Grace Potter Free At Noon – 8.28.26

A shoulder-to-shoulder crowd packed into the Music Hall at World Stage to catch rock star Grace Potter and her band put on an electric show for Free At Noon Friday.

Potter’s latest album, titled Trespasser, dropped a week ago and she launched into her set with “Love Me Not” from the new record, getting the crowd clapping along with the uptempo tune.

“I can’t believe I get to do this at XPN, the first place that played me on the radio” she said. “Philly is my home, my radio home at least!”

She then went back 21 years to her first album as Grace Potter & The Nocturnals to play “Treat Me Right.”

For the third song, Trespasser’s “Run Baby Run,” Potter stepped out from behind the keyboard and slung her guitar over her shoulder and rocked out alongside her band. “Mother Road” from her 2023 album of the same name followed.

In the middle of the ballad, Potter stopped her band and said “let’s do the fast version.”

“That’s what we call the Jackson Browne morphine version,” she said before launching back into the song but at nearly double the beats per minute. However, she called the band back to the “morphine version” and said while she’s known to “pull that kind of stunt” with the band, they did not know the tempo change was coming. She shouted out her new drummer for going with the flow so seamlessly.

“Medicine” from Grace Potter & The Nocturnal’s 2010 record was up next and hit the crowd with a heavy dose of pure, classic rock and roll. Each musician on stage was deep in the pocket for this song and jamming hard to the driving tune, Potter herself strutting around the stage while armed with a tambourine.

She played “Main St. U.S.A.,” the lead track from Trespasser, next and told the crowd she needed their help.

“Don’t be afraid to sing it out like you mean it” she said. The crowd acquiesced and belted out the titular lyric of “Main St. U.S.A.” right on cue.

She played another early track, “Ah Mary” from 2007’s This Is Somewhere and closed out the show with the final track from Trespasser, “Belong.”

She’ll be back in Philly Saturday night to support the Zac Brown Band at TD Pavilion at Highmark Mann.

Looking for more Potter? Listen to her full Free At Noon set in the player above, and check out one of the many live recordings from her past performances here at WXPN!

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