Originally this was another Cody/Jake Must See Show of 2017. Then he snuck off to Mexico for a week…. but luckily sold me his ticket. This show was sold out after all so if he hadn’t done that, I would have beat him with lead pipes in pillow cushions.
Anyways, luckily I was able to bring this foxy little thing I just met, Alyssa, and she decided to give me (and Royal Blood) a chance. We met up with Collin and his girlfriend straight away at the bar and settled in to see the show. Alyssa had never heard of Royal Blood so I was excited to see what she thought of them.
To kick things off was a relatively unheard of band, Welles. I can’t find too much about them other than some flashy social media and Beatles inspired photographs. Seems like everyone’s going the psych-beatles route nowadays.
I was able to discern from an article that the band is named after the lead singer’s last name (Jehsea Wells) and that he’s originally from Arkansas. He then moved to Nashville and I’m assuming got himself some bandmates, booking agents, record labels, promotion companies, and whoever else could have possibly got them as an opening act for Royal Blood.
Anyways, although I am tired of seeing the same hipster approach to hitting it big, I did enjoy the concert. They rocked hard although nothing that stuck in my head too much. Their performance seemed restrained but the music did grab my attention from my focus of drinking and carousing around with my friends. Nothing special, but nothing terrible. I would seriously be curious to get the full story on how this band with 1000 likes on Facebook was able to open up for one of the biggest rock bands out right now…Guess I’ll have to wait on that at this point.
After their show Collin and I went out for a smoke and grabbed a few more brewskis. Collin was pretty smashed but having a blast. We were all super excited for the show. This was his second time seeing them but my first. I was extremely skeptical they could pull of their signature 2-piece sound live without help from other musicians on stage but was soon to be proved very wrong.
Royal Blood hit the stage and wow…sounded exactly like the album. I can’t recall the exact setlist but they played mostly songs I knew. I’m still not too familiar with the new album but I can tell you that every song was rocking’. Multiple times I was caught playing air guitar and making a complete fool of myself in front of Alyssa. We were all dancing around and singing the songs we knew.
My favorite songs I heard were Come on Over and Out of the Black. Out of the Black came out a few years ago and it was the first song I’d heard in years that I felt could do a fair chance of bringing back real rock and roll. I mean hell, Jimmie Page vouches for them?! What’s more rocking than that. Although I’m still waiting on hard rock to make a come-back, they’ve definitely done the world a great service with that song and that album.
I’m still completely amazed they were able to get the tones they do as a two piece, and I wish I knew the “magic” behind what pedals he’s using. Alyssa, who’s unfamiliar with pedals, guitars, amps, and all that jazz, was just as amazed it was two people up there and as of this writing she’s added a few of their songs to her playlist. I’d say that’s a big win for any live show.
As for their performance, it was straight forward. No flashy screens or crazy effects. No explosions or bikers stabbing people. I think that it just goes to speak volumes for their actual music. They don’t need all the “fluff”. People come to their show to rock out, and they deliver.
Anywhooooo….I’ll post some links to my favorite songs of both bands below and you can check ’em out. Keep on rockin’ in the free world.