I'm embarrassed to admit I'd never listened to Grace Potter & the Nocturnals before Forcastle. That's the point of a festival, though. With over 100 bands here, you're doing something wrong in life if you're not experiencing any new ones. Sure, you'll hate most of them, but to my pleased surprise, in this case I'm smitten. .
Now, to be honest, I hoped for good things from the band they put on before Cake.
I'm not sure if Pandora would've combined Grace Potter and the Nocturnals with Cake, but after the first four songs, I can say I really like this band. The singer has a great, low voice that sounds good on a live stage (a lot of bands fall flat when performing live. This makes me look forward to hearing how they sound with good production values.)
Plus, the lead singer has a sense of humor. It's a balmy 90 degrees out. After her fourth song, she paused to tease the audience.
"The temperature, well, some people may say it's a little hot, but I say it's just perfect for the kind of music we're playing. You've got to get a little bit sticky."
She describes the 1st song off their new album as a song about redemption and hope. I'll settle with calling it pretty. To my pleased surprise, the crowd really likes their new material - in fact, they like it more than the cover of Starship.
Lyrics and melodies lead this band. They're among the rate few I think is enjoy just as well acoustically as amped, and from me, that's one heck of a compliment. There's a hint of country in one of their songs without a twang that makes fingernails rake across the chalkboard of my spine.
On a shallow note, I clearly need to start an etsy shop making fascinatots. The ladies are sporting white dresses with big red roses on headbands. Since this is Forecastle, I will say the dresses do look like hand dyed organic cotton. I swear, before this night is through my corpse will be found hanging from the remains of my lightweight, comfortable halter dress made from synthetic fibers. Remember me well, Louisville.
Photo credit Chris-Racahel Oseland.