December 2nd in London, Ontario marked the end of the Young Beauties and Fools tour for the Glorious Sons and what a fantastic ending it was. Rather than writing another concert review, I’d like to look at what this tour has showed us about the Glorious Sons. After catching five shows through out this tour and getting the shot to interview TGS for Spill Magazine, I can safely say I believe these guys are going to stand the test of time. Here’s why.
1. The Music
Photo by Ryan Mueller
Right out of the gate is the obvious reason. The Glorious Sons create moving, gritty rock n’ roll. Their debut E.P. Shapeless Art had such a unique, emotional sound which only got better on The Union. The boys’ most recent release of Young Beauties and Fools proved the band could continue to create rich, non-repetitive tracks that showed real maturation in their musical process. The best part? When the songs get a little breathing room on stage they sound even more amazing.
2. They're rad as hell...to everyone
Hanging around the shows, it was easy to see that TGS are solid, kind-hearted guys. They hang around after shows and patiently talk with their fans, thanking them for coming, remembering a lot of them, and talking to them on an even level. This has the potential to build an incredibly loyal fan base (kudos). They’re also fantastic to their crew. It’s not uncommon for their roadies, tour manager and opening band to get a shout out and thank you during a performance. They watch out for the safety of the crowd (more on that in reason 4). Even when I had the chance to interview them, they were incredibly cool about it. Despite me being the only thing standing between them and a few days of vacay, Jay and Brett were patient with my questions, joked with me and told me not to feel like I had to rush.
3. The Stage Presence
For me, there’s nothing about The Glorious Sons that tops their live show. In a world where bands are not making money off their albums but rather their ticket sales- that’s smart. Right away it’s evident, they’re not a band that used a bunch of auto tune in the studio. Their instrumentals are tight, Brett’s voice is great, the energy is usually pretty electric and the band always seem like they enjoy being around each other. It’s not uncommon for a small wrestling match to break out or for Brett to grab a crowd member by the collar. The energy at a show is always high, the band members constantly make eye contact with their audience and it’s only gotten better and better over the years.
Besides the obvious high-energy approach to the live show however is the band’s ability to get real with their audience. One of my favourite examples of this is their performance of “Hide My Love” off Young Beauties and Fools. At the CBC show, Brett told the audience that this was a song about eight consecutive cab trips back and forth to his girlfriend’s house. With each performance we saw however, he told more and more of this story. It took him until the evening of the following day to apologize for what he’d done wrong that night. He’d sat on the porch with his girlfriend’s sister for an hour and a half until she started laughing at him. Each glimpse into the song’s story was a chance to learn about the band and connect with them.
4. They're moulding a strong concert environment
Photo by Ryan Mueller
Let’s face it: fights have become fairly common place at shows. TGS is trying to fix that. They’ve gotten to a point where they’ll call out fights as they’re happening and tell the participants to leave, call out manhandling from security and encourage audience members to love and respect one another. I can love and respect the hell out of that.
5. Their Support System
Photo by Ryan Mueller
One reason why TGS is going far really has nothing to do with them; it’s all about their support system. It’s incredible what a strong group of supporters TGS has. At almost every show there’s a variety of family and friends no matter where they are. They’ve also got a great group of Kingston-loyals I’ve had the pleasure of meeting along the way. From a young musician whose album was just produced by Adam to a woman whose son is friends with the third Emmons brother, everyone has only genuinely kind things to say about the guys.
6. The Love
Photo by Ryan Mueller
Finally of course is the love. Whether it’s the lyrics, the live performance or the band just playing together, it’s clear they love what they do and they’re in it for the right reasons. Otherwise, they would have stopped a long time ago.
Peace, love & history.
P.S. For more show reviews:
– The Glorious Sons live at Sugar Beach, September 18th 20187 (interview here)
– The Glorious Sons live at CBC, October 13th 2017 (see the YouTube video)
– The Glorious Sons at The Pheonix, October 2st 2017
– The Glorious Sons at The Pheonix, November 24th 2017
– The Glorious Sons at The London Music Hall (This post replaces that review)