Grace Potter and the Nocturnals Perform at the Sun Music Hall

As Grace Potter’s voice carried through the Sun Music Hall in Floyd, Va. on Saturday June 2, she peered outside and didn’t like what she saw.

“It’s still light outside,” she said. “But we can fix that.”

An attempt perhaps from Grace Potter and the Nocturnals’ frontwoman to excite the crowd. As this rock/blues group performed, I couldn’t tell how excited most of the crowd was. Sure there were some obligatory “WHOOOS!” flying out (one of them happened to be right behind me). And sure there was some scattered light rhythmic body movement, sort of like a zombie that doesn’t move forward.

But maybe the concert wasn’t just about excitement. Much like the sky, that had darkened a bit but had not yet hit complete dusk, the concert towed the line between two extremes: a quiet sit-down affair and a jump-up-and-down rock extravaganza.

The Sun Music Hall itself has that intangible, mystical quality of atmosphere. It’s not heavily decorated. The floor is covered by fold-up seats on the right and barren for dancing on the left. And from the outside it doesn’t quite have the appearance of a fun entertainment center. But inside, it has atmosphere. That quality that makes me feel like I’m here to relax and be entertained.

Kat Mills got the evening started. A folk artist in Blacksburg, Mills’ music is reflective. She reflects on the state of the world, guys, life on the road. In this stage people were sitting down, many of them talking amongst themselves. Still, Mills didn’t let it get to her.

About 30 minutes after Mills got off the stage, the Nocturnals got on it and really got the crowd going. That is to say, at this point the crowd mostly stopped talking amongst themselves and almost everybody stood up. This was the moment they had been waiting for.

The band, consisting of Potter on vocals and guitar/keyboard, Scott Tournet on lead guitar, Bryan Dondero on bass and Matt Burr on drums, play with a sort of subdued energy. Burr wasn’t that subdued, as he often went close to crazy with his vibrating body on the drums.

Of course it sometime seemed like some in the crowd were looking for that extra bit of energy. Like in “This is Spinal Tap,” when Nigel Tufnel gushes over his amps that go all the way to 11. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals don’t go to 11. At least they didn’t tonight. But that’s what made it fun. Not too high, not too low, the band carried themselves charismatically.

“Stop the Bus” was the highlight, getting the crowd going more than any other song. Rightly too. It’s a rocker that builds up steam as it moves along until the “Stop the bus” chorus rings loud into the hall.

Grade: B+