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Review: Rival Sons/L.A. Edwards, O2 Academy
The announcement of L.A. Edwards as Rival Sons’ tour support naturally led to fears that we’d be confronted by one of those one-man-and-his-guitar acoustic troubadour acts, which is the last thing you want at a big rock show. But while Californian L.A. might have started out playing critic-friendly folky stuff, he’s wisely concluded that it’s much more fun to rock.
So it’s a huge relief all round when five of the buggers walk out. Two of these guys are L.A.’s siblings, and they’re joined by a bassist and a hyperactive keyboard player who’s introduced as “the best high-kicker in Nashville”.
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Country-rock is the main flavour here, though the catch-all ‘Americana’ is probably the preferred definition, with many of their songs introduced by a big funky drumbeat that adds a Stonesy/Tom Petty-ish flavour to L.A.’s distinctively drawled vocals and those strong, occasionally CSN-ish vocal harmonies.
They’re not afraid of a whistle solo either. It’s all a lot heavier and hard-rockin’ on stage than the recordings might suggest, with a big showpiece entitled Surrender (not the Cheap Trick song) proving the standout, and they get a very warm reception from the sold-out crowd.
Long Beach’s Rival Sons seemed poised to take a step into the big league when Covid struck, having gone from supporting Black Stone Cherry at this very venue eleven years ago to selling out the Academy under their own steam in 2019, via a memorable transitional show at the Thekla. Along the way, there was always the fear that they might succumb to Queens of the Stone Age Syndrome and decide they were too cool to rock after getting a whiff of mainstream attention, especially as frontman Jay Buchanan experimented with a more androgynous image.
But they spent those Covid years wisely, turning out a widely acclaimed diptych of complementary albums in Darkfighter and Lightbringer, which were released six months apart. And they’re very eager to showcase this achievement tonight, roaring onto the stage as if unleashed from captivity.
Mercifully, Buchanan’s wardrobe has calmed down a bit and he’s gone for the barefoot Californian hippy look, while suited and booted co-founder Scott Holiday remains every inch the stick-thin guitar hero: all hat, shades and elaborately cultivated facial hair. With drummer Mike Miley, bassist Dave Beste and a touring keyboard player who isn’t introduced (but isn’t beardy Todd Ögren from the last tour), they’ve got the big, beefy hard rock sound we all crave and kick off by alternating newer songs from those current albums with old favourites.
Buchanan actually sounds a little ragged in places, as he did last time Rival Sons played here four years ago. It’s difficult to tell whether he’s going down with a lurgy or is suffering from the rigours of concentrated touring, but for the most part his patented Jim Morrison-meets-Paul Rodgers vocals hold up strongly.
At their best, Rival Sons whip up a gargantuan, thunderous Zeppelin-esque wall of sound. Alas, the downside of rockin’ it old-school is those technically impressive but wholly unnecessary drum and guitar solos.
The infectious title track from Pressure and Time is an early crowd-pleasing highlight. Holiday whips out the double-necked guitar for an extended Feral Roots, which features much joyful electric/acoustic noodling. Playing Darkside and Darkfighter back-to-back proves an inspired decision, highlighting the yin-and-yang nature of the new albums. And Face of Light is as beautiful as ever, Buchanan wringing every drop of emotion from the song.
Alas, there’s always a reason why Shooting Stars will seem topical. This time, the frontman dedicates it to all the innocent people who are being killed. Everybody sings along with the line “My love is stronger than your hate will ever be”.
Lightbringer standout Mosaic is introduced as the song that brought the album sessions to a natural conclusion, so it bags a rightful place towards the climax of the set. With no encore, traditional closer Keep On Swinging wraps up the two-hour show in suitably raucous style. Fingers crossed that they don’t disappear into the arena circuit and never play here again.
All pix by Mike Evans
Read more: Metal & Prog Picks: October 2023
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