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
E: Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen Cover)
