Ommegang knows how to host a party. At what has become one of the hottest concert venues in Central New York, the Cooperstown brewery’s second show of the summer brought the co-headlining show of The Head and the Heart and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats.
Acoustic singer-songwriter Brent Cowles opened the show, winning over the crowd early in his set. He was followed by the first of the co-headlining bands, The Head and the Heart. It’s safe to say that there were just as many in the crowd there to see the indie folksters as were there to see Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. Many up front were decked in Head and the Heart gear and singing along with the majority of the songs during the band’s hour plus long set, especially the set closer, “Rivers & Roads.”
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats came out to a packed house, opening with “Shoe Boot,” a slow burner that brings to mind The Band’s “Don’t Do It.” The Night Sweats horn section was on point all night, especially during a raucous rendition of the band’s hit, “I Need Never Get Old.”
Rateliff is a front man with aplomb. His gruff soulful voice and talent to shimmy demand the audience’s attention despite the fact that the rest of the Night Sweats are world class entertainers themselves.
The night ended with all of the evening’s musicians joining together on stage for a rousing performance of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City.” The energy on stage carried over into the crowd during the finale as the traditional fireworks show led the nearly sold-out crowd into the Otsego County night.
The Head and the Heart Setlist: Sounds Like Hallelujah, Rhythm and Blues, Ghosts, City of Angels, Another Story, Let’s Be Still, Lost in My Mind, Heaven Go Easy on Me, Shake, Down in the Valley, Backwards Poker, Living Mirage, All We Ever Knew, Rivers and Roads
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats Setlist: Shoe Boot, Be There, Look It Here, A Little Honey, Coolin’ Out, Out on the Weekend, You Worry Me
Wasting Time, You Should’ve Seen the Other Guy, Babe I Know, Intro -> I Need Never Get Old, Hey Mama, S.O.B., Trying So Hard Not to Know
Encore: Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen Cover)
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