Rivals Sons are in the country supporting some band called Black Sabbath. Their warm, sexy blend of blue collar blues rock cuts from the same cloth as the best ’70s bands. Think Led Zeppelin, Canned Heat, The Animals, Cream, Free, Foghat – the list goes on. They cancelled their 2015 Soundwave appearance due to a new child and haven’t been Down Under since, so it was blessing to welcome them to Axl/DC Lane on a rainy Thursday night.
The show was sold out, but with early stage times, Cherry was not as packed as expected. Two-piece The Graveltones opened. The drummer looked like Briggs and his kit was just as phat. The singer/guitarist sounded like Jack White, but looked like Jack Black. But oh, what a sound. His guitar shit itself for half a song, yet they got even better somehow. Too bad this Aussie duo lives in London and not Melbourne.
The Ugly Kings dangled some amulets around their necks, did some weights, grew some beards and put on some waistcoats, but they didn’t grab hold of your nuts the same way The Graveltones did.
After arena stages, Cherry Bar didn’t quite have the space Rival Sons had become used to. Poor keyboardist Todd Ögren-Brooks had to stand offstage, so all you could see was his hat. “Don’t get me wrong,” singer Jay Buchanan said, “We are so happy to be playing our first club show in Australia.” With a smile and a twinkle in his heavily made-up eyes he said it had been a long time since they’d played in a dirty rock’n’roll bar where he could smell the crowd. “It feels good, like a long sex session… in Thailand,” Buchanan laughed as his eyeliner ran down his cheek.
Buchanan has a rich, soulful voice. He’s a self-declared Electric Man with stage energy that runs a direct current into your chest, surging through your hips and flowing right on down to your toes. Bass player Dave Beste looks like a Swedish Phillip Seymour Hoffman, while guitarist Scott Holiday has a Dali moustache, sunglasses and more Oranges than Footscray market. In Cherry’s tight confines their meaty, fuzzy riffs hit with full force, but sadly there was not enough rawk. Instead, the middle third of the set was full of new, slower songs and older dreamy ballads. It’s as if they said, “OK we’ll play, put we’ll play what we want to play.” Still cool, but could have been more epic. Juicier finishers Open My Eyes and Keep On Swinging ensured things ended on good terms. With a new album Hollow Bones due out in June, one can only hope Rival Sons return soon for a headlining tour and dish up more of the rockin’ tracks they have in their arsenal.
LOVED: Seeing a band that fills stadiums overseas in such an intimate setting.
HATED: Too many ballads.
DRANK: With one eye on tomorrow.
BY JAMES RIDLEY
