Rival Sons
London Kentish Town Forum
Godfathers of ‘new classic rock’ show how it’s done.
★ Axl’s flagging. Vince Neil forgets his words.
McCartney’s a legend but, god bless him, you can’t hear the guy… We love them all, but there’s no avoiding the fact that many of rock’s titans are facing the challenges of performing with weakened constitutions, post-pandemic rustiness and/or histories of liver-pickling living. Enter Rival Sons, here to remind us that you absolutely can still have your vintage rock’n’roll cake and eat it.
Mid-way through a tour that their peers probably hate them for (including spots with Kiss and GN’R), openers Dirty Honey incite roof-reaching singalongs, from the headliners’ fans as well as their own. But then it starts. Drums thunder. Scott Holiday’s guitars slash like velvet saws. Jay Buchanan hits us with Little Richard-style preacher vibes and that voice.
Pressure & Time, played in full tonight, has some gems (notably the title track and ballad Face Of Light), but it’s the second half of the set – especially latterday songs like Feral Roots, and the groovy stomp of Do Your Worst – that shows how Rival Sons have improved with age. After Buchanan’s solo acoustic take on Shooting Stars, his bandmates sheepishly bring him a birthday cake. It’s a nice jolt of goofy normality in their otherwise watertight rock-star veneer.
