Rival Sons
January 15, 2012
The Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA
When I heard that one of my favorite bands, Rival Sons, were coming to town I was pumped like you wouldn’t believe but when I heard that they were opening for goth hard rockers Evanescence, it left me scratching my head and saying, “What the fuck?” While I was really excited to the see Rival Sons, I wasn’t so excited to see them go down like a led zeppelin (pun intended) opening for such a mismatched band. “Shot Down In Flames” by AC/DC filled the hall as the band took the stage to a modest ovation from the crowd who now looked curious. Lead singer Jay Buchanan, bassist Robin Everhart, drummer Mike Miley and guitarist Scott Holiday took the stage to the sound of white noise and slammed right into “Torture” from the band’s self titled debut. The minute that first note was sung, Buchanan was in the zone and welcoming any and everyone to join him. The energy, raw power and soul of this band cannot be contained by any venue and as the band played on, they managed to look and sound way too big for even this large room.
Rival Sons delivered a nearly one hour set featuring songs from their self titled EP, their first full length album “Before The Fire” and their stellar 2011 release “Pressure and Time.” I was really surprised to see a number of people getting down and really singing along with the songs like “Pressure and Time” and “All Over The Road” but it was hearing some of the deeper cuts like “Soul”, “Young Love” and “Gypsy Heart” that really drove it home for me. The purity, the passion and the intensity of their performance reminded me of how exciting it was to see bands like The Black Crowes and Aerosmith for the first time. Rival Sons connected with the crowd on this night and they didn’t even really try all that hard to do so. There was no sense of feeling that they had something to prove or that they were playing it safe. They walked out on that stage and for nearly an hour, they were the only band performing that night. There is subtle arrogance and cockiness to their performance which totally lends itself to the vibe that this confident group of fellas put out to the people. They know what they want and that’s to make the people know that they are up on that stage performing and like it or not, they’re gonna play.
The coolest thing for me was the reaction of this young and totally caught off guard audience. You could see it in the faces of these kids that they were literally witnessing rock n’ roll for the very first time. Now I’m sure they’ve heard a Zeppelin song or two on the radio but these kids were seeing the real fucking deal in flesh, blood and sweat. For a crowd that used to hearing neutered heavy metal bands playing to backing tapes and effects, this was nothing short of a mind blowing experience and I could see it in their eyes. By the time the band was three songs in they had this crowd in eating it all up and wanting more.
Rival Sons are a band that know absolutely no limits and their live show is a non-stop, balls to the wall rock and roll experience. Oozing with sex, grit and attitude, Rival Sons make music that makes good girls wanna do bad things and makes all the boys want those girls. It’s everything that makes rock n’ roll so great. It was well worth the wait to see these guys and unfortunately for the other bands, Rival Sons have raised the bar to a nearly unreachable height. I challenge any band to put on a better show than that. It’s going to be a hard one but I’m already thinking I just may have already seen the best show 2012.
Rival Sons Setlist
Torture
Burn Down Los Angels
Gypsy Heart
Soul
All Over The Road
Young Love
Pressure and Time
On My Way
I Want More
Save me
I Want More (Reprise)
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Special thanks to Shawn Evans for the awesome photos. Like what you see? Go see more of Shawn’s awesome work at Opaque Visions on Facebook
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