Live review: Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Visulite Theatre

Oct. 20, 2010

The Deal: Vermont soulful rock quintet Grace Potter and the Nocturnals returns to Charlotte for first time in two years.

The Good: Dangermuffin opened the night with a solid set, but their were sadly forgotten once Potter took the stage. She kicked off the nearly two hour set with “Joey” from her debut album, Nothing but the Water. She spent a good portion of the night behind her organ, but wasn’t afraid to pick up a guitar or just dance her ass off up front and center.

She’d often sink into a jam toward the end of a song or during a solo and just let her hair whip around as she screamed and howled.

Potter was flanked by guitarists Scott Tournet and Benny Yurco for the acoustic “Treat Me Right.” She offered a few requests which she said she received via Twitter — quickly thinking she sounded like Ellen DeGeneres, she changed the name of Twitter to the “Dickline.”

One of the highlights of the show came by request — just like last time she was in town, Potter performed “Nothing but the Water” by herself with only a tambourine until the second act of the song kicked in and the band powered through full force.

The band performed a stellar cover of “White Rabbit” before launching into “Stop the Bus” and “Medicine,” which featured the entire band hammering away on the drum kit.

Her vocals showed plenty of power and range throughout the night. She even had some fun, performing a cover of “Feel Like Making Love” to kick off the encore. That was followed by her latest single, “Paris,” from her self-titled album.

A twitter message sent the day after the show simply said: “Holy lord does Charlotte, NC know how to party! Thanks for making the night so memorable!” I’m sure those in attendance would say, “No Grace, thank you!”

The Bad: That it took two years for her to return to Charlotte — but hopefully a sold-out show will convince her to come back soon.

The Verdict: Amazing vocals that are paired with music full of life, soul and energy. Hard to believe she could possibly get any better, but she has each time I’ve seen her perform. It’s one of those shows were you simply wonder how she has the energy to perform like that every night…

Setlist

Joey

Oasis

Mastermind

Only Love

Apologies

One Short

Treat Me Right (acoustic)

Falling or Flying

Tiny Light

2:22

Nothing but the Water

Big White

White Rabbit

Stop the Bus

Medicine

Encore

Feel Like Making Love

Paris

This article appears in Oct 19-25, 2010.