Review by Junkman & Shawn Perry
Photos by Junkman
Anaheim got two of the best modern rock bands making the rounds these days — Pennsylvania-based rockers Halestorm and Long Beach’s own Rival Sons sharing the bill at the City National Grove Of Anaheim for a sold-out show. Quite a feat when you consider Los Angeles gives absolutely no radio support to newer rock bands like these.
The night began with a unique opening set from Atlanta’s Royal Thunder, out promoting their second album Crooked Doors. Led by singer and bassist Mlny Parsonz, the four-piece band delivered a blistering 30-minute set of hard rock and contemporary metal with an intrinsic dark melody. This left much to ponder during the 20-minute break before Rival Sons stepped up. Shades of Hugo Montenegro stirred the crowd just before nine as the lights came down.
Making the most of their 45 minutes on home turf, Rival Sons got the party started with “Electric Man,” the lead-off track from their fourth long-playing disc, 2014’s Great Western Valkyrie. They’d play three more from the album before their time was up. Off the grid, singer Jay Buchanan howled lofty blues intonations from, extended jams elegantly orchestrated by guitarist Scott Holiday pored forth, and Mike Miley delivered a sizzling drum solo on his shiny new Gretsch kit.
By the time they finished up with “Keep On Swinging,” it was clear they could have kept going without complaint. Rounded out by bassist Dave Beste and keyboardist Todd Ögren-Brooks, Rival Sons are already a phenomenon in Europe and it’s only a matter of time (with the right song) before they start filling arenas on their own here in the States.
Halestorm came on just after 10:00 and kick started things off with their Grammy Award winning hit from 2012, “Love Bites (So Do I).” They performed a 17-song set that had the Grove audience glued to every move of lead singer and guitarist Lzzy Hale. Even though it was a rough night vocally for her, she is a true professional, and as always, gave it her all throughout the set, consisting mainly of new songs (10, in fact) from their 2015 album Into The Wild Life.
Standouts included the up tempo “Scream,” which followed a great drum intro from Arejay Hale, Lzzy’s talented brother; the anthemic “Bad Girls World”; and the reflective ballad “Dear Daughter,” featuring Lzzy on piano.Guitarist Joe Hottinger’s heavy guitar tone set the pace for two of the bands earliest hits, “It’s Not You” and “I Get Off” from their 2009 self-titled debut album, closing out the main set.
Leaving the stage to a huge ovation, the band returned and encored with the perfect song for the evening, “Rock Show” from 2012’s The Strange Case Of…. This was followed by the sing-along “I Miss The Misery” from that same album and that closed the show. The band was pleased with the response they got from the Anaheim audience — a large mix of both young and old, and everyone seemed to be smiling happily as the venue emptied out.
