Photo of Rival Sons by Pamela Littky, courtesy of Big Hassle Media
w/ The Black Angels and Starcrawler | 7:00pm | 6161 Delmar Blvd. | All ages | $34.50 adv, $40 day of show
We music critic types sure love our subgenres, but it’s always nice to find a band that returns rock n’ roll to its roots, no hyphens necessary.
Rival Sons formed in 2009, and the Long Beach-formed, Nashville-based quartet (augmented live by keyboardist Todd Ögren, hence the five dudes in the above photograph) is now seven albums deep into a career playing unadorned “classic rock fretboard throwdowns” (as Guitar World so eloquently put it). Singer Jay Buchanan’s vocals give the proceedings a subtle twang—in his quieter moments, his voice shares the same tenor and slight raspiness of Jason Isbell, but he’s on the whole much more theatrical, more willing to explode out into his upper registers. Meanwhile, guitarist Scott Holiday counters with massive blues-metal leads while bassist Dave Beste and drummer Mike Miley supply the Southern rock stomp to match.
Expectations were high for Rival Sons following their last album, 2019’s Feral Roots, which was nominated for two Grammys (for Best Rock Album and Best Rock Performance, the latter for the song “Too Bad”). Their follow-up Darkfighter (released earlier this month on producer Dave Cobb’s Low Country Sound, an imprint of Atlantic Records) shows they were more than up to the task: “Mirrors” opens the album with a blast of Southern-fried Led Zeppelin riffage, “Nobody Wants to Die” offers up some classic ‘70s Aerosmith boogie, and “Bird in the Hand” has a modern bluesy groove that plays like Black Keys as filtered through Queens of the Stone Age. To be clear, Darkfighter is far more than just meat-and-potatoes riffage: there’s ambition, too, with singles “Nobody Wants to Die,” “Rapture,” and “Bird in the Hand” forming a story cycle, captured in the songs’ linking music videos. The album closes with the impressively dynamic “Darkside,” which opens with John Bonham-sized thunderclap drums before passing through the eye of the storm on acoustic guitar and gently hummed vocals before the pounding drums and squalling guitars pour down on the album’s coda.
Rival Sons just wrapped up a tour opening for fellow ’70s rock revivalists Greta Van Fleet and will spend the fall opening for Smashing Pumpkins on their “The World Is a Vampire” tour alongside Stone Temple Pilots and Interpol. Before then, though, they’ll be swinging by St. Louis as part of a lengthy headlining tour. Catch them at the intimate confines of The Pageant while you still can. | Jason Green
Rival Sons tour dates:
06.08.23 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore w/ The Black Angels and Starcrawler
06.09.23 – Chicago, IL – Radius w/ The Black Angels and Starcrawler
06.10.23 – Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore w/ The Black Angels and Starcrawler
06.12.23 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave w/ The Black Angels and Starcrawler
06.13.23 – Cedar Rapids, IA – Club 5 w/ The Black Angels and Starcrawler
06.14.23 – St. Louis, MO – Pageant w/ The Black Angels and Starcrawler
06.16.23 – Omaha, NE – The Admiral w/ The Black Angels and Starcrawler
06.17.23 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater w/ The Black Angels and Starcrawler
06.18.23 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre w/ The Black Angels and Starcrawler
07.21.23 – Buktafestivalen – Trømso, NO
07.22.23 – Malakoff Rockfestival – Nordfjordeid, NO
08.01.23 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots
08.03.23 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots
08.05.23 – Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots
08.06.23 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots
08.07.23 – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots
08.09.23 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots
08.10.23 – Chula Vista, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots
08.13.23 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
08.15.23 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
08.16.23 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
08.17.23 – Huntsville, AL – The Orion Amphitheater w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
08.19.23 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
08.20.23 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
08.22.23 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
08.24.23 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
08.25.23 – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
08.30.23 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
08.31.23 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
09.02.23 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
09.03.23 – Ottawa, ON – Canadian Tire Centre w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
09.08.23 – Franklin, TN – FirstBank Amphitheater w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
09.09.23 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center w/ Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol
