By Jenny Kratz
Female folk pop prevailed through the drizzle and mud last night in the Crossroads at Grinders. Armed with an impressive arsenal of fiery female singer-songwriters, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals' lineup rocked the outdoor stage with a relentless, gritty combination of blues and beats that seemed to cause even the weather to give in to the bands' musical swagger.
Lawrence folk darling Julia Peterson set the tone (rain or shine!) with her signature up-tempo, alt-country rhythm and songbird voice. The rain may have kept a few people hiding inside Grinders early in the show, but Peterson's sound -- refreshingly heard through a large and clear sound system -- rang through the open doors and alleyways as more and more people gradually embraced the wet weather and came outside.
Next up was Sara Watkins (of Nickel Creek fame), who took to the stage like a veteran with her guitar, fiddle and ukelele. But fans of Watkins' Nickel Creek-inspired bluegrass stylings were in for a bit of a surprise (assuming they hadn't heard her new solo debut album, produced by former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones). Watkins crafted beautiful folk ballads, coaxing powerful sounds from her strings and matching it artfully with her strong voice. She also set what would be a trend for the night: swingy, flowery, short dresses. (Needless to say, I am still baffled how any of them managed not to flash the crowd.)
Violinist Carrie Rodriguez graced the stage next, on tour in support of her new album Love & Circumstance. With only her strong voice and the strings of her violin, Rodriguez filled the Crossroads with a large sound that seemed to follow perfectly in step with what Watkins had left on the stage. By now, the muddy venue had filled with eager female concertgoers.
The show at this point, however, was overdue for a shakeup in the single female format that had been so dominating the night. Enter Dar Williams.
Williams began her set with the assistance of jazz keyboardist and vocalist Bryn Roberts (who had many of the ladies in the audience swooning). Williams ground out organ-laden, bluesy folk while maintaining her cute-as-a-button, effortless girlishness behind her guitar. Beginning with "The Easy Way" off of her new album Promised Land, Williams ran into some technical difficulties, but expertly bantered with the crowd and her sound guy, Travis, who got nothing but thanks from Williams on stage (he did, after all, have to tend to five women in one night).
Williams continued to rouse the crowd between songs, noting that she had a special fondness for Kansas City due to the fact that the last time she came through town, her husband learned to bake chocolate chip cookies (and what woman doesn't want a man that doesn't cook chocolate chip cookies?!). As technical difficulties continued to pop up, Williams never showed any frustration, and continued to tell stories from the road and field requests, noting that she was improvising and changing her set list because she was liking the requests coming from the crowd so freely.
At one point she joked, "Have you ever heard of this thing called a 'hippie'?" Look around, Dar. But if she was making fun of anyone, it was obvious she was poking at herself. And it was time for her to bring out more voices.
Sara Watkins joined her on fiddle and Carrie Rodriguez stepped on to stage with her violin, and the four of them (Bryn was still the odd guy out) constructed a hauntingly beautiful cover of Emmylou Harris' "Green Pastures," as if it was a rain-soaked hymn. Finally, Dar finished out her set with crowd favorite "Iowa," stating that she was so "inspired by all of the beautiful curves and power of the land in the Midwest," and intelligently pointing out the power of the presence of Obama in Kansas City at that very same moment. A little reminder of the greatness of the Midwest never hurt anyone.
However, all of the beautiful female folk thus far was about to get swept aside by the tornado of sound that is Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.
If you've never heard Grace Potter and her band live, you might assume (as I had) that it would lie somewhere in the full-band folk-rock vein--interesting and pleasurable, but perhaps somewhat standard. I won't make that mistake again.
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, on tour in support of their new self-titled album, combine genres and elements with such ease and perfection you could easily mistake them for a group that has been together since the 70's.
GPN (as they're lovingly known to fans) began the show with "Joey" off of their Nothing But the Water album, and pounded the bass and beats so intensely that I forgot what kind of a showcase I was at. Recently, GPN added bassist Catherine Popper (of Ryan Adams & the Cardinals) to their line-up, and that could not have been a wiser decision. The tall and leggy Popper, in an unimaginably short zebra-print dress, was hard to look away from, and might just be the hottest bass player I've ever seen.
Potter was not to be outshone, though. Wearing leopard-print and heels, she was quite breathtaking at the keys and never once gave off the indication that she was doing anything but having a good time. No work for her: it's all play.
She played three songs off of her new record in a row -- "Money," "Tiny Light," and "Colors" -- before fielding the request of an audience member who screamed "Play anything! We don't care, just keep playing!" GPN crafted songs, old and new, with collaborative guitar efforts, joint drumming (at one point all five of the members picked up drum sticks and pounded out a driving, almost march-like beat that would have had any hip-hop producer envious), and Potter bouncing between the keys, acoustic and electric guitar.
One of the highlights of the night came when GPN covered "Heart of Glass" by Blondie. She rounded out the set with "Nothing But the Water," demanding that the audience "Get down like you've never got down before! If you do that for me, maybe I'll let you see my underwear!" (Side note: she was dancing so hard by the end of the song that the crowd most definitely got a peek.) Channeling Stevie Nicks, Kinks-style riffs, beats that pay homage to early hip-hop, and the grittiness of blues, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals' performance at the Crossroads channeled an intoxicating femme fatale allure, in full action.
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