Greta Van Fleet, The Velveteers
The Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane
Thursday, 22nd August 2024
PHOTOS BY CHRIS SEARLES
WORDS BY LINDSAY THOMPSON
The Fortitude Music Hall has only just recovered from the opening night of the Australian leg of Greta Van Fleet’s Starcatcher tour when fans start lining up for night two. Their eagerness can serve as a new efficient source of clean energy. Some are back for a second round after being front and centre the night before. What a testament to the every growing popularity of the headline act.
Maybe it’s the rising star of support act, The Velveteers? The trio is fronted by Demi Demitro on guitar and vox and Baby Pottersmith and Jonny Fig on drums. Yes, there are two drum kits and oh what a kaboom they make. Demitro casts a spell and launches a witchy tsunami into the audience. Their debut record Nightmare Daydream presents a wagon load of woozy power rock with the likes of ‘When I See Your Face’, ‘Father Of Lies’ and ‘Choking’. This band has a firm grip on crunchy guitar riffs and viscous drumming. It’s a tasty spectacle and leaves the crowd eager for more, but alas it’s time for the stage to be reset. Keep an eye on The Velveteers, they’ll be setting their scene in the not-to-distant future.
THE VELVETEERS
My first experience with Greta Van Fleet was in 2019 at Belgian festival called Rock Werchter. They were on my radar and I thought I’d had them pinned already. How wrong was I. I can safely say the my friend set and I were slacked-jawed by the second track. It was the second coming of 1970 when Zepp, Purple and Sabbath were reinventing the rock scene
Greta Van Fleet own their world and have proven it with four strong albums. With lyrical themes that connect universal love, medieval swordsmanship and magic fire, how could you go wrong?
‘The Falling Sky’, the band becomes a unified ramjet. A sliding rock groove floods the floor, inducing involuntary head bobbing through the fans. Josh Kiszka’s signature voice wails like an otherworldly banshee. I overhear someone say “It’s like Brian Johnson standing on a nail while singing Great Gig in the Sky”. I couldn’t have said it better.
A Kiszka trio fronts the stage - Josh on vox, Jake on guitar and Sam on Bass/Keys. Jake’s dedication to big rock swagger is obvious as he leans back and bobs with each strum and pick. On purpose or not, there is plenty of Page being channeled. But that okay, it’s a rock ‘n' roll show built on decades of undeniable mastery and paying homage is often unavoidable.
The front row is lined with the ‘second nighters’. The voodoo of Greta Van Fleet has taken them. There is no turning back. Who can blame them when Josh is dressed in an ever-changing range of sequinned bolero jackets and glitter face decoration?
GRETA VAN FLEET
The four-part set sees a selection from their four albums. ‘Caravel’ is curvy and luscious and ‘Meeting The Master’ swings between the intimate acoustic sections and stadium filler riffs. It’s the straight out rockers like ‘Highway Tune’ and ‘Black Smoke Rising’ that get the blood pumping again. The modern phenomena of shorter attention spans in younger people is disproved as extended jams and indulgent solos dot the set. Music is a magic potion and Greta Van Fleet is here to pour it over their audience.
‘Light My Love’ brings the feels, melting the heart even the hardest of sleeve tattooed audience members. It’s a sign that the set may have needed one or two more of these soul settlers. Some light and shade, as they say. Think what you will about influences - these guys are the real deal. It’s not karaoke or Cosplay, it’s rock ‘n' roll. Sometimes things don’t need reinventing, just resurrection. As the final song of the night ‘Farewell For Now’ hinted to, we know they’ll be back.
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