Nikki Lane is the indie country chanteuse of the moment, and on the tail of the release of her latest record All or Nothing, she’s on a musical high. She took the stage at New York City’s Mercury Lounge on Sunday, June 22nd to a crowd that seemed to have filled the room in mere seconds.
Guy-with-a-guitar dreamboat Max Gomez opened the show, performing smooth-voiced tunes off last year’s Rule the World. He kept mentioning guitar and sound blunders, but truly, he sounded just fine, especially during standouts “Run from You” and “Cherry Red Wine”. His throwback, bare bones folk songs drew a smaller than deserved audience.
Nikki Lane didn’t waste much time between the two sets, taking the stage and diving right in with “Want My Heart Back”, a tune she says she wrote about “a dude who fucked [her] shit up for minute.” But then, she told us, she wrote the rest of the record about another dude. In her teeny tiny retro short shorts, fringed vintage tee and classic Betty Page hairdo, it wouldn’t shock anyone if she’d fucked up some dudes’ shit, too. Lane is a heartbreaker, and even though it’s unclear if that’s part of her persona or just who she really is, it’s a major part of her appeal.
That’s not to take away from those vocals, though, all raspy and powerful, and perfect for when she sang about oversleeping for work on “Sleep for You”. With two guitars (including hers), a bassist, a lap steel and drums, her band sounded pretty fantastic. “You Can’t Talk to Me Like That” slowed things down just right. It’s an old-fashioned, classic country song that shows off Lane’s signature croon—sassy, a little sad, and with a kind of laidback stoner coolness. A cold beer is pretty much required when listening to her sing, and just like her catchy hooks, it will hit the spot.
The steel guitar punctuated all of her songs so nicely, adding a richness in all the right places, particularly on “Good Man”, another retro country song that hits all the spots: being on the road, drinking whiskey, cheaters and dishwashing. Lane wasn’t too chatty between her songs, but she didn’t mince the few words she did have. She’s a riot, summarizing a handful of her songs in these hilarious, straightforward little gold nuggets. “This song is about thinking a girl is a dumbass bitch for a minute,” she told us before “Wild One”, a cheeky tune that’s so relatable it’s like reading a diary entry from every woman ever.
“Seein’ Double” is a song about smoking pot, Lane told us, continuing her easy, confident swagger and bad-assery and then launching right into a crowd favorite, “Gone, Gone, Gone”. Lane played a handful of songs from both the new record and 2011’s Walk of Shame, and her fans seemed grateful for all of it, even when she hit grittier territory on “Man Up”, an honest, but funny as hell song about her divorce.
She quickly transitioned to singlehood with the silly, but authentic “Sleep with a Stranger”, an ode to the one night stand. Set to play in Brooklyn only a few nights later, Lane reminisced about her days of making out with strangers at the taco truck outside Union Pool. She finished up her set with “All or Nothing” and the ultimate crowd pleaser “Right Time”, and then did a quick encore with Tom Petty’s “Saving Grace” and another of her popular debauchery tunes “Walk of Shame.”
Lane put on a hell of a show, and even though she didn’t have a ton of on-stage banter, her personality showed through so clearly in her songs. She’s a cool, classic chick, sipping on a Coke and divulging all the good stuff the way a good country artist should.
