Yacht Rock Revue, a one-off idea 17 years ago that blossomed into a full-blown phenomenon for several Atlanta musicians, is now opening for major acts and recently released Part 1 of a two-part concept album “Escape Artist.”
The band is also headlining its annual Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park concert on Saturday via livenation.com, followed by its annual Christmas show at the Roxy in mid-December. In between, the band is planning an intimate album release party at Smith’s Olde Bar in November.
And this all comes on the heels of a summer tour with 40-plus dates opening for REO Speedwagon and Train, including a stop at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta in August.
“Since the pandemic, we’ve been on this trajectory and we keep waiting for things to peak,” lead singer Nick Niespodziani said. “But then we get to tour with Kenny Loggins (last year) and REO and Train. So it keeps on going.”
Unlike their headlining shows, the band over the summer had a different mission: warm up a crowd primed for two veteran pop acts despite many in the audience having no idea who they were. At each date, as concertgoers began filling seats at 6:30 p.m., Yacht Rock Revue would offer a 45-minute sampler of their extensive catalog of covers, including fan favorites such as Toto’s “Africa,” Michael McDonald’s “Sweet Freedom” and Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street.”
“Hopefully we made some new fans,” guitarist Mark “Monkeyboy” Dannells said. “We collected thousands of names through a QR code.”
They also played an original song, “Tropical Illusion,” from the new album, with Niespodziani and cohort Peter Olson throwing out dozens of egg-shaped percussion shakers into the crowd. “That’s when it really coalesced with the audience,” Dannells said. “We learned that from Train to keep the audience engaged. You run a clip or play a snippet of a cover. You throw out T-shirts. You do selfies.”
Elliot Lurie — singer for Looking Glass on their 1972 No. 1 song “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” — cowrote “Tropical Illusion” with Niespodziani. Lurie, in fact, has appeared with Yacht Rock Revue numerous times going back to the early 2010s, when the band played at Park Tavern.
Lurie will be at the Yacht Rock Revue concert Saturday at Chastain to sing “Brandy.” Peter Beckett from Player (“Baby Come Back”) will be there as well.
“I’m always happy to play with these guys,” Lurie said. “They’re excellent musicians. I’ve done their thing at Chastain before. It’s fun. They’re like conquering heroes, local boys made good.”
Niespodziani said the Train tour was the first time the band spent 10 weeks on a tour bus. “It was like summer camp, an alternative reality,” he said. “When I’m home, I’m always doing creative projects, a new song or music video. On the road, your sole job is to perform and deliver. I envied the guys who could just take a nap.”
Train’s history with Yacht Rock Revue goes back to the early 2010s, when Yacht Rock Revue joined Train on their annual cruises. But Niespodziani said he had never crossed paths with REO Speedwagon until the tour and was sad to hear the band will no longer tour starting in 2025.
“They were sweet to us the whole time,” Niespodziani said. “(Singer Kevin Cronin) really loves what he does, and he is still limber, still sounds great and moves around well.”
Credit: Perry Julien Photography
Credit: Perry Julien Photography
Yacht Rock Revue didn’t have its backup singer, Keisha Jackson, over the summer because she suffered a brain injury earlier in the year. Her daughter and fellow backup singer, Kourtney Jackson, stayed on tour.
“We miss Keisha and we love her,” bassist Greg Lee said. “She’s going to be out for a while, but we expect she’ll be back.”
The second part of the album “Escape Artist” comes out Nov. 29. Niespodziani said the entire album was a true team effort from the band, with a broad-based “escape” thematic among most of the songs. The first 10 songs out now also include an homage to the group’s roots with an acoustic cover of Robbie Dupree’s “Steal Away” sung by Kourtney Jackson.
“I’m super proud of the new music,” Lee said. “We worked on it for years. It’s more mature. It has more range.”
IF YOU GO
Yacht Rock Revue
8 p.m. Saturday. Table set up so coolers and carry-ins are allowed. $48.65 and up. Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park, 4469 Stella Drive NW, Atlanta. livenation.com
About the Author
