Nouveau Riche

Photo by Aubrey Edwards

Nouveau Riche

This isn't intended to be any kind of knock against Dice Raw and his whale-print shorts, but that Nikki Jean surely owns any stage she steps on. With bass amps on rattle and hum and a frantic Dominic Angelella nearly playing his guitar out of commission, Jean danced, jived, confessed, and belted all the energy a Midwest girl could bring to a troupe from Philly. The development of bassist Khari Mateen's compositions to go with Dice's keen advisory has morphed Nouveau Riche from dark and dissonant into an uplifting, triumphant outfit that delivers on the pronouncement of longtime staple and this evening's closer, "Take Me There." "Are ya'll with me?" Jean asked, and the response was immediate, crowds bunching to the front to catch a slice of her sly smirk. All the while her band's riding premium fuel, spastically kicking air with no apology, because if Nouveau Riche is the band set to put an end to all this micromanaging of genres, then they've got no time to repent. Right now they're just a band having a damn good time fucking with our labels.