Grace Potter is a sexpot, and I dare you not to fall in love with her.

I first heard of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals in 2007, when "Apologies" was played on The Hills and Grace was still a redhead. "Apologies" struck a chord with me at the time, but it wasn't enough to prompt me to buy their album.

Earlier this year, I was watching the VH1 Countdown when I heard this fun rock song featuring a gorgeous blonde. I waited anxiously for the tag to pop up at the end of the video to find out who this amazing band was ... The song was "Paris (Ooh La La)" and the band was a glammed up version of the somewhat somber and lethargic Grace Potter and the Nocturnals I'd been introduced to in 2007. I bought the newest album and loved just about every single one of the fun pop-rock songs. When I found out the band was going to play Central Park's Rumsey Playfield, I knew I had to experience this for myself.

I'm unable to put into words how complete and the performance was. Grace Potter has a je ne sais quoi I obviously can't describe. So I'll say this:
Grace Potter's performance skills, from her voice to her stage presence, are impeccable. To say that backup band The Nocturnals pales in comparison would be a vast understatement. I have never felt like I have been in the presence of a legend as much as I did during this concert. Grace Potter just has "it" -- she is like the perfect rock goddess package. She's perfected her bluesy and sometimes cutesy sound. She knows when it's okay to pepper a song with a moan or a squeal. She can command a guitar and caress a piano. She even has perfect hair and bangs I lust after (apparently my forehead is too short for blunt bangs), both of which fall neatly back into place after several rounds of headbanging and swishing. I don't know how she does it; it's magic.


Saturday night's crowd may have been a testament to just how hard it is to resist her. There were men and women in their 50s, there were teenagers, there were hipsters, there were children, there were Europeans. There were belligerent drunks, potheads and even posh preppies. Men and women alike left that night a little more starry-eyed than they'd entered.

Needless to say, if I didn't have a girl crush on her before, now I do.

My favorite songs and more photos behind the cut ...

"Oasis," Central Park


"Apologies," redheaded Grace


"Medicine," live on a NYC rooftop


Last but not least, my favorite Grace Potter and the Nocturnals song, "Tiny Light"