While it is billed as “the 6th annual 10th annual holiday shows” and Nathaniel Rateliff himself admitted from the stage of the Mission he couldn’t remember how many of his holiday shows had gone down over the years, I know that back in 2013 I was at the first holiday show to feature The Night Sweats and since then, I’ve been hooked.
In what was one of the most anticipated engagements of the summer, Nathaniel Rateliff finally performed his postponed run of three shows for enthusiastic fans at Red Rocks earlier this week. The fervor for these shows to finally come to fruition was shared by band and audience alike and the outpouring of joy was evident long before anyone took the stage.
The Telluride Blues & Brews Festival revealed its 2021 artist lineup featuring Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Buddy Guy, Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Larkin Poe and many more.
The line wound well down Colfax long before doors opened on Friday and while it was unseasonably warm, guys were warming up their ladies, and winter finery abounded as fans waited patiently for the doors of The Ogden to open. From 20-something hipsters, to gray bearded veterans of the scene, it was clear that Nathaniel Rateliff’s popularity in Denver doesn’t follow any strict demographic lines and that he delights listeners from all walks of life. What a treat it was to see this powerful band on their home court in the heart of Denver where they have played so many times before.
Nathaniel Rateliff has had a meteoric rise with his Night Sweats project that many in the music world dream of but never achieve. A good benchmark of that success was the fact that AEG had to add a second show at Red Rocks due to massive demand. Rateliff and The Night Sweats lived up to the billing with smashing success. His energetic stage presence, coupled with great song writing delivered in Rateliff’s unique style is the formula that he and the band has used to get here, and hopefully will carry him for a long, long time.
A cloud covered sky kept the temperature modest for a late August evening as a blend of Denver’s hip converged on Morrison’s marvel…Red Rocks. The demographic ranged from hipster to soccer mom, hippie to yuppie. Very diverse within the upper middle class, Caucasian world. We had a mild urge to go Hunter S. Thompson on it, take an assortment of substances and try to mingle, but it was a Sunday.
OPENAIR AND COLORADO […]
The Listen Up Denver! crew rolled into Telluride with one simple intention: Do not take this for granted. We were in Telluride! Man, it was amazing! The weather was epic, the beer flowed freely and the music, oh the music. The footprints of musicians including Rich Robinson, Sharon Jones, and Otis Taylor dotted the stage throughout the weekend, and while the sun warmed the day, clear and starry skies cooled off the evenings and the dancing lasted till the wee hours of the morning.
It was the day after Thanksgiving, and there’s no doubt there was a still a festive spirit in the air at The Gothic despite more than a few concert goers surely shaking out the cobwebs leftover from washing their turkey down with a few too many glasses of wine. As the clock pushed 9pm, the lines on Broadway stretched halfway down the block and a sea of Hipsters, a smattering of Baby Boomers, and a healthy crowd of 30-somethings were more than a little excited to check out the Nathaniel Rateliff double bill that was on tap for the evening.
This will be a release party for the new Nathaniel Rateliff album ‘Falling Faster Than You Can Run’ and it will be extra special because there will have an after-party on-site at the Gothic featuring Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats! While Rateliff may be best known to you for his Indie-Folk sounds, The Night Sweats, is pure power R&B/Soul. This may be the only time the Folk band and the Night Sweats share the same bill!