I came to the Entry on Monday night to see opening act, Ryan Lindsey of the Starlight Mints. I wasn’t sure if I would like the headliner (recently hyped Nicole Atkins and the Sea) but I was excited to see Lindsey and figured I may as well stick around for the other bands on the set. By the time the show was over, however, all other musicians were forgotten under the hurricane swell of Atkins and her band’s stupendous performance.
It wasn’t that the other bands were bad. Lindsey was terrific, as were local belter Mary Bue and Jersey rock revivalists Parlor Mob. The three openers could have had a very respectable show without Atkins in fact. On the other hand Nicole’s band could have also played an utterly fantastic show alone. Their stuff is that good.
Atkins and the Sea’s lush, surreal pop belies influences spanning the years, from the frequently cited Roy Orbison to filmmaker David Lynch (In fact the band could probably freak some people out by starting to play covers of Orbison’s “In Dreams,” the song that is played during one of the more twisted parts of Lynch’s masterpiece, Blue Velvet).
While the band is very talented, Atkins is without question in the driver seat. Though small of stature, her voice is a gale force. While she could have easily gone the pure pop route, Atkins has created a genre of her own she defines as “Pop Noir.” It is a dark and introspective lyrical style combined with elements of folk and psychedelia. While her motif has gained her a recording contract with Columbia, as well as numerous TV appearances, her album has yet to be a large success. Regardless, the show drew a good sized crowd for a Monday night, and I can almost guarantee that not one person left disappointed.
The Entry’s set list included (amongst others) “Maybe Tonight”, the title track of her new album Neptune City, as well as “Brooklyn’s on Fire!”, a tune in which the audience was encouraged to sing the chorus. The petite Atkins was charming, and bantered quite a bit with the crowd, commenting that the microphone smelled like garlic and poking fun at the forest of cameras in the audience. When the band left the stage at around 12:30 they were immediately clapped back for a one song encore. Though the night was late, I got the feeling that people would have stuck around to hear much more, had it been forthcoming.
Those who didn’t get enough will get their chance again though, as Nicole and Company left promising to return in the summertime. If you didn’t make it to the Entry on Monday you should definitely make an effort the next time around. It is only a matter of time before Nicole and her band become huge, and after that, you may not get a chance to hear her in the intimate confines of a small club. Nicole Atkins and the Sea have large club talent. It’s only a matter of time.
