Rough and tough rock and rollers Natural Child brought their homegrown tunage to the Rocky Mountains last weekend for two nights of genuinely epic music. Hot off a rowdy night at Denver’s Globe Hall on Friday, the quintet brought their feel-good, act-bad shenanigans to East Colfax’s Bluebird Theater on Saturday September 7th — and we are all better because of it.
Based in Nashville, Tennessee, these dudes play a fusion of old-school rock and roll, psychedelic 70s Californian sounds, a little “soul-funk-blues-boogie”, and some straight debaucherous garage punk. This stellar combination of genres forms the one-of-kind Natural Child sound makes you want to get loose and let it all hang out. And that’s precisely what we did at the charming century-old Bluebird Theater last Saturday night.
From the time the doors opened and Ryan Wong delivered his new country stylings to kick off the night, the crowd was psyched as hell. This was apparent by the line around the corner to get in and the jam-packed corridors in the venue. With their awesome, do-it-yourself banner gracing the wall behind the stage, the energy in the room was buzzing with anticipation and excitement for Natural Child, especially because they hadn’t played Denver since 2015.
Throughout the night, the musical outfit pulled both favorites and deep cuts from their decade-plus span of eight recorded albums, while also throwing in some incredibly relevant and well-received covers from the likes of Tom Petty and Hank Williams Jr. From 2012’s For the Love of the Game, “Baby” opened the pearly gates to a stage cut purely from authenticity and rawness.
Benny Divine (electric piano, guitar & sporadic talk boxing) opened up “Sure is Nice” from 2016’s Okey Dokey with some organ-ic tones on the keys before Seth Murray (guitar, vocals) and Wes Traylor (bass, vocals) delivered the easy-going, real-life lyrics to this classic. The entire audience grooved and sang along as the band nonchalantly entered and exited each element of the song.
Pulling from their large repertoire of songs with the word “Blues” in it, the band kept on the same album with easy-listening and funky “NSA Blues,” an anthem that exudes the mantra of “chill TF out”. Moving to their 2014 Dancin’ With Wolves record, the dynamic group picked it up with “Don’t The Time Pass Quickly,” a song that reminds me of the best underrated b-sides from The Rolling Stones. This is a song about regular life, making love, and just how damn great both can be – interlaced with upbeat piano licks, casual guitar shredding, and a solid rhythm section that gets your booty movin’. “Margaritas in the Moonlight,” from their most recent album Be M’Guest, serenaded us next – a drinking tune that makes getting wasted in the moonlight the only option for your next outing with your current romantic interest…a track heavily focused on beautiful bass lines before Divine gives us a little organ jamming on electric piano while Zack Martin (drums) keeps count on the kit.
A highly under-played cover in general and a wonderful surprise came by way of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “You Got Lucky” – yes, yes we did, before the band rolled into psychedelic rock number “Hard Workin’ Man” from 2010’s 1971. My personal favorite from the 2023 release, “Little Magic,” was a sure-fire hit played live. We love a song about the power of femininity, the divine nature of a true boss bitch, and the magic that oozes off said babe’s aura, especially when it’s the basis of a damn good rock song.
As Natural Child trucked their way through more sonic treasures like “Now and Then,” “Out in the Country,” and “Me and George,” the crowd didn’t let up in the palpable excitement permeating the atmosphere’s frequencies. Quite surely the foundation for any rock and roll lifestyle, “Ain’t Gonna Stop” showcased the band’s persistence to the movement, the reason we are all dedicated to this music shit. Adding to that sentiment, they rocked right into “Let The Good Times Roll” from 2012’s Hard in Heaven.
Newer number “Lost And Found” explored the band’s more country-centric bluesy side, sprinkled with raunchy guitar playing by Steve Dessimone, a delectable solo on the talk box, and even a brotherly kiss between Traylor and Murray. Starting slow and dark and then picking up to a complete unleashing of punk glory, “DTV” delivered just this…sprinkled with some crowd surfers.
The band wrapped up the brilliant evening with an extremely on-point “O.D.’d in Denver” Hank Williams Jr. cover. Next up was “Blind Owl Speaks,” an ode to consuming all the substances (shoot it down, not up, though) as the audience gave in to the coming closing of the show before the guys left it all out there with “Crack Mountain,” the only song played off their self-titled 2009 EP. I will leave the decision to smoke crack with your friends up to you, although I mostly advise against it.
Go and check ’em out!
