The tour is in support of Potter’s latest LP released last August

Grace Potter brought her Mother Road Tour to DC’s Anthem on Saturday (Jan 27th). The tour is in promotion of her album of the same name that was released last summer.

The stage setting evoked the neo-western flavor of the album which was recorded at RCA’s famed Studio A in Nashville and Topangadise in Topanga, CA. Potter opened with “Lady Vagabond,” while neon signs including a stylized sun, a “Live Music Here” bar sign, and more glowed behind her. She opted for a darker ambiance, rather than a follow spot on her face. Potter’s set included a painted desert highway backdrop that spilled out onto the stage with a rug designed to look like a road.

Also a nod to this rootsy-flavored rock album, Potter has brought along Brittney Spencer to open on the Mother Road Tour. Spencer’s eight song set of her unique blend of country and pop was incredibly well received by fans of Potter, who flocked to the merch stand to meet her afterward and buy her out of her merchandise. The Baltimore native had all of her family in tow at the Anthem.

Potter’s voice was as smokey and soulful as ever. For the four songs this reporter got to hear.

In a first in the over 200 shows I have seen for The Music Universe, I had to bail because of an injury. I took a tumble down some cement stairs at the venue, during which I hit my left knee on the cement corner of a step, causing severe pain that did not subside in the timely manner I had expected. I got through Brittney Spencer’s set and four songs of Grace Potter before relenting.

Rather than wince my way through the show–because I owe it to the artists I cover to be at my best for them–I made the tough decision to exit the venue and head home to elevate my leg. I have never left a concert before for any reason, and I hope to never have to again.

I’d like to thank the venue staff, in particular the EMT Mike, for their swift and caring response. They were excellent and I couldn’t ask to have been in better hands. I’d also like to shout out the nurse practitioner who coincidentally happened to be seated next to me, for immediately asking what happened as soon as I fell. She told me her name, but I did not catch it in all the commotion. Thank you!

And if you get a chance to see Grace Potter, don’t miss it. She’s a true once-in-a-generation rockstar. Dates are scheduled through April with many sold out. This summer, she’ll support Chris Stapleton on select dates of his 2024 All-American Road Show.

Produced by Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age, Nickel Creek), the album finds the rock and soul artist deconstructing her deepest fears and darkest regrets and charting the fallout with brutal honesty and emotional daring. Throughout the album’s ten original tracks, Potter, along with contributions from top-flight musicians including guitarist Nick Bockrath, bassist Tim Deaux, drummer Matt Musty, pedal steel guitarist Dan Kalisher, and keyboardist Benmont Tench, commands an expansive soundscape of soulful rock, roots, funk, country, and R&B.

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