthful vigor of their opening act, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.
The openers, from Vermont, performed a short set of soulful rock songs inspired by the 60s and early 70s.
Potter’s jean skirt and brown boots garnered whistles on more than one occasion. Audience members yelled “I love you Grace!” as she danced her way between her guitar and keyboards.
She slipped the ballad Apologies between a few harder numbers, showing her versatility. This is the kind of artist – who shrieks like a hell-vixen one minute and then coos like a gentle bird the next – that appeals to both Top-40-listening parents and their rebellious teenagers.
Drummer Matthew Burr, whose hat and mustache made him look like a character from a western, kept heads bobbing throughout the set. The other band members borrowed pieces of his drum set for a thundering finale.
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The Saratoga Performing Arts Center seats somewhere between 21,000 and 27,000 concert goers, depending on who you talk to. Regardless, the seats, lawns and grounds of this spectacular facility were filled to the brim with mostly Dave Matthews Band fans at a venue famous for teasing stellar performances out of the band on it’s two night run. While longtime DMB fans concluded that the first night was good but not spectacular night two was reviewed on one popular DMB site this way:
And just when you thought that there was nothing else to add (outside the already outstanding tour its been), the crowd actually sang lead - with Dave standing away from the mic - for the first two stanzas of Jimi Thing! Dave was kind enough to sing the chorus, but never has an incident happened like that in DMB show history.
The general consensus that this 2008 tour is at the very least the best tour since 2000. Shows like this have people reaching back to 1998 and beyond to find something that compares to night two at the SPAC.
And yes, no Everyday nor Stand Up songs on this show.
June 21, 2008 will live in DMB lore as one of the greatest shows ever.
I’m leading with the DMB references because it helps set the stage for the scene Grace Potter and the Nocturnals were walking into. A laid back, welcoming vibe with very high expectations for the performance of the headliner.
Before the show Grace put together a preliminary setlist and then a democratic but strong willed discussion took place about song selection and order. Grace argued vehemently that “Pain In My Heart” is “a rock and roll song, it’s not a fucking ballad” and Scott brought in observations of DMB’s tempo change ups from the previous night’s show. In the end, an agreement was reached and the bands pre-show preparations began.
Dave Matthews has a great ritual in which he personally introduces the opening band at each of his shows. Dave ambled by the band waiting in the wings and went out of his way to say something nice to everyone their before walking onstage to the delight of the assembled crowd to share a funny anecdote and introduce the band. Overall, very nice guy - sincere.
Here’s the setlist the band ended up with
Ah, Mary
Ain’t No Time
Apologies
Stop The Bus
Nothing But The Water
Angel Band, Big White Gate
Pain in My Heart
Scott was particularly on fire - I’m thinking the pushups combined with the new haircut put him over the edge. For a big shed venue the sound was very clear and strong. Everyone was pleased with the performance, pleased with the crowd and generally pleased and excited about the opportunity. Dinner with Basil Hayden was a low key affair followed by frisbee playing on the lawn, dog walking and musical enjoyment. Quite a few DMB fans stopped when they recognized Matt standing in the crowd watching the show to let him know that the band “rocked it”.
As I left the venue I noticed hundreds of people outside the gates in lawn chairs and on blankets simply enjoying the perfect summer weather as the sounds of the concert drifted through the grounds of SPAC. All in all, a great great evening.
Another nice review from a Saratoga area paper.
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals opened the show, a good ol’ raw jamming garage band led by a strong-voiced, young bluesy woman on a Hammond organ, of all things. While the seats were still empty during their performance, they played their hearts out. “Stop the Bus†was their typical no-frill, loud, raunchy glob of rock and roll, with Potter’s voice coming through it all loud and clear. It was nice — and so rare — to see a woman lead so rough a band. Keep your eye on her.
For fun, a quick DBM YouTuber from last night after the jump . . .
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From the Albany Times Union
“We’re nice people, we’re from Vermont,” bragged Grace Potter, as she and her band, the Nocturnals, opened the show to a small audience (apparently the beer garden and food court were far more popular). Potter’s soaring, powerful pipes, proficient organ playing and occasional guitar were more than impressive, and it was a crime there weren’t more folks coming in to take their seats to see her.
Perhaps the DMB fans will get wind of what they missed last night and show up in bigger numbers tonight.
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The evening’s other star vocalist was Grace Potter, who opened the show with her Vermont-based group the Nocturnals. She seemed surprised to be back in town so soon after playing the Granada Theater – “it was just a week ago,” she said – but she didn’t perform like it was a rerun. Belting out the blues as she attacked her Hammond B-3 organ, she was captivating from the start.
