The crowd even sang “Happy Birthday” to Night Sweats saxophonist Andy Wild.ĭuring the encore, as the opener Delta Spirit returned to the stage, Rateliff mentioned that he and that band were once label mates on Rounder Records. There were new cuts like the driving “So Put Out,' the horn-heavy “What If I” and the mid-tempo, ’50s-inspired, soulful “Love Me Till I’m Gone.” Other highlights of the night included “Wasting Time,” with Rateliff hitting those high notes after the horn breaks, and “Redemption,” a tune from the film Palmer that the band played on Saturday Night Live last February. The exuberant vigor flowing through both the band and the crowd during those five cuts was damn near magic, while the first part of the night, as strong as it was, only ramped up to the climax. By the end of “S.O.B.,” the crowd's voices almost overpowered the music while Rateliff knelt in front of the stage with a single light illuminating his face. Jon Solomon That energy soared through the venue with “I Need Never Get Old,” as the crowd clapped along, maybe harder than any of us have clapped before.until fans took it up a notch for “S.O.B.,” singing along to the song’s “oh oh oh's. Things kept intensifying during “Intro,” as Rateliff slapped the tambourine in time to the band's upbeat vigorous soul, fueled by Luke Mossman’s staccato chords, Joseph Pope’s pulsing bass and Patrick Meese’s syncopated drumming. We were all part of something much bigger than ourselves, something not quite tangible but that felt good - really fucking good.Īnd whatever that feeling was, it just kept getting better and more powerful, with the band giving more and the crowd throwing it right back at the stage. Everyone was on their feet, hands raised and clapping. The band and the crowd fed off each other's energy, particularly about three-quarters of the way into the set, when the group played the chugging, hard-hitting new single “Survivor,” one of five new cuts that will drop on the upcoming album The Future, slated for a November 5 release on Stax Records.Īs the band launched into the upbeat, funky soul of “Coolin’ Out,” the energy elevated. The Night Sweats also played a sixth show last September to a totally empty Red Rocks for the virtual Unpaused festival.Ĭlearly, performing at a sold-out Red Rocks Monday night was a completely different experience. The 9,500 person venue was packed - quite different from his record-setting five shows in a row he played in 2020, when the crowd was limited to 175 a night. At those gigs, he was celebrating his solo album And It’s Still Alright, and many of the performances have been memorialized on his newly released live album, Red Rocks 2020. 'It’s a nice change of pace to see all your faces.”

'The last time, we played here for no one - literally, for no one,' said Nathaniel Rateliff, Monday night, a few songs into the first of his three-show Red Rocks run with his band the Night Sweats.

Red rocks nathaniel rateliff