This week got off to a rocking start with classic rock revivalists Rival Sons.
The Long Beach California rock and roll band played a fantastic first Lethbridge gig at Average Joes, Feb. 4.
They had a decent and enthusiastic crowd clustered at the front of the stage.
They literally “came out swinging” from the first song, “Keep On Swinging” by tearing through the first song on their latest CD.
The band had a big, ballsy, riff driven classic rock sound that came right out of the ’70s.
They actually reminded me a lot of the band Stillwater from the movie Almost Famous, right down to their big sound and hirsute appearance.
Vocalist Jay Buchanan had an impressively throat shredding, very much blues and soul influenced set of pipes on him, reminding me quite a bit of Robert Plant. He grabbed hold of each bluesy note and squeezed ever ounce of soul out of it like his life depended on it. They sounded like a solid mix of Allman Brothers and Led Zeppelin with generous dollops of ’70s rock and roll added to the mix.
They kept their roadies busy throughout the set as the drum tech was constantly scurrying on stage adjusting cymbals and snare drums, while drummer Michel Miley grinned through his beard and bashed at his tubs like they gone done him wrong. All the while the drum tech was trying to avoid the guitar teach running across the stage giving guitarist Scott Holiday pretty much a new guitar for every song the band played.
They played pretty much all of the new CD and some long lost classics.
They definitely wore their influences on their sleeves, one of the standouts, “All The Way” was definitely reminiscent of Grand Funk Railroad’s “Some Kind of Wonderful” which segued into a rousing rendition of the blues classic “Baby Please Don’t Go.”
An extended jam on the slower number “Jordan” sounded like a tip of the hat to the Electric Light Orchestra.
But they shone at the end on an array of up tempo covers of popular blues rock songs including a hot version of Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac’s classic “Oh Well.”
