Even before the Rival Sons took the stage the sold out and then some crowd was buzzing like a lit fuse. When the Son’s jumped off into the 60’s tinged guitar riff of “Electric Man” the audience exploded. The Sons are Scott Holiday on guitars, Jay Buchanan on vocals, David Beste on bass, and Michael Miley on drums. Todd Ogren-Brooks tours with the band on keyboards. As demonstrated on “Good Luck” Beste, Miley, and Holiday weave a rhythmic groove so layered and tight it’s hard to believe that tapestry of sound is coming from a five-piece band.
After grabbing the audience by its collective throat the band began to stretch its legs on the more melodic, pop hooked “Secret” which also featured the first extended jam of the night complete with perfectly placed breakdown. While the band makes its presence musically the show focuses on the charismatic Buchanan. His voice he exhibits the power vocal you would expect for a hard rock outfit. His performance however is not about gyrations contortions, or vocal gymnastics, but rather he opts for more subtle movements. Buchanan who is a follower of the Native American Red Road channels his inner spirit moving very slowly and deliberately. His trance like dance before the almost chaotic sound is mesmerizing.
As the set progressed so did the music moving away from the simpler classic sounding guitar riffs to more nuanced numbers. The sound moved from the syncopated “Play the Fool “ to the blue-eyed soul of “Good Things” to the Southern rock blues of “Torture”. On “Torture” when the band dropped out the audience continued humming the melody urging the band to kick back in. This provided for one of those rare live concert moments when the band, audience and planets are aligned all totally enjoying the moment – a fact Buchanan took the time to recognize.
The band went psychedelic on the mostly instrumental “Manifest Destiny Pt. 1” followed by Buchanan taking pains to point out they hail from Long Beach before tearing into “Burn Down Los Angeles.” While club lights don’t necessarily add much to a show, the Son’s performed the whole set without a single light change making the show all about the sound, sweat and swagger. The set closed with the lyrically meaningful ballad of “Jordan” and the psychedelic jamming of “Get What’s Coming”. Despite being close to midnight on a “school night” not a single audience member left prior to the sets conclusion. The band simply stood and delivered on encores “Pressure and Time” and “Keep on Swinging.” Rock and roll may be lost but thankfully in Rival Sons its neither gone or forgotten.
Photos by Marc Lacatell
One Response
Hello Albie I was at the show with my wife right in front of Jay & Scott. I believe judging by your great photos you where standing right behind me. I’ve been to 211 concerts, Black Sabbath the most 31 times . Saying that, It took over a week to feel normal again. I poured my heart out at that concert but Rival Sons are a rare breed and no band never, ever did that to me . I also met Jay before the show and took a picture and received an autograph from him. I also caught a pick from Scott and a drum stick from Miley, which I gave to a fan that was next to me . Why be greedy. Cheers and a great review .