Grace Potter
& The
Nocturnals
at the Crocodile
Seattle, WA 1.27.2011

Review 2/5/11 by Art Rusche

     I first heard of GPN March 2010 when Rolling Stone called them one of the Best New Bands of 2010.  They also appeared on the companion soundtrack for Alice in Wonderland, with a cover version of Jefferson Airplane's song "White Rabbit".  During the past holidays the band was featured on VH1 DIVAS SALUTE THE TROOPS, a must see performance that featured Katy Perry, Paramore, Nicki Minaj, Sugerland, Heart and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals!  GPN performed a roaring Paris (Ooh La La) and Medicine and then Grace introduced Heart and sang Crazy On You and Rockin in the Free World with Ann and Nancy Wilson!  I was hooked.....

    I immediately went to my ArTrips Concerts App and found that GPN was playing the following month at The Crocodile for $15 tickets!  The Crocodile a 400 SRO showroom in Belltown has a rich history of Rock n Roll legends appearing there. Renovated in 2009, the Back Bar and stage give a great Front Stage Baby opportunity.
    I bought a pair of tickets through STG and when I announced that I bought the tickets my friend Stan jumped at the opportunity having heard her sing with Kenny Chesney on a duet last fall, You and Tequila.  "I listened to all kinds of music and there was this girl whose voice I just fell in love with” says Chesney of the pairing.  Another perfect example of where today's music is uniting the hearts and minds of different cultures and musical styles and just calling it MUSIC!!!!!!   :))))

   In perfect ArTrips Concerts fashion, Stan & I arrived before the venue opened at 4 pm and had the opportunity to freely walk inside and watch the stage being setup and finding where exactly where we wanted to stand.  The tour bus was parked outside and Stan ran into Scott of GPN and talked to him for a minute!  We had a 4 hour wait before the concert started and so we enjoyed some of the great personal size pizzas in the Back Bar..... oh and a few Manny's ;)

   Our friend Mike joined us for our wait and bought a round of Tequila...  (oh oh I know what Tequila and beer does to me ;)).  Just before we went outside to line up Mike asked, "So where's my ticket?"....   Oh, Oh!  Mike thought we bought tickets for him too when Stan asked if he wanted to go too...  The concert Sold Out very quickly and the ticket office didn't have tickets.  Mike finished his beer and went home while Stan and I went outside for the line up at 7:30. :( Sorry Mike!  The line up went quick with a guy with a clipboard with our names on it that he checked off.  At 8:10 the doors opened to the showroom and we scooted right to the front of the stage!          * Above photos by Stan Prescott

     We had our waters in hand and stashed our coats stage right. Grace's keyboards were just to our left and were waiting for the opening band, Chamberlin. It was then I started thinking of the Tequila I had... and started feeling queasy....  I told Stan I was going outside for a minute and got to the bathroom in time to take care of business.... then back in a few minutes all fresh and re-hydrated to the front of the stage!

    Chamberlin is from Vermont as is GPN. They started just after 9. Their musical style was hard to pin down as they were all decked out in flannel and boots and played some folksy songs and then some good rock with some indie pop! Folk Rock is what they call themselves and they sounded great! They were a good intro to GPN!

   Grace Potter and The Nocturnals took the stage just before 10:30 and played until well after midnight! Grace pranced all night from one side of the stage to the other. Her keyboards were in front of us with her feet an arms length away. I had to peer over the piano to see her.  She hammered on several guitars with the "Vermont V" being the crowd favorite! The crowd all around us were true "Owl heads". Several had seen the previous concert in Spokane and were going to the Portland and Vancouver, BC concerts afterwards.
     From the setlist we noticed "Crazy on you" was on it. It wasn't on previous setlists so thoughts of Ann and Nancy joining them were on my mind. (Not to be)
    GPN rocked the house down! The band sounded tight and Grace's voice is worthy of Rock and Rock notoriety!  A description I read said "a modern-day version of Tina Turner stroking the microphone in a spangled mini-dress while fronting the Rolling Stones circa Sticky Fingers”

  The evening was a true delight experiencing such an upcoming force in music in such an intimate environment!

Watch my short YouTube video clip of "Paris"!  Really shows how up front and close we were.  FSB Fun!!!

.....Art :)) For FrontStageBaby.com http://FrontStageBaby.com