THE HEAD & THE HEART + NATHANIEL RATELIFF USHER IN SUMMER AT THE MANN

A beautiful summer night concert overlooking the great City of Philadelphia – this would describe Wednesday night’s concert at The Summer Stage at the Mann Music Center.

The Head and The Heart co headlined with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats for a sold out show A perfect pairing of The Head and The Heart Indie-Folk sound with Nathaniel’s Folk-Rock/Americana groove.

The Head and The Heart

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The Head and The Heart

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The Head and the Heart starting strumming to the crowd just before sunset. The first twenty rows standing, the rest on their blankets. Everyone singing and swaying to tunes like “Let’s be Still” and “Another Story.” The band really seemed to be have such a great time even smiling back at all of us. They covered songs like “City of Angels” off of their newer album “Signs of Light.” I’ve had the pleasure of seeing The Head and The Heart a few times, so when they lit us up with “Lost In My Mind” that really brought it all together for me. The blanket folks seemed to be getting on their feet to dance with the rest of the crowd for “Down In The Valley” and their show closer “Rivers and Roads.” The Head and The Heart is such an amazing band live I cannot wait for the next time around.

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The Head and The Heart

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The Head and The Heart

Bring on the night – Nathaniel Rateliff strolls onto the stage in his white hat looking like he means business and business we got. Being my third time seeing these guys jam this year I was literally out my mind with excitement. This new album Tearing at the Seams seems to cover every possible human emotion, from smiling happy to almost tearful sadness. They opened up with “Shoe Boot” and “Be There”, two foot stomping, fist pumping songs that had us the entire sold out crowd on their feet singing along. Nathaniel and his entourage, including a three horn section, brought us “Little Honey,” “You Worry Me” and “Babe I Know,” all off their new album and just complete super jams.

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Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

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Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

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I can’t say enough about the next two songs, which were my introduction to this band. “I Need Never Get Old” and “S.O.B” off their self-titled album are songs that will have your heart racing with joy. It was very obvious the crowd agree with me on this because the place exploded. Now that was really something else to experience, I’m still smiling.

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Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

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So “Hey Mama” which Nathaniel & The Night Sweats played towards the end of the show deserves a special mention. I have to believe this song portrays their struggle to make it big in the world of music. I visualize this may have been a conversation he had with his Mom at one point regarding their chase at success. Definitely give this song a listen!

“You ain’t gone far enough to say
At least I tried
You ain’t worked hard enough to say
Well I’ve done mine
You ain’t run far enough to say
My legs have failed
You ain’t gone far enough
You ain’t worked hard enough
You ain’t run far enough to say
It ain’t gonna get any better”

Well the show closer definitely caught me off guard but totally made the night, especially here in Philadelphia. The Head and The Heart joined Nathaniel & The Night Sweats for their version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City,” and well, you can imagine how the crowd reacted to this! Catch these guys as soon as can, you will love them.