Grace Potter and the Nocturnals Set to Rock the Main Stage

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals is Friday's main stage headliner at the Popcorn Festival starting at 8:30pm. As always, performances are free of charge. The Showcase stage will feature area show choirs, dancers, and close out the evening with live music.

Named one of the Top New Bands for 2010 by Rolling Stone magazine, Grace Potter’s striking vocals have been compared to everyone from Janis Joplin to Bonnie Raitt, Tina Turner, Grace Slick and Alison Krauss. The band cut their teeth by touring extensively and their live shows have been touted to contain the same dynamic energy as a Bruce Springsteen concert.

VH1’s Divas Salute the Troops in December of 2010 saw Potter and her band steal the show. MTV called the performance of their hit single “Paris (Ooh La La)” “three and a half minutes of pure adrenalized bliss.” Immediately following the show, viewers stormed and crashed Potter’s website, www.gracepotter.com, and Potter hit number 5 on Google’s Hot Searches. Also immediately following that concert, the band’s new self-titled release jumped to number two on the iTunes Rock Album Chart and “Paris” shot to Number seven on the iTunes Rock Song Chart, setting a record that surpassed the Beatles.

You can click on the following links to listen, and watch, on YouTube.

• Cover of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit"
• With Kenny Chesney on “You and Tequila”
• “Something That I Want” from Disney’s “Tangled”

With a sound that’s been described as everything from Roots Rock, Adult Alternative Pop Rock, Indie Rock to Alternative Country Rock, Potter herself has said, “We realized we’re not the kind of band that’s ever gonna fit neatly in one genre, and (with this new album) we just let the songs be the songs.”  Potter continued, “We just naturally wound up playing them in a certain way – they all have that beat to them, a physicality and a mood. You have to either want to dance to it or cry to it. But there’s also a feistiness to these songs that’s completely unapologetic.”

“I wasn’t very familiar with Grace Potter when they were first mentioned to me,” said Festival President Mike Huffman. “However, after entertainment committee chairman Darl Snyder clued me into watching them on YouTube, I said ‘Wow! Book ‘em!’ They were tremendous and lived up to what Darl was telling me … and I’ve been told their live shows are absolutely fabulous.”

“The Marion Popcorn Festival has a reputation for bringing in quality entertainment free of charge,” said Snyder. “This year is no different. Grace Potter and The Nocturnals may not have the name recognition of some of our previous artists, but their live show is tremendous and will please different age groups with their ‘60s rock and blues feel and their outstanding live performance.”

All performances on the Festival’s main stage begin at 8:30 p.m. and are free of charge.

Entertainment at the Showcase Stage in front of City Hall includes:

• 11:00am - Marion Catholic Show Choir
• 11:30am - River Valley New Edition
• 12:00pm - River Valley Music Company
• 12:30pm - Ridgedale Show Choir
• 1:00pm - Daughter of the King Dance Ministry
• 2:00pm - Wildfire Cloggers
• 3:00pm - JoAnne’s School of Dance
• 4:00pm - Martha Douce Dancers
• 5:00pm - Ohio Cheer Xstatic
• 5:30pm - Diverse Moves Dance Group
• 6:30pm - Steppin’ Seniors
• 7:30pm - Minds Without Purpose
• 8:45pm - Kyle Looney and Friends
• 10:00pm - Seventh Echo

 
For more information, visit www.popcornfestival.com or call 740-387-FEST. The Marion Popcorn Festival is sponsored in part by the City of Marion.