Haven't been to a number of shows this year as years past. Am I finally getting too old for this? I was very tired before I began to make the hour and a half solo trek for downtown Atlanta to The Earl. About exit 8 or so on 400 I realized I was grinning like a fool; giddy for a show. I had a feeling, and had heard from radio DJs (that thing old people listen to that has been playing their single "Could Have Been Me"), that this band was going to deliver. Charismatic front-man Luke Spilller absolutely flares on stage. Its truly impressive to witness someone that has known their entire life what they were born to do and follow through with total abandon of every other possibility. Complete freedom. Imagine the love child of Tim Curry, Freddie Mercury and Joan Jett. Quite a Petri dish. He certainly wasn't on the small stage alone. The entire band was very noticeable throughout the night. Luke paid us a visit in the audience twice and was very interactive with the crowd all night. That's easier to do when you're on your first album and need to burn an hour and a half. During the last song he stood in the back on top of the bar and asked that we get down on the disgusting venue floor, but by that time we were putty in his hand and would have attempted to stand on the ceiling had he asked.
I was lucky enough to be kneeling in the center, directly in his path back to the stage, and the potential Pope of Rock blessed myself and several others on top of our heads as he whisked by. Youth rejuvenated.
I'm bettin most of you have never heard of this British duo... Yet. I was lucky enough to hear their first US single off of the debut self-titled album, "Figure It Out", on the radio and made sure I heard the DJ identify the band, then had to wait about 7 months for the live show. Los Angeles trio Mini Mansions opened with a unique sound, which took a few tunes to embrace, that became groovy and included a very mellowed out version of Blondie's "Heart of Glass". Royal Blood then emerged and pulsed the crowd back with their shrill licks and vocals with thundering drums. Then I realized those piercing notes were being extracted from Mike Kerr's BASS guitar. Never would have guessed, just bass and drums, that's it. All that force coming out of two people was incredible. Drummer Ben Thatcher took a mid-show crowd surf and I even had to avoid a mosh pit during "Loose Change", something I haven't had to dodge in quite a few shows. I guess I'm getting old but a youthful resurgence can be refreshing.
