KELSEY HENG FOR TVD | Friday night at the Troubadour, the sold out venue witnessed nearly two hours of a gritty, blues-drenched rock revival. With plenty of vintage ’70s live performance nostalgia, the five-piece Long Beach rockers, Rival Sons manage to bring relevance and a new modern perspective to the best aspects of rock and roll.
Jay Buchanan leads in classic rock manner with a charisma steeped in gut wrenching attitude and style. Audience members in a rushed effort to place some godlike comparison, call out to the singer as Jim Morrison. And certainly the comparison holds, as Buchanan sets the tone for each song as a unique and forceful hypnotic experience.
In leading into the anarchic anthem “Burn Down Los Angeles,” Buchanan used his control to get the crowd in a frenzy and cheering for Long Beach—a part of LA but very much separate and different than these outside streets of Hollywood.
Rival Sons are touring behind their impressive fourth full-length album, Great Western Valkyrie. If these boys aren’t already lined up as the next big rock band, at least those smart enough to sell out this intimate venue will think back to this show when they do finally reach their certain acclaim.
Set List
Electric Man
Good Luck
Secret
Play the Fool
Good Thing
Torture
Jordan
Manifest Destiny Pt 1
Burn Down Los Angeles
Tell Me Something
Get What’s Coming
Rich and Poor
Face of Light
Encore
Open My Eyes
Pressure and Time
Keep on Swinging
