philly

Lady and I went took a break today and headed to WXPN's Free at Noon concert at World Cafe Live. This week it was Nicole Atkins at the mic. She's got a huge voice and hails from dirty Jerz, Asbury Park [The Boss!] to be specific.

Here she is with her entire band. Dave Hollinghurst wailed with a guitar solo [Cool Enough] to remind me of the good ol' days. Derek Layes, well, he was a typical weird bassist. Daniel "Cashmere" Chen on the keyboards mimicked her voice as backup incredibly well. Dan Mintzer pounded his skins.

I had never heard of her before checking out the WXPN website on Thursday evening. I turned up the volume while listening to her voice on her MySpace and Lady asked who the artist was. We listened to the four songs through and decided to hear her live the next day. And check out her awesome coat.

I don't know how to define her style. Her wiki entry lists her under psychedelic, alternative, folk rock. I'd add drippingly sultry to that genre listing. And according to the wiki entry, she's a multi faceted artist as she studied illustration at UNC. You can tell from her website and her publicity shot that illustration is a passion.

Here's Atkins headbanging. After the song she said that headbanging was a great way to cool off under the hot stage lights. She added that whenever her mom sees her headbang, [Jersy mom voice] "I just want to throw Excedrin at you!"

Listen to the concert via the archive here via RealPlayer. The set list:
"Carouselle"
"The Way It Is"
"Cool Enough"
"Kill The Headlights"
"Brooklyn's On Fire"
"Love Surreal"
"War Torn"
"Maybe Tonight"

After the set, it was announced that Atkins would be back at World Cafe Live in March. She's not to be missed. I'd love to hear a full set and not a 30 minute teaser like this. The show is not yet on her schedule on her website nor MySpace. And finally, a blog post from the XPN blog leading up to the set.

I previously saw Nellie McKay live at WXPN.

Atkins played at the North Star Bar back in November.

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