Photo Credit: Marc Millman

On Friday, Feb. 21, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats followed their South of Here Tour to their debut performance at Los Angeles’ iconic Kia Forum. For their first staging at the hallowed LA venue, the roots-revivalist ensemble elevated the already tremendously acclaimed program from their first-ever area tour by tapping some very special guests, with Bob Weir, Lucius and Dawes joining in the celebration.

Rateliff and his band set off their single-set, 25-track performance by peering back through their sprawling catalog of originals, issuing seven fan favorites like the recent “David and Goliath” and earlier entries like “Survivor” and “I Need Never Get Old” in rapid succession. The group earned a roar from the crowd when they invited the Grateful Dead’s guitarist and present Dead & Company bandleader Weir to the stage. Weir’s early sit-in brought power and prestige to treatments of Bob Dylan’s “Slow Train” and Buddy Holly’s classic “Not Fade Away,” most commonly associated with its significance to the Dead and appearing in Rateliff’s setlist for the first time ever.

After Weir departed from the stage, Rateliff & The Night Sweats delivered hard-stomping cuts “A Little Honey” and “You Worry Me” before welcoming Holly Laessig and Jess Wolf of Lucius. Lucius’ core duo brought immaculate vocal harmonies to “Howling at Nothing,” “Wasting Time,” “Heartless” and “Face Down in the Moment.” The host band emptied the tank on their tremendous headline set with further essential originals like “Get Used to the Night,” “Remember I Was a Dancer,” “South of Here” and “I’ll Be Damned” before closing out the main portion of the performance with their beloved cover of Bruce Springsteen’s
“Dancing in the Dark,” this time bolstered by both Lucius and Los Angeles local favorites Dawes. To send the crowd off into the night, Rateliff shared a two-track encore of “S.O.B.” and “Love Don’t.”

Rateliff & The Night Sweats will return to the stage for the next leg of the South of Here tour in mid-March. For tickets and more information, visit nathanielrateliff.com/tour.

Read on for the full setlist from Friday night. Watch a fan-recorded video of “Not Fade Away” below.

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

Kia Forum – Los Angeles

2/21/25

Set: David and Goliath, I’m on Your Side, Survivor, Look It Here, Intro, I Need Never Get Old, Time Makes Fools of Us All, Slow Train, Not Fade Away, A Little Honey, You Worry Me, Howling at Nothing, Wasting Time, Heartless, Face Down in the Moment, Get Used to the Night, Slow Pace of Time, And It’s Still Alright, Remember I Was a Dancer, South of Here, Hey Mama, I’ll Be Damned, Dancing in the DarkEncore: S.O.B., Love Don’t