Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats are from Denver, Colorado. Tonight, they are playing their brand of contemporary rock and roll in Chicago on their South of Here tour.

Early in the set, they play “You Worry Me” from their 2018 album, Tearing At The Seams. “I’m gonna leave it all out there to dry up / I’m gonna leave it all out there.” This is simply a great song. 

Soon afterwards, he brings out Mavis Staples to sing a song about friendship. He calls Mavis a national treasure and he asks for the audience to cheer for her numerous times. “And she lives in your city!” Nathaniel was clearly overjoyed to sing with her and it was great to see him act as a superfan. Mavis was also a surprise guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert when she appeared to sing with Jeffy Tweedy at the Auditorium Theatre. 

Later on they play “Heartless” from thier brand new album, South of Here. It’s a great new song that fits in perfectly with their catalog.

Midway in the set, they play “Hey Mama”. This is such a beautiful song that features great guitar and saxaphone playing. “You picked the bad time / You picked the bad time to listen to me!” 

Nathaniel says he was talking recently with a bartender who showed him a picture from 10 years ago of him on stage at Schuba’s, which has a capacity of just 165. Last year, they played outdoors at the Salt Shed, which holds 5,000 people. And now they are playing at the United Center, which is the largest arena in the United States with a concert capacity of 23,500 people.  

Later in the night, they cover “Dancing In the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen. It was a fantastic celebration of music and this great song. “Can’t start a fire without a spark!” Everyone was dancing and singing along. 

To start the encore, the keyboard plays what sounds like “Sirius” by The Alan Parsons Project, which is the Chicago Bulls Intro theme song, as the band returns to the stage. It leads directly into “S.O.B.” from their self-titled 2015 album. This song has a great driving beat that you just can’t help but dance along to. “Son of a bitch, give me a drink / One more night, this can’t be me / Son of a bitch, if I can’t get clean / I’m gonna drink my life away.” This is their most popular song on Spotify with over 186 million streams. 

See a recent setlist here. 

Cost of a ticket: $95 (100 level)

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It 

Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Discounted > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

Quinn Delaney