Rival Sons were wonderfully supported by the band L.A. Edwards, they were new to me but I could hear elements of country, Americana, Tom Petty and, for me anyway, Drivin’ n’ Cryin’. I think vocally there was a similar sound to Kevin Kinney, which I really like. All credit to Rival Sons for yet again having a great support band, remember last year it was Dirty Honey. I need to learn more about L.A. Edwards.
I’m right at the front tonight and I’m surprised the O2 Academy Birmingham isn’t sold out. I don’t get it, this band is saying something, serious and soulful. They arrive on stage to rapturous applause and shouting, I think they could feel the love in the room. They certainly played like they were repaying their love back. The Darkfighter Tour is here, “Mirrors”, first up, the mega-catchy “Nobody Wants to Die” following, and were off to a pacey start. Jay (barefooted) looks as cool as humanly possible when moving around with speed and passion, matching the power of the music. “Electric Man” is next up, kicking mobile phones into action all over the place, to film a song that must be available on so many youtube channels now. It was immensely powerful and remains a great track.
Back to the Darkfighter album for “Rapture” and “Bird in Hand”, both brilliantly executed. For me at least, this is the best band in the world right now. I can’t get over how much I’m loving this, even though I’m not in the photo pit. I’m not reviewing, just absorbing this sublime performance. I’m just thinking to myself, this is all new stuff and it works superbly well. Jay talks about the qualities of forgiveness and mercy as we get “Mercy” from the Lightbringer album, released on the 20th of October. The sibling album to Darkfighter, sounds just as cool too.
Jay, then tells of his friend, she is recovering from the darkness that is drug addiction, the roads that addiction leads you down, how you deal with that, how can you? He also tells of another friend who has been serving his country as a soldier in violent situations around the world, seeing things no man should ever see and can’t be unseen. This leads inevitably to one of my favourite Rival Sons tracks, the beautifully dark, emotional, “Where I’ve Been”. Nobody writes songs like these guys.
“Too Bad” is next, yet another stunning track, Jay’s vocals are just unbelievable tonight. Scott Holiday, looking and sounding like the coolest dude on the planet, laying down cool, emotive guitar throughout the night. Then we get what is known in the trade as a toilet break, a bit unkind on Micheal Miley as he hits every note to perfection, never missing a beat all night. Drum solos are rare these days, it was a good one though, I enjoyed it.
Back to Darkfighter with “Guillotine” moving us all closer to heaven. Darkfighter is a great album, if I didn’t know before, I have now realized, due to the feast on offer tonight. We get another catchy number “Bright Light”, from the Darkfighter album, back to back with more from Lightbringer. “Mosaic”, showcasing the wonderful talent that is Jay Buchanan, but Jay isn’t the only star in this band, it feels like a band. As a massive fan of Zeppelin and Aerosmith, I personally put these guys into that category, the musicianship, songwriting and performance, it’s sheer perfection.
The show continues to get better and better. “Feral Roots”, and “Horses Breath” from Lightbringer, then we are bombarded with the heavenly duo of “Open My Eyes” and the relatively old but stunning “Face of Light”. The latter led to a wonderful solo from Scott. Just Jay and acoustic guitar open up with Jay talking about the horrible things happening around the world and can’t we just leave the kids alone? Jay alone launches into “Shooting Stars” with coolness, confidence and apparent ease, I’m near to tears at this point. This is one of my highlight gigs. In my life, there have been a few but my love is stronger than your hate will ever be.
Rival Sons continue to instill a belief in my world, that they are the messiahs of rock n roll, the bringers of light and long may it continue. Sadly as they launched into the beautiful “Keep On Swinging” I had to rush back to the car park. Without a doubt my gig of the year, nothing will beat that. Just perfection.
