Nicole Atkins @ Late Show with David Letterman

June 4, 2021June 14, 2021 by haterhigh

. : : January 9th, 2015 : : .

Hey, remember about a month ago when I said I only had one more Nicole Atkins recording to share?

I was happily mistaken!

I also captured her performance on Late Show with David Letterman in January of 2015. At this point, Letterman was only four-months from retirement, but still brought the excitement and enthusiasm for his musical guests like it was his first week on the job.

Nicole and co. perform a version of Neptune City‘s War Torn that trades the lush keyboards of the recorded version for dreamy, reverb-drenched guitars that ultimately delves into a crunchy, distorted punch-in-the-face climax.

Live Recordings

Nicole Atkins @ Public Square Park

April 30, 2021June 15, 2021 by haterhigh

. : :September 5th, 2020 : : .

Nicole Atkins‘ fifth album, Italian Ice, was released just shy of a year ago. The world was a different place then. Sure, COVID-19 was a thing, but it was still on it’s first escalation. Musical artists were struggling with whether to postpone albums and upcoming summer tour dates amid the uncertainty and, artistically speaking, we were at a comparative standstill.

Unable to keep the LP under wraps, Nicole proceeded with the album’s release, and promoted it with radio appearances and a weekly streamed “porch performance” from her home, featuring a variety of musical guests.

Live Recordings

Nicole Atkins @ BBC Television Centre

April 23, 2021June 15, 2021 by haterhigh

Nicole Atkins @ Later...With Jools Holland — Nicole Atkins @ Later…With Jools Holland

. : :September 16th, 2008 : : .

Combing through Ye Olde Archives of Tapes Unreleased to upload, I came across not only the previously posted early Nicole Atkins & The Sea recording I made from the band’s performance at Lee’s Palace in Toronto, but also a capture I made of her performance on the BBC’s legendary Later… With Jools Holland.

I grabbed this from a rerun around 2012, but it’s original air date is from September 2008. I couldn’t get concrete details on the filming data, but it’s presumably in that vicinity.

Unlike my personal recording, this one is professional and sounds fantastic. Nicole performs two of the most accessible, powerful songs off her celebrated debut album. This would probably be a much better introduction to the band, and I should’ve posted it first. Oh, well. Live and learn, I guess!

Live Recordings

Nicole Atkins @ Lee’s Palace

April 15, 2021June 15, 2021 by haterhigh

. : : February 17th, 2008 : : .

There was something I loved about British girl-group, the Pipettes, that defied all logic.

I mean, they were the product of everything I hated about those late 90-s girl-groups (and boy-bands); contrived, manufactured, and reliant on that grrl-powered gimmick that the Spice Girls perfected a decade earlier.

Maybe it was the nostalgic 60s sound and matching costumes, or the infectiously cotton-candy sweet songs, but I just couldn’t get enough of them, and was thrilled to catch them performing at Lee’s Palace.

I knew nothing of opening band Nicole Atkins and the Sea, and it was a clever (but risk-taking) promoter who teamed her up with the Pipettes. While the Pipettes were sugar-coated, 60’s pop throwback with two-and-a-half minute, hook-filled pop songs, Nicole Atkins was orchestral-infused rock-teetering-on-punk with a voice so powerful it barely needed a microphone to be heard at the back of the venue.

Live Recordings

Nicole Atkins @ Drake Underground

December 3, 2011April 9, 2021 by haterhigh

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