1/10/2012 Rival Sons @ The Electric Ballroom

Subject	Rival Sons @ The Electric Ballroom
DateCreated	10/2/2012 2:37:00 PM
PostedDate	10/3/2012 3:27:00 AM
	After a very quiet weekend the new week starts with a bang on Monday night at the Electric Ballroom. I'm here to see Rival Sons. I really liked their debut album 'Pressure & Time' last year, but I wasn't entirely convinced by their performance at the High Voltage festival - although other people raved about it. Now they are back with a UK tour to promote their second album 'Head Down'. What I've heard from it so far sounds like more of the same, but the reviews have been good so I thought I'd check them out as headliners. I wasn't disappointed. Decent venue and a very reasonable ticket price. The band are introduced by 'Whispering' Bob Harris and hit the stage dead on time at 9.30. The sound is excellent apart from the bass being a bit muddy - the guitar sings out loud and clear. Best stage presence from any guitarist I've seen in a long while too. The first part of of the set is mainly songs from the new album - I think they just 'sold' it to me. Sorry my pictures are so rubbish - I couldn't be bothered to try and get nearer the front as I had a pretty good view from where I was and the sound mix was good. Why black & white? Good question. I wasn't trying to be arty and get atmospheric shots - I didn't even realise they had come out in black & white until I got home. I must have accidentally changed the camera settings - a bit annoying as I was trying to get pictures of all the different coloured guitars - a new Firebird for every song!  We had to wait until later in the set for the best songs from the first album like 'All Over The Road', 'Face Of Light', and 'Pressure and Time' to start to appear. I did feel the set started to get a little self indulgent and drag a little towards the end with a guitar solo that went on far too long.... Even with the newer songs I thought Led Zeppelin was by far the most obvious influence, although the reviews say this is less so with the band's recent songs. It turns out that Jimmy Page was actually present and apparently enjoyed Rival Sons set. The band played for over an hour and a half including encores - very good value for money for a band with only two albums under their belt - some big names and longer established acts could try harder in this respect.  Overall an excellent performance and worth every penny of the ticket price. I didn't even bother trying to find out the price of a pint as I was sure it would be well over £4 a pint. I did feel a bit thirsty just before Rival Sons hit the stage but discovered pint glasses full of water lined up on the bar for free - problem solved - thanks Electric Ballroom. However, I had to nip into the nearby BrewDog pub straight after the show to take away the horrible taste of the water with a crafty beer. Then home from pub in less than 50 minutes as the trains worked out just right. Result!