poppedmusic

Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats

The Deaf Institute Manchester, June 21st 2015

photo: poppedmusic

Words: Gary Lambert

The last time I heard of Nathaniel Rateliffe he was playing quite serious, somber music, which, to be fair, wasn’t exactly the chilled out evening’s entertainment I thought I needed on a boring Sunday night. Instead though Nathaniel and The Night Sweats gave me what I really needed with an earth shuddering display at an out-and-out fabulous Mancunian venue, The Deaf Institute.

Turning up right as the band came on stage, I was instantly mesmerised and transported by the rhythms and sounds coming from the stage. Like the smell of industrial volumes of bacon cooking takes me to my first trip to Glastonbury and camping next to a 24 hour breakfast bar, straight away I was taken to a mythical Friday night in Alabama having a hoedown, drinking beer in a red Solo cup and dancing in a town square. I could not help myself. My feet were tapping and my hips were shaking.

With only a small amount of releases on the market and an album not due until later in the year (fingers crossed!), this mix of country, blues and soul was not going to be suitable for crowd singalongs but with the wooahs, yeeahs and an ooh or two there was plenty of interaction. In fact I was thoroughly impressed with how well Nathaniel worked the audience and created a tight knit party vibe and no fear of making eye contact when dancing. It was just such good fun.

It was not all about the frontman as exceptional a job as he was doing. The quality of The Night Sweats made things easy for him. Each one of the six musicians brought their own skills into the mix that despite so many sounds being jumbled together it never sounded anything than a coordinated aural rainbow. And they even got their own time honoured spotlight during the “How about that band” segment just before their finale,  Son Of  A Bitch (SOB). Every man deserves their applause and fifteen seconds of solo.

This was also my first trip to The Deaf Institute and hats off to them for creating such a great venue. I’ve never been in such a small venue that had space for a dancefloor, bar, seating area and VIP section without feeling the slightest bit cramped and feeling like a venue for music fans to listen to good music. I cannot wait to go back there. But the venue wasn’t the star, so the final word has to be about the band on stage. Whilst they may come from the U.S., I’m sure they will be doing plenty of work over the summer on the festival circuit. Make sure if you get the chance that you go to see them. And if you do, prepare to forget where you are and what you are worried about for an hour of bliss – and wear shoes suitable for dancing.

Watch SOB by Nathaniel Ratecliff and The Nightsweats here: