O2 Academy Brixton
13 March 2015
Royal Blood have been credited for resurrecting rock from the annals of contemporary music history and dragged the genre back to wider popularity. With their killer riffs and thumping energy it's hard to convince your brain that the Brighton band are just a two man percussion section made up of Mike Kerr (vox and bass) and Ben Thatcher (Drums).
In the short time they've been together the band have already gathered commercial acclaim, won a Brit Award for Best British Group and gained a fan in none other than Jimmy Page who back in November 2014 had a few things to tell NME about his views on the band. “Their album has taken the genre up a serious few notches. It's so refreshing to hear, because they play with the spirit of the things that have preceded them, but you can hear they're going to take rock into a new realm.” Anybody going to argue with that? - Nah I didn't think so. Looking at variety of age ranges at the Brixton Academy backs up what Jimmy says; Royal Blood appeal to rock fans because of their fresh, yet retro sound.
So with all the hype surrounding the most exciting band of recent times, the prospect of their biggest headline tour (which sold out in minutes) must have been overwhelming. Even for the audience it was pretty frenzied, from scalpers trying to buy tickets to local pubs being forced to batten the hatch and stop the pre gig drink due to overcrowding; the atmosphere inside the venue was much the same and turned deafening once the guys stepped on-stage.
Their set was indeed a short one, after all they only have one album of material to draw from, but they kept the energy flowing from the first track (Hole) until the last (Out Of The Black.) At times the band lacked a connection to the audience, but I can only put this down to the possible disbelief that they were ripping up the Academy and not playing in a garage! Figure It Out, Blood Hands and Little Monster had the audience going crazy in a way you seldom see at ANY concert! The final ten minutes featuring Loose Change and Out Of The Black was spectacular and the band were really beginning to step up to the grade with their performances and get out of their comfort zone. It was a pity in some ways that the gig was so short, the band were just getting started. It's certain that all eyes will be on them to see what they pull out for their next tour. You can bet it's gonna be big!
With a tremendous first headline tour under the belts, the Foo Fighters are in great danger of being upstaged by their support band in the summer. By the end of the night Royal Blood had indeed crowned themselves as Princes of Rock.