 |
| Nathaniel Rateliff @ the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats served as the perfect performers for the debut of the new intimate concert layout for the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Rateliff shared stories of good times and lost days in San Francisco while delivering a fiery and enthusiastic performance of his catalog best hits.
Rateliff began the night on piano at the top center of the stage with “David & Goliath” off their 2024 album “South of Here.” It was the first of six songs off the new album that would be peppered throughout the set. Flanked by his seven bandmates and three large screens behind him, Rateliff soon left the piano and was in a constant state of flux and motion between crooning with a microphone, strapping on an acoustic and electric guitars and returning to the piano.
 |
| Nathaniel Rateliff @ the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“San Francisco’s one of my favorite cities and it’s always a blessing to be here” the nattily dressed Rateliff told the crowd as he exited the piano and came down the stairs to deliver a funky “I’m on Your Side” from 2021’s “The Future” - crisscrossing the stage and coming to the edge of the audience throughout. The song provided a nice spotlight for his three-man horn section as Rateliff connected with the fans in the front standing pit and sang with keyboardist /organist Mark Shusterman.
 |
| Nathaniel Rateliff @ the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Rateliff’s unique performance-style and deep connection to the San Francisco audience was tailored to be the first concert for the longtime venue’s new sometime configuration from an 8,500-person open floor space that can feel cavernous and echoey to a mostly seated 4,500-seat venue - dubbed “The Theater at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.” Throughout the night I heard from fans and staffers new and old who appreciated the vibe set by the new seating (it will be be in effect for the upcoming Avett Brothers show in April). Even San Francisco’s Mayor Daniel Lurie – coming off the hugely successful NBA All-Star and Lunar New Year week – was spotted checking being given a tour of the new setup.
 |
| Nathaniel Rateliff @ the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The frenetic “Survivor” followed with Rateliff donning an electric guitar for the first time in the evening. “Look It Here” – a horn-driven favorite off the first Night Sweats album followed. The crowd enjoyed the retro swing of the song before the energy blasted up to ten with “I Need Never Get Old.” The song showed the difference between the power of The Night Sweats with full, Stax-influenced momentum and Rateliff’s last visit to San Francisco in late 2023 at the Orpheum Theatre that focused on his deeper solo catalog. Saturday, the crowd energy continually reached a boiling point with clapping arms in the air and the audience singing and stomping along (the added seats created quite a thunder when the stomping occurred).
 |
| Nathaniel Rateliff @ the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
One of the most enjoyable of the new songs followed with Rateliff deftly handling the tongue-twister lyrics of “Time Makes Fools of Us All” as drummer Patrick Meese led the driving momentum that culminated in a dramatic Rateliff solo at the end. “Man o Man. We’ve had so many great memories from San Francisco,” Rateliff told the audience. “One night we played a small show, and someone gave me a little brownie that had me tripping my balls off and disappearing. At one point, we all ended up in a grocery store having our own episodes…with Mark feeling like someone was trying to murder him…Anyhow, I love San Francisco!”
“There’s nothing like spending the night in your tour van in The Tenderloin drinking out of mason jars like the bunch of hillbillies from Missouri that we are. It’s great to see San Francisco coming back and anything I can ever do to support. We love this fantastic city!”
 |
| Nathaniel Rateliff @ the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“A Little Honey”, “You Worry Me” and “Wasting Time” followed in rapid succession. “Honey” saw a spotlight on the horn section, while “Worry” focused on Rateliff’s acoustic guitar and vocals with the soaring and searching line of “I’m going to leave it all!” “Wasting time” started out with Shusterman in the spotlight with his organ before Rateliff’s acoustic took center stage leading into the song’s beautiful harmonies and a great solo by lead guitarist Luke Mossman. The energy picked up with Rateliff ‘s acoustic strumming on “Heartless” as videos behind him depicted traveling through wide open rural spaces – emphasizing the song’s driving momentum.
 |
| Nathaniel Rateliff @ the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Face Down in The Moment” put a spotlight on Rateliff’s crooning supplemented by thundering bass from Joseph Pope III. The mournful “Get Used to the Night” showed all Rateliff’s range from the song’s early low sorrow to his final soaring vocals sung like a performing who was leaving it all on the stage.
“This is one of the band’s favorite songs that we did for the album “The Future” and it didn’t even make it on the record. That’s just how record’s go,” said Rateliff as he introduced “Slow Pace of Time.” The song was performed up front as a quartet with Rateliff on electric guitar joined by his three-man horn section of Andreas Wild, Jeff Dazey and Daniel Hardaway. As a frontman, Rateliff generally stirs memories of Van Morrison and Joe Cocker, but on this song, he touched heavily on the late Leon Redbone.
 |
| Nathaniel Rateliff @ the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“And It’s Still Alright” from Rateliff 2020 solo album was performed with Rateliff on acoustic joined by Mossman playing a blended slide sound on his guitar and Shusterman on organ. Coming off the huge vocal finish of the previous song, it showcased Rateliff’s tender side as candles were projected on the screen behind. The song held the audience in rapt attention before being greeted by a huge ovation.
“Remember, I Was A Dancer” and the 2024 album’s soaring, Appalachian-style title track “South of Here” led into Rateliff’s guitar intro to “Hey Mama” from 2018’s “Tearing at the Seams” with Shusterman shining on the organ with the crowd lustily joining Rateliff in the chorus of “You ain’t worked hard enough” and then “You picked a bad time.”
 |
| Nathaniel Rateliff @ the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“This is our last show of the tour, and we couldn’t do it better,” Rateliff told the crowd before he led a bouncy and fun version of “I’ll Be Damned” as he crossed the stage without his guitar while the band kicked into jam mode and the house lights encouraged a spirited clap along. The main set finished with a boisterous cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in The Dark” that featured a center-stage sax solo from the Night Sweats’ big man Jeff Dazey.
 |
| Nathaniel Rateliff @ the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“SOB” led off the encore with a Phantom-like organ solo intro from Shusterman and Rateliff – back-lit at the top of the stage – singing the opening lyrics before the song leapt into the clapping, stomping and screaming phase that made it the giant party anthem it quickly became when released in 2015. “Love Don’t” closed the show with a return to the Stax-vibe as the song evolved from plodding to a runaway, revival energy with a thunderous finish.
 |
| Nathaniel Rateliff @ the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Rateliff’s love of San Francisco was shared earlier by opener, Iron & Wine. “San Francisco, you’ve got it all figured out, despite what they say,” the South Carolina-born solo artist told the crowd. Songs like “The Trapeze Swinger” demonstrated his masterful ability to switch his pace and power of his voice and playing throughout a song to take the audience on winding emotional journeys.
 |
| Iron and Wine @ the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
He was playful with the audience throughout his set, delivering deep lyrics in a tongue and cheek manner. Iron & Wine’s expansive lyrics can make you think and laugh as you trampoline from mourning to celebration in a moment. “How many of you guys have been to Galveston, Texas?” he asked the crowd. Despite a larger than I would have imagined affirmative response, he dismissed it smiling with “that was like three people,” before playing “Waves of Galveston.”
 |
| Iron and Wine @ the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“One more. Are you guys ready for my Fiona Apple impression. It’s not really good. But I’m trying. I’m trying really hard,” he joked before delivering the loving finale of “All in Good Time” – a love duet he originally recorded with Apple. His performance was a demonstration of the singer-songwriter’s power – armed only with a stool, acoustic guitar and microphone – to hold the attention of more than 4,000 people.
