So not too long ago I caught a part of the George Lopez show (i was flipping through the channels I swear!) and a band by the name of the Nocturnals performed, led by their front-woman Grace Potter. They only did one song (Paris) but I was captivated by her voice and their sound, as well as how down to earth she was during her post set interview. I thought, they would be a cool band to see play live. Enter, RXP...
So it would appear, 101.9 FM has this thing called the RXP Sessions for their faithful fans. It's a cool, intimate show consisting of different bands at a relatively small venue, usually during the day, and it's free! Guess who yesterday's session was? You guessed it, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. It was like fate when I heard about the upcoming Session, so I printed out my ticket (which in the end they didn't even check for) and made my way through the rain to the afternoon session, scheduled for 3pm, at The Studio at Webster Hall.
Of course the usual suspects were there, which of course are the hosts of The Rock Show in the mornings, Leslie Fram and Matt Pinfield (yes, THAT Matt Pinfield, of MTV fame). They hosted the show from a booth pretty much, and introduced the band of the day when they finally arrived from their scheduled shoot at VH1 Studios. They took the stage, said hi, and went straight into the tunes. The Nocturnals have 2 guitar players and one drummer, who happens to have an awesome mustache, and Grace Potter on lead vocals (she also plays guitar). All the guitars for yesterday's session however were of the electric acoustic variety, giving off a great sort of "unplugged" sound. Since this was my first RXP Session, I'm not sure if this is what they always do, I suppose I will find out at the next one.
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals did nothing short of blow me away with their short but sweet 5 or 6 song set. Their sound is a lot older than they are, a very old school feel of folk rock, a la Fleetwood Mac, who happen to be one of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE BANDS! As soon as she sang like 4 notes, Grace kind of reminded me of the great Stevie Nix in her day, the same sultry sound, raspy at times, and at times powerful, but with an Aguilera belt. Every song they did was absolutely amazing, and their stage presence is like that of a seasoned legend band, not of a newer band that is starting to create their own noise in the business like they are. In between every song, Grace would tell the crowd a joke about being on tour, or about the songs they were singing; you could tell that she really had no idea that she is a legitimate jewel in the rough and a star in the making. They of course finished with "Paris," which is their big song, and it sounded great with the acoustic guitars, even though the song is originally done with electric.
And as quickly as they entered the stage, when they were done they thanked us and made their exit. I guess there were wristbands given out that I somehow didn't get, which of course allowed you to stay after the show and meet the band. These were for the real VIP people I would guess, a person I really need to be for next time I do an RXP Session, or at least the next time I see Grace Potter and the Nocturnals play. How good are these guys? All I could think about during their performance was how awesome it would be to listen to their album. Yea, they're THAT good...
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