Review | Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats at the Bowl: Ten Years In, Still Sweaty

Nathaniel Rateliff doesn’t just walk onstage — he swaggers, he shakes, he grooves. Thursday night at the Santa Barbara Bowl, celebrating ten years since the release of Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, he reminded the crowd exactly why that debut record launched them into fame.

Dressed in a 60s-style, low-cut blue button-down under a brown suit with suspenders, he opened at the piano before moving to the mic, where his right-sided, smoky-twang of a voice filled the amphitheater. “Let’s take care of each other tonight,” he told the audience. The crowd responded in turn, clapping, stomping, even the folks in the seated rows couldn’t resist rising to their feet.

Behind him, the men in dark denims: two saxophones, a trumpet, Mark Shusterman at the keys, Patrick Meese on drums, Luke Mossman on guitar, and Joseph Pope III on bass (his white fedora and ultimate groovy moviness did not go unnoticed). Once Rateliff shook a tambourine, the night tipped into full-on revival — gospel-tinged jams, sudden stops, high notes that felt like hallelujahs.

It’s that preacher energy that’s always been the band’s secret sauce. Rateliff shakes his leg like he can’t hold it in, half fire-and-brimstone, half whiskey-soaked crooner — a whole lot of flavor. There’s a retroness to it all, R&B soul meets rock meets folk. 

He called the Bowl “one of his favorite spots to play,” adding that Santa Barbara is the kind of town where you can bump into old friends. Midway through, he brought one onstage: Gregory Alan Isakov. Together, they leaned into “Flowers,” their harmonies threading together while their guitars played in sync. 

The show doubled as a marker — a decade since Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats arrived with its Stax horns, R&B swagger, and the breakout of “S.O.B.” That album nearly didn’t happen. Before it, Rateliff was close to giving up music altogether, going back to gardening for steady work. Then came a song, then a spigot of songs. GarageBand demos in an attic became a gold-selling record. From there, Fallon, SNL, Red Rocks, Madison Square Garden. They had made it.

[Click to zoom] Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Santa Barbara Bowl, October 2, 2025 | Photo: Carl Perry

Ten years on, they’re still a band with some of the highest energy I have ever seen. The Bowl set felt less like a nostalgia lap and more like a reminder: Rateliff and the Night Sweats are still sweaty and swaggering. 

And Thursday, October 2, Santa Barbara got the sermon.