She looked like she’d just walked out of a Scorpions video – short denim skirt, studded belt, Flying V guitar strapped over her shoulder – and lead guitarist Scott Tournet sounded like he knew Led Zeppelin II by heart.
But the hard-rock touches never overshadowed the band’s R&B influences or its anything-goes jam-band bent. The set’s highlight arrived during a manic percussion solo in which Ms. Potter and her three mates practically destroyed a drum kit.
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Winners
Via Ryan Muir’s Flickr Photostream
“Gold Dust Woman”
I’ll post them as they come in but it will be hard to beat this early writeup from Scott at Hidden Track
Co-Hosts Warren Haynes and Grace Potter opened the show backed by a ridiculously tight supergroup, which included Joe Russo, Booker T. and Will Lee. They fired up intense versions of Find The Coast of Freedom and Gold Dust Woman, as well as a funky Take Me To The River. Many of the impromptu bands that were put together tonight were pretty good, but this band could be absolutely dangerous playing a full show. More please.
and
Grace Potter did an amazing job both co-hosting the show and playing with the supergroup, as well as sitting in with Rose Hill Drive and Leslie West of Mountain (Mississippi Queen was sick!). She gets an A+ on the slinky dress that showed off her never ending legs. She also gave a brief heart-felt speech about growing up in Phish’s Vermont. For those keeping track at home Potter changed outfits three times.
The strange bedfellows ran through a cover of The Flaming Lips’ “Are You A Hypnotist?,†before Mountain guitarist Leslie West took the stage with Rose Hill Drive for the evening’s loudest offerings. The hard-rock guitarist jammed with Rose Hill Drive and Potter on a version of “I’m Going Down” that included “Close Encounters,†before offering his signature song, “Mississippi Queen.†West also joked that Potter was far more attractive than the members of his testosterone-filled band.
Image Credit Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com - Blog @ www.insidecelebpics.com
Image Credit Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com - Blog @ www.insidecelebpics.com
Image Credit Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com - Blog @ www.insidecelebpics.com
Image Credit Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com - Blog @ www.insidecelebpics.com
Grace sang “Whole Lotta Love” with Galactic at the BB Kings after party if you had the stamina to stay up until 3AM.
Video after the jump
[click to continue...]
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My Ickmusic cohort in crime that day, Greg, called Grace the best female singer he had ever heard live. In thinking back myself, I can’t think of much better myself… hmm, S.O.S. Band, 1986? Nah (true story, by the way). Big kudos to Grace and the Nocturnals. I am won over.
More at this link.
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Grace potter & the nocturnals, originally uploaded by jaredswafford.
“1000 Dude’s Just Fell In Love”
Grace is the only person at this festival besides Michael Stipe who just begs you to watch their every movement while they’re on stage. In her stunning red and white dress and red boots, Grace began by pounding out “Getting in Tune” on her organ with as much force as The Who used to.
Grace worked the crowd into a frenzy, trading licks on her flying V with Nocturnals guitarist Scott Tournet. Whether melting faces with her guitar or breaking hearts with her keys, Grace had the crowd pining for her.
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Harp Magazine review of the Asheville, NC show
By the time Marco Benevento (keyboards) and Joe Russo (percussion) come out onstage to guest, the atmosphere in the club is positively electric. With Potter’s natural, hip-swaying charisma and the Nocturnals’ muscular musicality having already fanned the flames, the expanded ensemble’s rousing, so-funky-it’s-stanky version of Dr. John’s “Right Place, Wrong Time†is like spraying gasoline on the fire. And for the final number, a holy-rollin’ gospel boogie rawker called “Nothing But the Water†(from the 2006 album of the same name), Grace, Scott, Matt and Bryan pull out all the stops, channeling everybody from Aretha Franklin to Humble Pie to the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion to My Morning Jacket. As I glance around the room and take stock of the heaving, stomping crowd I could swear I spot several audience members spontaneously combusting.
Burn, baby, burn.
Reviews don’t get much better than this do they? Plus, where the hell is my magazine?
(Photo Credit: Allie Goolrick)
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The gray lady gives the band an excellent writeup.
It may seem paradoxical to describe the driving hard-rock sound of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals as comfort music. But a sense of familiarity, of a time-honored ritual expertly and reverently re-enacted, is one of the attractions of this Vermont quartet, which played a 100-minute set at the Allen Room on Thursday evening as part of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series.
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