Nick Waterhouse
At his first San Diego show in five years, Nick Waterhouse charmed the Belly Up Tavern audience.
In a music world where electronic music becomes more and more popular, it’s nice to experience the throwback sound of Nick Waterhouse. From Los Angeles, California, Nick Waterhouse is a singer-songwriter and excellent guitar player who’s released three albums that recall 1960s soul.
At his Belly Up Tavern show on Thursday, June 22, Waterhouse had a five piece band accompanying him: a drummer, keyboard player, bassist, saxophonist, and back up singer. They were all exceptional musicians that sometimes stole the spotlight–the back up singer set off “I Can Only Give You Everything” with powerful vocals causing the audience to hoot and hollar. Waterhouse was gracious with his stage time. He brought up saxophone player Ira Raibon (Raibon played on past Waterhouse albums) to help out with back up vocals for “Holly.” Raibon remained onstage for the rest of the show.
Waterhouse didn’t forget about the audience–he even complied with their requests. “Do you mind if we get moody for a second? Or do you want to stay up?” Waterhouse asked the Belly Up Tavern Thursday night crowd. “Stay up!” shouted several people. “OK, we’ll stay up,” said Waterhouse. He then launched into the upbeat “Katchi,” a song originally recorded with fellow soul artist Leon Bridges.
The band came back for an encore to play “Happy Birthday” to the back up singer (it was her birthday!) and a few favorites like “Say I Wanna Know.”
We hope next time that Waterhouse comes to town, it won’t be another long five years!
