Every now and then you see some older rock musician complain about how rock and roll is dead. Obviously those guys are idiots and not looking in the right place. However, to their credit, today’s climate does make it a bit harder for the major stars to stand out with so many acts on the scene. But if there’s one band keeping our confidence in modern day rock-star-status, it’s Greta Van Fleet.
First of all, the vibe at Thursday night’s T-Mobile Center show was just fantastic. We love Greta Van Fleet fans. The whole place looked like everyone descended from space. Sequins and metallic bell bottoms as far as the eye can see, and the fancy headgear was to die for.
We last saw the Michigan band just a few short months before the pandemic shutdown, when they played a potent show in Kansas City. But the sparks they brought to the stage back then have now fully ignited (no really, there was so much pyro at Thursday night’s show). Kicking off with “The Falling Sky,” the band exploded onto the stage with a rock prowess that really only gets stronger with each album. The Kiszka brothers, consisting of twins Josh (on vocals) and Jake (on guitar), along with Sam (bass/keys) came armed and ready with an impressive repertoire. The songs off their latest release, Starcatcher, showcased the growing diversity in their range, while still dipping into favorites off more than a decade’s worth of releases.
The band absolutely deserved the vastness of the T-Mobile Center, with a frontman who had a complete handle on his excitable crowd. They rock the part, they definitely look the part (rocking the velvet and sequins), and their growing talent is ascending the band to rock stardom (something the music scene does sorely lack anymore). Yes, they have that vintage sound everyone’s come to love them for, but they’re also honing in on something new that’s their own (they all have that beautiful vintage look about them, but drummer Danny Wagner looks like he walked straight out of your dad’s record collection). Combined with the positivity they reciprocated from their fans, we have nothing but high hopes for Greta Van Fleet keeping rock and roll on the map.
They were joined by Geese, a psychedelic rock band who really could have felt right at home at a venue like The Bottleneck. They were young, cheeky, cool, and everything The Strokes could have been if they hadn’t turned into such snobs.
One real treat of the night was the late addition of Mirador to the tour, featuring Jake Kiszka. This was very special to the fans because they got to start and end their night with him. This is a newer side project from Jake and guitarist Chris Turpin, of Ida Mae. The band had a very fun (you guessed it) psych-rock sound about them. So if you’re into that psychedelic phase of your life and you love all things Kiszka, this show was a dream come true.