Rival Sons

The band took to the stage with maximum strutting and preening from front man Jay Buchanan and highly derivative, but expertly executed, riffs from super slick guitarist Scott Holiday, sporting a fine pair of stripy skin-tight trousers. The mainly male 40-something audience lapped up the heavy blues-rock, as if Led Zeppelin or Free had been cloned. Holiday unloaded ‘face melting’ solos without a drop of sweat on his cool brow. Buchanan is a Plant/Kossoff/Gillan hybrid, but deftly avoids the pitfalls of parody or tribute. The superb rhythm section was on the money as well.

Concorde 2, 21 September 2012

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