Rival Sons – Gig Review – O2 Academy Islington – Plus Interview

The queue outside was getting long; fans had been waiting since 5 P.M. to see Jay, Michael, Scott and Robin on stage. With a capacity for 800 people, the O2 Academy Islington seemed to be too small to take all the people lining up outside. The evening sounded promising; from the outside we could hear guitars and drums being tested and the fans were getting wound up by the sounds.

As soon as the doors opened, after a run up the stairs, the room soon started to fill up and to walk from one side to the other was a mission almost impossible, as fans didn’t want to lose their spot to see the Rival Sons from as close as they could.

Opening for the LA based band was a local band, Heaven’s Basement, a rock band made in the United Kingdom; a good start for a great night of rock. The fans had a great reaction to the band but you could see the anticipation growing on them to see the Rival Sons.

Before a brief appearance on stage by a man with a signed Rival Sons poster for a fan that had tweeted about going to the gig on her birthday, the lights went off and the fans started making noise. As the band came on stage, and as soon as they were settled, the first accords and beats had the fans headbanging; Torture was the opening for the rest of the evening. Followed by one of the greatest hits of their last album, Burn Down Los Angeles was certainly one of the most anticipated performances. With little chatter between songs, Jay and the band gave the fans what they expected, a rock n’ roll filled night, with guitar solos, amazing bass and drums accompanied by his amazing voice. The crowd sang along with Jay as he moved along the stage rocking his Swedish braids and themes like Get What’s Coming, All Over the Road, and Young Love had the fans going mad. As the Pressure and Time of a tour came on the band, after the song that names their last album, Jay announced there wouldn’t be an encore, as time was short, but left us with an astonishing eight minute plus non-stop medley of songs, that almost brought the venue down with the bands amazing performance.

The gig was part of the band’s headlining tour around the Old Continent where they’ll be hitting France, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, and Estonia among other countries.

Review by Susana Sarsfield

Interview with Scott Holiday and Robin Everhart