Rival Sons' Darkfighter Tour Ignites London Music Hall

Rival Sons - London 2023 Rival Sons brought their Darkfighter tour to London Music Hall Tuesday June 6 along with supporting acts The Record Company and Starcrawler.

The band was in fine form and really had the crowd all night. LMH really is a great venue and the fans are really appreciative. There were a couple incidents early on with fans who indulged a little to much and needed some assistance but otherwise a really good crowd

The show opened with Mirrors, the first song off their latest album Darkfighter. I love the organ intro to this song and how the band walks out just before it kicks into some heavy guitar and Jay Buchanan’s soaring vocals. Four songs in, Jay spoke to the London audience saying, “It’s good to see you! It feels like it’s been forever, we’re so happy to be here!” He then asked if anyone had heard the new record and introduced the song Rapture saying it means a lot to him and was pivotal in the writing for the album.

Of the 14 songs this night, six were from Darkfighter, truly a great album if you haven’t listened to it yet. Of course they played the radio hits as well, Electric Man, Open My Eyes, Keep On Swinging. The Fuzz Lord, Scott Holiday always looking dapper in tailored suit, shades and fedora, was dazzling on guitar. I think he had a different guitar for every song and they’re all beauties

For the song Where I’ve Been, Buchanan explained how the song was written about two people in his life who went through different types of trauma, one who suffered addiction and the other the trauma of serving his country overseas. Both are recovering and his message to everyone was to forgive yourself and be kind to yourself.

After a spirited drum solo by Mike Miley they launched into the latest radio hit Nobody Wants To Die, a real banger which has been steadily climbing the charts. Buchanan apologized to the Albany crowd a couple nights earlier saying his voice wasn’t in the best of shape from all the touring and this is the one song where you could hear a little strain in his voice but honestly, it’s a real powerful song and he pushed through it like a champion!

The show ended with the bands most popular song, Keep On Swinging from 2012’s Head Down.

Opening the night was L.A. glam punk band Starcrawler who surprised quite a few people who probably weren’t expecting that kind of band opening for Rival Sons. Singer Arrow de Wilde is a tall string bean of a gal whose antics on stage are exceptionally entertaining. I think they won some people over with their performance and I’m one of those people!

Also from Los Angeles as support, The Record Company, a bluesy southern rock trio that seemed less out of place this night. Singer Chris Vos bounced around the stage playing harmonica for the entire first song and kept the energy level high. It would be hard for most to follow the energy of Starcrawler but this trio managed to hold their own.

Rival Sons with Starcrawler and The Record Company
London Music Hall
London, ON
June 6, 2023

Photos by Dan Boshart

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