Picture This: Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats + Delta Spirit @ Les Schwab Amphitheater – Bend, OR 8/17/2021

August 19. 2021 | By Matt Dillon
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats

For many including myself, this night was a long night coming. Having been deprived of the lifeblood live music brings to the soul for the last year, it felt good to bask in the glow of that energy once again. With blue skies above and a little reprieve from the recent heatwave, it was the perfect setting for some live music in beautiful Bend, Oregon. With bundled blankets under their arms and smiles on their faces, thousands of people filed into the Les Schwab Amphitheater to witness the soulful sounds of Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats

Delta Spirit

California-made Delta Spirit opened up the show with the energy you’d expect from a band that’s been yearning to get back out on the road. With a new album released late last year, they mixed in new with old as they reminded the local Oregonians what it was like to live, breathe and feel rock-n-roll. 

Delta Spirit
Delta Spirit
Delta Spirit
Delta Spirit
Crowd during Delta Spirit


As the sun set over the Old Mill District a thunderous cheer echoed through the crowd as Mr Rateliff and his gigantic band took the stage.

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats

Opening the show with the casual and carefree “Shoe Boot” from their 2018 album Tearing at the Seams, the crowd quickly got a taste of what the remainder of the night was going to hold as the horns, pianos, guitars and drums quickly had people swinging to the beat.

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats

The night progressed with an eclectic mixture of whisky stomping tunes, sultry rhythm and blues ballads and even some slow piano tunes spanning several years of the band’s phenomenal catalog of music. We were even fortunate enough to get a sneak peek at some tunes from the upcoming album The Future, set to release to the world later this year. The energy of the crowd rose steadily with the moon especially as the band returned for a 3 song encore including the loud and loved “S.O.B.”

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats


All I have to say is that it feels good to be back and I don’t want to witness another live music hiatus in my lifetime. 

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
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