Written by: Tony Vasquez

Photography by: Vasquez Photography

Photo Gallery: Shakey Graves with Special Guest Nikki Lane

It’s Friday night in Indianapolis, Indiana on the weekend of the NCAA Men’s Final Four Tournament. There is a plethora of events to attend, and the Shakey Graves show, at the Deluxe at the Old National Centre is sold out. The crowd is packed in and filled with chatter in anticipation of the show. I’m really excited to see Shakey Graves for the first time, and little did I know how pleasantly surprised I would be by the opening act Nikki Lane.

Tonight is the last night of the tour for the opening band Nikki Lane. The band reigning from Nashville showcased a strong nostalgic country influence with a subtle influence of catchy rock hooks. Lane worked with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach who produced their sophomore release, All Or Nothin.’ Their sound is comprised of Nikki on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, a lead guitarist, a pedal steel player, a bass player, and a drummer.

One tune that really stood out to me from their set was “Seein’ Double.” The song is filled with surf guitars, and a beautiful whining pedal steel. The fast paced tempo contrasts with her laid back vocals. It is definitely one of my favorite songs from their set.

With their closing song “Right Time” the band delivers a high-energy ending. The crowd feeds off it, and begins clapping along with Nikki’s encouragement. With the line, “If you’re looking for a good time you and me will get on just fine,” the song is a perfect ending to their set.

Alejandro Rose-Garcia aka Shakey Graves comes onto the stage. Starting off the set as a one-man band with just a guitar and suitcase drum. He proceeds to blend an original sound of alt- folk with elements of blues and country, as well as pop melodies.

One of my personal favorite tracks, “Family and Genus” off the latest release, And The War Came, is the second song of their set. The rest of Shakey’s band, a drummer and a guitar player, take the stage. Shakey continues his double duties this time on guitar and keyboards for this moody tune.

Throughout the night the band on stage varied from a solo performer, to a trio, and even on one tune with just Shakey and the drummer on “If Not for You.” For the entire night the stage was washed in a colorful haze with the drummer disappearing at times in the smoke during the concert. The night flew by with some banter from Shakey Graves’ front man, but he mostly kept the tunes coming despite lots of chatter from the crowd. He continued to play his amazing songs with passion and a drive that was hard not to get sucked into. A few tracks that stuck out to me included “House Of Winston” and “Pansy Waltz,” both of which can be found on the latest album And the War Came.

They started the encore off with the fast paced “Late July,” and it got the entire crowd cheering and engaged. Then they brought out Nikki Lang for the last song, and they capped off the night with the song “Call It Heaven.”

I would recommend getting tickets early if they come to your town since most of their shows this month are already sold out. You can find more ticket info at: http://www.shakeygraves.com/tour/