Review by Shawn Perry
Photos by Ron Lyon
For the first show behind their fourth album Great Western Valkyrie on home-turf California, Rival Sons let loose with a soulful, hard rockin’ set — de rigueur in their quest to becoming the next big rock band in the States. They’ve already dazzled fans all over Europe, where they continually appear at huge festivals and headline mid-size venues. It’s only been in the last couple years that Rival Sons have started to gain traction in America. A summer swing through Canada and select dates in the Midwest and East coast, including two sold-out shows in New York City, have helped ignite a growing appreciation for the Long Beach band, so seeing them where they got their start brought a higher level of expectation for the Santa Ana mix of old and young.
Their logo on the backline and everything seemingly in place, the lights dimmed and the band came on amidst strains of Hugo Montenegro. Was it just another throwback device or were the Rojo brothers riding into town? We may never know. Armed with a Gibson Firebird, guitarist Scott Holiday scratched out the distorted first notes of “Electric Man” and the rest of the troupe fell in as singer Jay Buchanan embraced the riff with a soulful refrain. It’s a tightly wound song that allows Holiday to tap into an array of tones and textures — something he does throughout the night. You could say the next four — “Good Luck,” “Secret,” “Play The Fool” and “Good Things” — served as a proper, broad sampling of Great Western Valkyrie. With each burning moment, the chemistry intensified and the audience swayed in doe-eyed astonishment. It’s 2014 and this is rock and roll with a new attitude and fresh perspective.
“I spent a lot of time here in Orange County,” Buchanan announced before the band launched into “Torture,” a visceral blues scorcher from 2011’s Pressure & Time. “Jordan,” lighter blues with simple elegance, showcased Buchanan’s ample pipes and stageside manner. He plays into the enigmatic, tortured soul ethos — throwing himself into each verse as if his very life and well-being depended on it. Suddenly the gears shifted, and the straight-up rocker “Tell Me Something,” the first song from the band’s 2009 debut, Before The Fire, came roaring out to the delight of the locals.
It might have been nice to hear more from the early days, perhaps something like “Angel” or “I Want More,” but the focus returned to Great Western Valkyrie as the band finished up with the episodic “Rich and the Poor” and “Open My Eyes,” the Zeppelin-flavored single. Holiday thickened his grip on the effects, unleashing a banshee of ear-piercing wails and wahs, rattling the walls of the packed Observatory.
The encore allowed each member of Rival Sons, including drummer Mike Miley and the band’s newest member, bassist Dave Beste, to stretch out and jam into the ozone. “Manifest Destiny, Part 1” was the point of entry, as Holiday snapped off an imitable mass of licks that morphed into a cacophony of shrieks, moans and howls. It took the gospel-like groove of “Keep On Swinging” to bring everyone back down to the earth. No doubt other converts rallied at the alter as Rival Sons made their way up and down the left coast — from Solana Beach to San Francisco to the sold-out Troubadour in West Hollywood. From here, it’s back east, then over to Europe where, next to pharmaceuticals and iPhones, Rival Sons are fast becoming America’s hottest import.
