This year has been good to young Michigan rock group Greta Van Fleet. Comprised of three brothers (Josh, Jake and Sam Kiszka as well as drummer Danny Wagner), the group has seen an impressive wave of almost instant success with the release of single “Highway Tune,” as well as debut EP Black Smoke Rising and the double EP From The Fires (released via Republic Records), which includes the Black Smoke Rising EP as well as a few additional classic covers.
The band toured in support of these releases earlier this summer and returned for the second time in December, with much more hype and fanfare this time around. They not only sold out two straight nights at Bowery Ballroom, but so much so that tickets were going for as much as $250 in the days leading up to the shows on secondary markets.
I caught night one of the Bowery Ballroom run on December 5, featuring an opening performance from local act Caverns. What impressed me about the crowd was its diverse age range of fans both young and old. The fact that young girls are into a band of young men wasn’t a surprise, but rather the amount of older fans that were clearly hooked by their classic rock revival. There’s no denying that the band comes very close to that of Led Zepplin from the Robert Plant-like vocals of Josh Kiszka to the big riffs and rhythm section that some will just call a ripoff.
But something about their songs just click, especially in a live environment where these boys show that they are legit and can play. Not only that, but the entire crowd was singing back every word, as if this was a band who had been at it for nearly a decade. Observing the room, many fans of a certain age had their eyes closed, as they released the smoke they just inhaled, in a state of pure ecstasy, clearly reliving some of the glory days of their past life of rock and roll fandom.
It seems Greta Van Fleet have an interesting appeal to many different sort of fans, the sort of recipe that is a clear answer to their instant wave of success and bright future, considering they don’t even have a proper full-length album yet and are only just getting started.
Find a full photo set of both Greta Van Fleet and Caverns posted in the gallery below, along with GVF’s setlist.
Caverns:
Greta Van Fleet:
Greta Van Fleet Setlist:
1. Talk On The Streets
2. Black Smoke Rising
3. Edge of Darkness
4. When The Cold Wind Blows
5. Flower Power
6. You’re The One
7. Evil Is Goin’ On (Howlin’ Wolf Cover)
8. Mountain Of The Sun
9. Watching Over
10. Lover Leaver Taker Believer
Encore:
11. Highway Tune
12. Safari Song
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