Written by Bill Whiting
Photos by Scott Preston
center stage alongside Burr’s massive percussion attack on the beguiling masterwork, “Runaway.” Potter eased back with a reference to Willie Nelson before singing the gentle lines of the poignant ballad, “Ragged Company” from Nothing But the Water. A request from the Cincinnati faithful had Potter and the Nocturnals turning an inspiring and electrified phrase on the buoyant classic, “Stars.” The great thing about a Grace Potter and the Nocturnals event is the ensemble’s choice of bold and unpredictable covers. In Cincinnati, Grace, along with Tournet and Yurco lit the stage on fire with molten guitar soloing on the midsection’s radically jamming gem, the Neil Young slow burner, “Down By the River.” It was a memorable, show stopping moment. Turning to 2010’s self titled disc, the band continued to flow effortlessly through the pulsating shifts and spins of the swirling marvel, “Oasis.” Ending the set with a nod to 2007, and This is Somewhere’s “Stop the Bus,” Grace Potter and the Nocturnals left the stage to an overwhelming standing ovation. Playing the keyboards, Potter nailed the first encore, “Apologies,” before the Nocturnals coalesced around a fiery, gospel tinged take on the two part title track from Nothing But the Water. Pounding out the rock and roll bravado of “Paris (Ooh La La),” Potter and the Nocturnals had the Taft’s denizens dancing, and shouting the lyrics back towards the stage. The second encore found Potter grooving, and belting out the bracing closer, “Medicine.” Grace Potter and the Nocturnals left their indelible mark in 2013 with a moving and entertaining headlining evening at Cincinnati’s Taft Theatre on January 11.