Up-and-coming rock ’n’ roll band Greta Van Fleet wins audiences with their impressive talent and ’70s-style tracks.
Fathers, stay close to your daughters, there’s a savvy new rebel American band in town that’s breaking hearts around the country with their electrifying retro ’70s power ballads. A recent stop on tour had them tearing up the stage at the House of Blues, Dallas, where the boys from Frankenmuth, Michigan, delivered a sold-out show that transcended time.
Greta Van Fleet is arguably one of the most talked-about bands of the moment. Credit their innate talent and flower-power personas that take audiences back to the golden days of rock, when bands like Pink Floyd, the Doors, and Led Zeppelin flourished. It’s not for nothing that Robert Plant himself, when asked about what rock ’n’ roll bands he really likes, answered, “There’s a band ... called Greta Van Fleet. ...”
But do they live up to the like-a-new-Led Zeppelin hype?
In true nostalgia-driven form, lead singer Josh Kiszka, guitarist Jake Kiszka, bassist Sam Kiszka — all brothers, two of them twins — and drummer Daniel Wagner charmed the eager audience with white roses, psychedelic intro music, and broad smiles as they took the stage.
It worked, and they knew it from the crowd’s deafening cheers.
Having won hearts, they wasted no time diving into their set, which mostly consisted of songs from their breakout album, From the Fires. Channeling the ’70s in sound and look — rocking long hair, flared paints, retro jewelry, open fringe jackets over bare chests — they opened with “Highway Tune,” a pure gravel rock tune with a hypnotic guitar solo, and followed it with the moody track “Edge of Darkness.”
Other musical highlights included the breezy acoustic pickings of “Flower Power,” a cover of Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup’s “That’s All Right,” and well-earned encore performances of their anthem “Black Smoke Rising” and the hit “Safari Song,” which ended with a quick-witted drum solo.
It was a soul-reviving show by a band that gives new generations an authentic experience of the kind of rock ’n’ roll that made older generations such diehard fans.
For more information on Greta Van Fleet and their upcoming tour dates, visit their website. Photography: Michael Lavine.
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