Nicotine Dolls
Schedule
Thu Sep 19 2024 at 07:30 pm
UTC-05:00Location
221 E Washington St, Iowa City, IA, United States, Iowa 52240 | Iowa City, IA
Englert PresentsNicotine Dolls
----On-Sale Schedule----
Member On-sale: Begins Friday, June 28 @ 9:00 AM CT
Public On-Sale: Friday, June 28 @ 9:00 AM CT
----Ticket Options----
$88.00 + Fees – Reserved Seating -VIP M&G Package*
$38.00 + Fees – Reserved Seating - Premium
$28.00 + Fees – Reserved Seating
$24.00 + Fees - Reserved Seating Member
$20.00 + Fees – Reserved Seating - Student
*VIP Meet & Greet Package Includes:
-Early Entry (one hour before doors)
-Photo w Band
-Autograph
-One (1) Premium Reserved Seat
----Show Description----
Nicotine Dolls make the kind of music you can’t hide from. The storytelling is front-and-center, beckoning your attention like a dusty old novel you can’t put down until the last page. The vocals are gritty and honest, holding nothing back in fits of joy, regret, and sadness similar to a phone call from one of your best friends at 3am. The instrumentation is equally punchy and nuanced, grafting rafter-reaching hooks on top of rich soundscapes. The moment the New York alternative quartet—Sam Cieri [vocals], John Hays [guitar], John Merritt [bass], and Abel Tabares [drums]—plug in, it’s as if a rush of collective emotion floods through the speakers.
After generating over 20 million total streams and consistently selling out shows, the group tell their story as a means to encourage you to live yours on their 2023 EP, How Do You Love Me [Nettwerk Music Group].
“I went through a process of overcoming these situations in the songs,” admits Sam. “The second we send them out, I’ve dealt with them. Now, they’re for you. I just want to properly represent where I’ve been and create a space for you to feel anything you want to feel. That’s my ambition.”
Nicotine Dolls officially emerged in 2019 at the crossroads between its members’ respective paths. As the story goes, Sam met John Hays in 2015 during a Broadway tour. “I ended up there because I was getting evicted from my apartment, and my friend told me to try musical theater since you get a consistent paycheck,” he recalls. They instantly became best friends.
By this time, Sam’s journey had already twisted and turned from “leaving high school to be a musician, living in motels, playing Las Vegas, going to South Florida, and amassing all of these crazy ass stories.”
Nevertheless, his newfound musical bond with Hays eventually attracted Merritt and Abel to the fold. The guys gained traction with the likes of “Should Have Danced,” generating over 1 million Spotify streams and counting. Meanwhile, 2021’s Sex,Addiction, and Everyone Else. housed fan favorites such as “Hands” and “If I Come Home.” In 2022, “Till We Both Say” gathered 2 million-plus Spotify streams, while Sam’s audition on America’s Got Talent went viral (despite opting not to appear on the show!).
Impressively, they attracted north of 1.1 million followers on TikTok as well.
During 2023, they pieced together what would become How Do You Love Me.
“The goal was to try to not sound like anything else,” he goes on. “It didn’t matter if what we were doing was ‘proper’. It mattered if it felt good. I hear music as sporadic sounds that I can see. That’s what I wanted the record to have. We disregarded the attempts to fit into a playlist. It’s taken a very long time to understand that Nicotine Dolls simply sound like Nicotine Dolls, and it’s something we’re confident in.”
In the end, you won’t be able to turn away from Nicotine Dolls.
“The music is uncomplicated and unpretentious,” he leaves off. “It’s also unapologetically romantic. It’s just life.”
Where is it happening?
221 E Washington St, Iowa City, IA, United States, Iowa 52240
