Rival Sons with Welles and The Cold Stares
Appalshop Theater
Whitesburg, Kentucky
May 1, 2018
I find myself on this beautiful mountain spring day in Whitesburg, KY, at the Appalshop Theater to be exact. Along with fans from 17 yes 17 states that have traveled to Whitesburg, for what promises to be an epic show. The opening night of Rival Sons spring / early summer tour, also the first night of a two night stand here in Whitesburg. A two night stand you ask? Yep, you read that right. How did that happen? The guys in Rival Sons friendship with Greg Napier (the promoter of the evening with concert series) and their love for Whitesburg and the surrounding area made the two night stand possible. The Appalshop theater seats a little better that 150 people making if by far the smallest venue the Sons will play. The small intimate venue would prove fortunate for fans in attendance!
Kicking off this amazing night of music is a band that has shared the stage several times with Rival Sons, The Cold Stares. My first time seeing either of these outstanding bands was back in 2013 just down the road at Summit City. The Cold Stares are a two man band, Chris Tapp on guitars and vocals and Brian Mullins on drums. Each and every time I see them I’m amazed at the sound these two men produce, that first night at Summit City I was wondering where the rest of their band was! Judging by the amount of cd’s and vinyl I saw the crowd carrying around after the set, a lot of people in Whitesburg are now Cold Stares fans, well the ones that weren’t already! With songs like “Jesus Brother James” and “Break My Fall” you’ll be a fan to, give them a listen!
In direct support of Rival Sons on this short tour is a band out of Arkansas called Welles. With Jesse Wells on guitar and vocals they have a great sound. Welles is very young and just judging from their stage presence not been in front of a crowd very often, but I imagine that will change of this tour with Rival Sons, they will grow pretty quick. With songs like “Life Like Mine” “Codeine” and their latest single “Seventeen” give Welles a listen just might like what you hear!
As I said earlier my first live show with Rival Sons was at Summit City here in Whitesburg that was an epic experience! Fast forward 5 years and Rival Sons are back in Whitesburg and it was even more epic! Two albums later and thousands of touring miles have turned them into a well-oiled machine! For those that don’t know many of those touring miles were in direct support of Black Sabbath on Sabbath’s final tour. So to say they’ve grown some since 2013 is an understatement! Even with all that experience and success Jay, Dave, Scott, Miley and Todd took time out to talk with every fan that wanted to talk with them, signed everything that was asked of them that is one of the great advantages of small venues!
“Secret” started the night off, this was the first time they had played a show in almost 7 months but if there was any rust it didn’t show! Jay’s voice was very strong as they continued into “Electric Man” and “Good Luck”. “Good Luck” “Tied up” and “Memphis Sun” was the next three songs, in what ended up being a 13 song set list that also included a 13+ minute version of Hollow Bones! It was amazing!! Jay told the crowd that they had finished recording the new album at 1am that morning an album that included some time at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio! They drove from Nashville and with little to no sleep took the stage and knocked out this 13 song event!
As always get out and support local and touring musicians!
http://www.thecoldstares.com/
http://www.wellesmusic.com/
http://rivalsons.com/
All photos by Tom Biggs at TRB Photography LLC
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