[Editor's note: we realize that we've now covered Nicole Atkins and the Sea several times. The first time, we were surprised; the second time, we were impressed. While melophobe grows into the many-tentacled fiend it shall be, we are already thrilled and impressed with our snarkily incisive contributors. At this point, we do not have wide distribution networks for [legal] media sharing, making it difficult to keep everyone on the same page at all times. As such, our humble contributor Kelsey Ferguson, a new and exciting addition to our growing Seattle family, went to see Mz. Atkins with somewhat-limited background in her sound. So, no, you're not going crazy: melophobe is happily surprised and delighted by Nicole Atkins and the Sea all over again.]
I went into this show knowing only two things about Nicole Atkins and her band, um, the Sea: (1) Ari thinks she's hot (but probably in a totally professional, respectful way, obviously --ed.); and (2) they had been in a credit card commercial where the card in question helped to ease the stresses of touring. For whatever reason, I wasn't expecting to be knocked out, but I really enjoyed the show and the music. Nicole was captivating, the songs were evocative, engaging, and well-executed, and it was overall a good time!
The show started off with only the band onstage, then Nicole made her entrance in a little black A-line dress and red heels. She immediately brought to mind a sort of torch-song siren, standing there in the spotlight, and the song confirmed that. And overall, while she wasn't singing torch songs per se, there was always a little bit of that as an undercurrent throughout the show. “The Way It Is” had the audience spellbound—my notes say “Yowza!”—and her cover of “Jubilee” was also stunning and affecting. She's got a voice like an emotional laser beam.
As a girl who had her Oldies-station phase as a kid and is currently a KEXP devotee, there was definitely something immediately familiar about their music. Now, a disclaimer: I'm a softie for anything with a 60's/surf-rock drumbeat or a folksy bent, and these guys have those aplenty. They deftly blended the throwback beats and melodies with modern instrumentation and edge, to great effect. On a few songs, “I'll Wait For You” especially, I sort of wanted there to be backup dancers on stage, dressed in complementary little outfits. Others have compared her to Roy Orbison or the Avett Brothers, both of whom I love, and that is maybe where my head went when I heard her. Many of the songs evoked musical “tip of the tongue” sensations: You know you've heard that riff, but you just can't place it. There was nothing specific that I could point to for an example, but I found myself doing this again and again throughout the show.
The band was amusing to watch – Dan Mintzer does intriguing little movements with his neck and shoulders as he drums, which was pretty fun to watch on some of the more rocking songs. And dAve [sic] Hollinghurst got some good jumping around in on the guitar. We got a good wa-wa-ing guitar solo on “Cool Enough,” and some astonishing synchronous vocal/guitar rhythmic work on the closer, “War Torn.”
The magic happened when Nicole got off her chain, so to speak, and really lost herself in the torchy scorchers or the head-back, rock 'n rollin' numbers. She got going on the second song of the evening, “Skywriters,” and spun the energy through “Carousel” (their circusy, honky-tonk rocker), right on through the end of the set. Her voice is clear and compelling, and she's always technically right-on without losing the song's soul or emotion. My favorite of the night had to be the Mama Cass cover, “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” Her love for the song was evident, and you could almost feel the audience's swoony admiration of her while she sang.
The only thing a little off was the amount of self-deprecating comments coming from Nicole. She kept noting that it was strange to have an audience not populated by immediate relatives, and wondering if maybe the audience thought that she was somebody else. Now from what I can gather on the internet, she's pretty darn famous (appearances on Letterman and Conan, a blurb in Rolling Stone), so I was a little puzzled by that. It did just come off as cute chatter though, so don't think ill of her for my mention of this. Also, my apologies to Nicole/the Sea for not staying to chat, but I'm a closet social phobic and was already rattled from the amount of necessary schmoozing earlier in the night, so I split after the encore.
I'd definitely recommend them live, and will go check out their recordings ASAP!
Set list:
Neptune City
Skywriters
Maybe Tonight
Carousel
Party's Over
The Way It Is
Cool Enough
Kill the Headlights
Jubilee (cover, orig. by Benji Hughes)
Together We're Both Alone
Brooklyn's on Fire
I'll Wait for You
War Torn
Encore:
Dream a Little Dream (cover, orig. by Mama Cass Elliot)
