Fans Went Wild for Nicotine Dolls at Delmar Hall in St. Louis
— by Carrie Zukoski
Well, that Nicotine Dolls concert in St. Louis on Friday, May 22, was nothing short of F. U. N. F*cking. Unforgettably. Notable. The rescheduled An Attempt at Romantic concert was well worth the wait. And this concert photographer took way too many photos.
But before we delve into Nicotine Dolls, Nashville-based Emily Justin opened the night at Delmar Hall with 40 minutes of her rock, bluesy, gospel-inspired set. Her vocals invoke, dare we say, some of the heavy hitters of the ’70s with a mix of Janis Joplin and a little Stevie Nicks, then fast-forward to the ’00s to round it off with a dash of Amy Winehouse. At 25, Justin is well on her way to becoming a household name. Hats off to Beau, who accompanied her on stage, for his bravery in wearing a t-shirt that stated he had two favorite baseball teams: The Cubs and any other team playing against the Cardinals.
The four members (and touring keyboardist) of the rockin’ New York City-based, 2017-formed Nicotine Dolls strolled onto the stage at 9 p.m. and for the next 90 minutes, had the crowd’s full attention and admiration. Well, mostly. About halfway through, after lead vocalist Sam Cieri had begun a story, someone yelled out, “Just sing!” To which Cieri stood a little straighter and replied, “No.” And continued with his story, and laid it out even more so. The thing is, all of the short stories he shared were relevant and none of them felt forced or scripted, including how he felt that there’s “one song that’s my way of introducing myself to you. And that’s [the soulfully, sweet, heartfelt acoustic] ’30 Somehow,’ I wrote it after my dad and grandmother got cancer.”
Backing up to the beginning of their rad set, the lads came out strong with the straight-up rock ’n’ roll “Just Enough” and then rolled right into the slick “How Do You Love Me.”
Cieri thanked the packed house for coming out, and drove the point home by sharing how they’d once played to a room with only the sound guy in attendance. They then slid into the unreleased, gentle “Waiting on California” before breaking into “Wild,” of which Cieri shared, “this one’s a little dirtier. Someone told me, ‘you can’t record that,’ and I said, ‘watch me’.” He then swiveled his hips a little. After a solid attempt at an audience request of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” (which he and the keyboardist did a bang-up job on, even though he joked that he, nor the audience, knew the lyrics to), Cieri performed a few acoustic songs, including the raw “nothin’ i do.”
Cieri gave a nod to Tina Turner before they covered “The Best,” then busted out the anthemic fan-favorite “What Makes You Sad.” Cieri then jumped into the crowd, wound his way through to the floor to the middle of the house, stood on a chair, and belted out Cher’s “Believe,” which he cajoled the crowd to do most of the singing. The night ended with the brand new, harder-tinged “Throw Me to the Wolves” (or “Take Me to the Wolves” — we’ve seen it written both ways*) and a gritty, powerful cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.”
Nicotine Dolls is out there, providing top-tier good old rock ’n’ roll and proving it’s still alive and thriving, and this concert photographer is here for it and excited to follow their journey.
See all photos here: https://bit.ly/NDolls26cz
Setlist https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/nicotine-dolls/2026/delmar-hall-st-louis-mo-63744ad7.html
*Per a comment, the correct song title is “To the Wolves.”
To The Wolves 🐺
Thank you! We will edit to include that. But they did have it written as “Take Me to the Wolves” on their setlist (as I snapped a photo of it).
Well I can tell you this when he announced it he said the song was called “To The Wolves” and what I could catch from the lyrics at least what I can understand it’s also I heard him say throw me to the wolves and some of the words in the lyrics before he says that sounds more like throw me to the rules and take me to the rules also the setlist could have been printed wrong too. I’m waiting for them to come to Idaho they seem to drive right through Idaho from Utah up to either Seattle or Oregon and they go right down the highway right by my house but they never stop in Idaho that’s disappointing there’s no way I’m going to go to Portland that place is crazy to drive and Salt Lake City which is probably the same distance between where I live and Portland and Salt Lake it’s still about a 6-hour drive I go to Salt Lake before anything but I’m not going to go alone and I don’t know if my car would make it that far now if you were to come to Idaho even if it was in Boise that’s only you know 25-30 minute drive for me or evendays,ser would be fine. And if I had to I’d go by myself I’ve asked one of my friends but she’s a lot younger than I am and actually she’s older than Sam and I’m a lot older than Sam but that’s the kind of music I listen to I mean I like to rock music I’m from way back the old days Bon Jovi days, journey days Foreigner days, scorpion days.
Nicotine Dolls never disappoints! Sam’s vocals are so iconic, heartfelt and soulful in one moment and rocking out hard, sexy in the next. Been to six shows now from the driving the band drums to the deep bass and the masterful guitars, what’s not to like? Then there are Sam’s engaging stories which give you a peek at the inspiration behind those Dylan-like lyrics. Can’t wait to see their next gig!