West Coast Meets East, As Rival Sons Rock Boston’s House of Blues (SHOW REVIEW/PHOTOS)

West coast rock and rollers, Rival Sons, hit the east coast this past Sunday the 24th at Boston’s House of Blues on one of the band’s many stops to both commemorate and celebrate the tenth anniversary of their breakthrough record, Pressure and Time. Back in 2011, the band found themselves playing venues of all sizes in North America and Europe to promote and share their brilliant music – winning over legions of new fans during each performance.

 During the past decade, the band has released a handful of albums, toured around the globe and established themselves as a force to be reckoned with while garnering two Grammy nominations for their most recent effort, Feral Roots. Now, as it has become customary by bands to play a singular album’s tracks in order from start to finish, Jay Buchanan (lead vocals/guitar), Scott Holiday (lead guitar/vocals), Dave Beste (bass/vocals), Mike Miley (drums/vocals) and Todd Ögren (keyboards/vocals) did just that without holding back in the slightest and the audience in Boston savored every note. 

The band not only treated its fans to a stellar run-through of Pressure and Time, but also a heaping sample of the best from their catalog. “All Over the Road” ferociously kicked off the Pressure and Time set with all cylinders firing! The Sons weren’t messing around as Buchanan’s vocals were already primed and most impressive. Beste’s bass and Miley’s drums were locked in and slammin’. Holiday’s jangly-fuzz-fueled riffs roared and Ögren’s frenetic pounding on the keys rang out through the hall.

The title track, “Pressure and Time” showcased not only Beste’s groovy basslines, but also let Buchanan go full-throttle – surely making heads shake and jaws drop in disbelief. Miley’s bludgeoning beats behind the kit mixed with Holiday’s blistering licks during “Los Angeles” raised the temperature before the band tore into the soulful barnburner, “Save Me”. The pointed and fierce “White Noise” somehow upped the ante to a whole other level of intensity and insanity before finding a way to fall back and cool down with the endearing ballad, “Face of Light” a dramatic and beautiful finale to the first half of the set – one that would be hard to top. 

After taking a brief respite, the band displayed its fangs once again during the “second set” with the biting “Too Bad”, the Zeppelin-ish “Open My Eyes” and the white-hot “Electric Man” which found Holiday, A.K.A. Mr. Fuzz Lord, putting his axe and effects through the grind with over the top, but well-calculated distortion! Buchanan also blew back the hair of those in the first few rows with his primal vocal eruptions. Mere mortals would have passed out having even tried to compete with such power. “Jordan”, another heart wrenching ballad followed, bringing the band and its audience back down to earth for a short spell.

Buchanan’s versatility and vocal range was gorgeously put on display as the band sat back, allowing for the Jay’s vocals to shine – surely bringing some in attendance to tears. “Shooting Stars” followed, finding Buchanan alone on stage with his acoustic guitar for heartfelt sing-along spiritual interaction with the audience – proving once again that he is on a whole other level. The show could have easily concluded with “Stars”, but the band had other plans. They rounded out the set with the beautifully enchanting “Feral Roots”, the dark and sinister “Do Your Worst” and ultimately the pummeling “Keep on Swinging” which was an undisputable knockout. In the end, Buchanan, Holiday, Miley, Beste and Ögren clearly gave everything they had with a well-planned performance that was top-notch! One truly could not ask for anymore. 

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2 Responses

  1. Myself along with our usual concert mates were at the show front row! Personally for me my 8th time seeing these guys. I have traveled to NY just to see them open up for Black Sabbath. Without a doubt this show was simple brilliance for near 2 hours. Jay’s vocals as usual were spectacular. But, he was in anothe gear at this show. I will say hands down the best live performance vocally I have ever head from anyone! Rival Sons are true Rock and Roll titans! Great review!

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