The Filmore, San Francisco

Written by Erica Andreozzi

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Happy to have gotten Mark and Luke to sign my poster!

How lucky was I to have seen THIS Britney Spears IN THE FLESH last night at The Fillmore in SF?!! It’s a shame he didn’t shake those lovely locks loose, but at least we saw Nathaniel Rateliff SHAKE THOSE BOOTS quicker than Britney could (seriously). “HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME.”  😛

It’s been a RECORD YEAR for Nathaniel, and to have witnessed his evolution from a somber (but still SUPERB), seasoned singer/songwriter playing at tiny bars in London to a budding blues/rock/folk band playing at smallish chapels in San Francisco to a BREAKTHROUGH ACT (critically acclaimed record and hit song on the radio charts) SELLING OUT at the FAMOUS FILMORE, has been SUPER SATISFYING and DELIGHTFUL, to say the least. I always knew Nathaniel had a special something something that separated him from the rest (check him out in the music documentary, Austin to Boston), and I’m SO GLAD that he didn’t “throw the towel in” (his words) after some disappointment with his solo career and some frustration with record labels. He found his SWEET SPOT in the Night Sweats, and we have been craving that sweet goodness ever since!

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“I NEED NEVER GET OLD!” Eternal youth. Get it. I honestly believe that making the heart play and the soul sing is INDEED what keeps us from from getting old. that being said, a daily dose of Nights Sweats would DEFINITELY do the trick.   🙂

“Look it here baby I’m coming out, On my knees begging please yeah…” (Trust me, we are ON OUR KNEES begging more for you, Nate!)

When all else had been failing me, THIS SONG hadn’t.
“I said don’t you weep and don’t you worry
Don’t you weep and don’t you worry…” (instant strength)

I’ve surely shouted this chorus OUT LOUD down the freeway LIKE THE GOSPEL. Might as well be my Hail Mary.

This one starts out all sweet with a bit of a Motown beat, but then turns all NAAAAAASTY (in the best way imaginable) with Nate breaking it down HARD for us on guitar half-way through.

“Come on and just
Shake baby
I love it when you
Shake baby
…
NEVER GONNA STOP…FEEL WHEN IT’S HOT…No more…” (yaaaas)

Impossible to NOT SHAKE to this one, especially with Nate and Luke’s gnarly guitar jam sesh towards the end. I even got to shake a bit harder cause I had the front railing to hold on to… Always helps!

“I just want to thank you…Sweet baby for getting me through.” I just to THANK YOU, Nate and the Night Sweats, cause swaying to this sweet ditty has definitely helped with “getting me through.” ❤

“Think of all the hours I spent in constant reflection
Well it gets you down but it don’t make it right
…..(love the perfectly timed “f*ck yeah! holler in the background)
I made it my personal intervention
What a waste of time time time time time.”

Aside from hauling my hips to this hooky beat, I couldn’t NOT join Nate in belting out my favorite verse:
“You’re filling it up just to turn out on empty
God damn I know just how it feels
I’m gonna tear out all that’s inside me
Look away from here
Cause nobody cares
And they’re trying so hard not to know…”

We ALL KNEW what was coming up next, and the eager anticipation pervading the crowd nearly gave my heart an arrhythmia! Words just can’t describe the ENDLESS EUPHORIA that transpired in each and ever person in the audience that night. I don’t think there was ONE PERSON that did not join Nate as he vehemently vented, “SON OF A BITCH!” after his this powerful preacher goodness:

“I’m gonna need someone to help me
I’m gonna need somebodies hand
I’m gonna need someone to hold me down
I’m gonna need someone to care…”

The steady stream of hand-clapping, combined with the catchy cadency of the continual “Whoa-oa-ooo…Whoa-oa-ooo…Whoa-oa-ooo-ooo’s” had the WHOLE VENUE beating to the same powerful pulse. I instantly felt a connection with EVERYONE IN THE ROOM, including those echoes reverberating off the back wall. It was at that very moment that I remembered why I find music to be such an addiction, and why I make it an essential NECESSITY in my life. It’s my fuel when energy levels are low, and it’s my meditation when my mind is muddled. No matter what baggage people (myself included!) may have been carrying with them through the door that night, you better believe it was been dumped by the doorstep upon leaving. Music IS the ultimate medicine, especially when its side effects include NIGHT SWEATS like the ones you feel with Nate and his Seven, SUPER-talented Sweats. ❤

Mark plays a meeeeeeeeean organ (don’t be fooled by that gitty grin) and I loved being right in front of him to embrace the madness. Glad the sax and trumpet player also got in on some of the solo action!

What a CUTE and CLEVER way to end this EPIC EVENING…
Within only a few minutes of the crowd unanimously uniting for “Whoa-oa-ooo…Whoa-oa-ooo…Whoa-oa-ooo-ooo’s” to get the band back on stage, Nate and the Sweats successively slip back on stage, one by one, each breathing life back into their instruments as they do. The procession started with Mark (the organ), then Patrick (the drums), then Wes (the trumpet), then Luke (lead guitar) and then eventually the NUCLEUS, Mr. Rateliff. I can’t think of a better way to make us feel loved and “a part of their family,” which was Nate’s ONE WISH from the beginning. 🙂