Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards music series was in full swing as the skies cleared into a majestic summer evening with sunbeams lighting Anitbalas and sundown shimmering behind a wonderful set from Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats.
The evening kicked off with Antibalas setting the sweet vibe for a sold-out audience in the rolling hills of Upstate NY. The all-instrumental horn band is a show you do not want to miss. Antibalas moved and grooved and had the audience swaying with glee.
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats took to the stage soon after as the sun set over the Beak & Skiff campus at this incredibly designed venue. On The Future tour, an awesome album with much critical acclaim from 2021, the band brought their new music to life with driving backline funk and seamless horns backing the soul in the guitar and organ playing. Then that voice. This group has been at it since 2013 with Rateliff putting in the work since 2002 with various other projects. The result is a body of work with his solo projects and the Night Sweats that is soulful and simply stunning.
Some of this night’s highlights included the title track “The Future,” a barn-burning set opener. Also from the new record, “Face Down In The Moment” is a beautiful ballad that crescendoes into a rollicking and touching gem. Other highlights, though there was not a single tune that did not have the audience dancing, were “Hey Mama” from the 2018 record Tearing At The Seams, the set closer “I Need Never Get Old” and the encore “S.O.B.” from the platinum self-titled first album.
Beak & Skiff is establishing itself as a premier outdoor venue with an incredible 2022 Summer lineup. Tickets are still available for many of the upcoming shows. The small-town feel to this amphitheater and sunsets over the apple orchards serve the performers and audience with a vibe like no other. Be sure to check out Antibalas and Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats if they are ever in your area, as both bands put on shows full of passion, love, and the soul that we need in the world today.
