In our October Fall Arts Guide, last weekend’s four Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
shows took pride of place on the cover, making us honor-bound to check out the band
and see if their legacy of being the most awesome girl-fronted band in contemporary
music would continue. Thankfully for the crowd, it did. Here, in no particular order,
are our four favorite things from Sunday night’s show.
The intimacy: This series of shows was called “An Evening With Grace Potter and the Nocturnals,”
and that’s exactly what it was. It was clear the band members were excited to be there
and give the fans what they wanted, playing one of their massive hits, “Hot Summer
Night,” pretty early on and taking requests as they went. Mid-song, Grace grabbed
her camera phone from an assistant and started taking video of the crowd from
the stage. Toward the end of the show, she announced that it was their last of 2012,
and the concert ended with the band in one big group hug onstage as the crowd cheered.
The covers: We’re suckers for a well-deployed cover song, and the Nocturnals pulled off an eclectic
variety. They brought their raw-edged rock sound to classics like Heart’s “Crazy on You,” Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion,” and even Soundgarden’s quintessentially
’90s “Black Hole Sun.”
Grace: We’ll admit it—we have a massive girl crush on Grace Potter. From the moment she
took the stage, she sparkled, both literally—clad in black shorts, a sequined blazer
that she swapped halfway through for a sequined cardigan, and a Santa hat—and metaphorically,
thrashing around the stage with her hair in her face, belting out flawless verses
on her knees, dancing and hopping and bouncing effortlessly from guitar to piano to
microphone. During the second half of the show she kicked off her shoes and did the
rest of the concert barefoot, like she was just hanging out in her living room with
900 of her friends.
The bro dance: You know a show is fun when it gets even guys to move to the music. During “Black
Hole Sun” we saw the clean-cut man standing a few rows in front of us unabashedly
jamming to the song, clearly inspired by Grace’s infectious, boundless energy.
For more on Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, check out our earlier interview with
Grace.
