Nicole Atkins, w/Salt & Samovar

As I pondered what to do this past Saturday night, I exchanged thoughts with my friend Mr. D. Koster. I had said I wanted to see David Mead play at The Evening Muse' early show, but wasn't sure what I was going to do after that. Mr. Koster's reply was to be sure to go across the street and see Nicole Atkins. Not only could she sing, but she was photogenic (shorthand for cute) as well.

Of course I looked Nicole up on the web and while listening to her sing a tune on her Myspace, I was struck by the comments that she had a female Roy Orbison sound to her. I'd agree with the comparison, to an extent, but there was a nagging little voice in the back of my head that told me there was a different sound emmenating from her - one that reminds me very much of Edith Piaf, a french singer from the 30's who was featured in the 2007 film, "La Vie en Rose". One thing for sure, this lady has a powerful, unique and beautiful voice. Accompanied by her band, "The Sea", Nicole performed a great set at The Neighborhood Theatre, followed by a two song encore that left us talking about this singer for the following hour. And she's a Jersey girl who went to school here at UNCC!

And yes, she's "photogenic" too. Here's a link to photos from the show.

Opening for Nicole was a band named Salt & Samovar. They are a very good rock band that were a great opener for Nicole. For those curious minds, a Samovar is a metal container used to boil water, commonly used in Russia for making tea. So the bands name is salt and a tea pot? I know, that's probably only interesting to me. You can check out a few photos of Salt & Samovars performance at this link.

Hope you enjoy the photo's.

Cheers,

Monty Chandler