Greta Van Fleet
By Alex Jones
As night 2 came to a close, and the Sublime concert had just ended, people gathered at the main stage to see the closest thing to being in a time machine as I’ll ever experience. Greta Van Fleet is a hard rock group that makes you feel like you’re living in the peak time of classic rock music. Their high vocals and long instrumental solos make you feel as though you’ve been sent through a time machine and are getting the chance to see a classic rock concert with your own eyes.
A sea of people showed up to watch lead singer Josh Kiszka belt out high-pitched vocals that makes your throat hurt just listening to it, and guitarist Jake Kiszka shred on guitar that makes you want to head bang until your neck hurts. Bassist Sam Kiszka also shined during the show along with drummer Danny Wagner.
Watching Josh throw his hands up as he hit vocals very few people can is like watching a prodigy of Freddy Mercury go to work on stage. There are very few modern bands, specifically lead singers, that have such a commanding stage presence. You can’t help but pay attention to what they do on stage because you don’t want to miss anything.
The set in its entirety was just over an hour long, yet they played just 8 songs. Contrary to what you may think, this wasn’t a bad thing at all. Playing fewer songs but making lengthening them made it so each band member could show off their skills as the songs changed. While the guitarist could shine during one song, the bassist and drummer could shine during others. The whole performance felt like some sort of grand production that the audience was very lucky to see. The sheer instrumental and vocal talent left fans in awe.
My personal favorite song from the performance was “Black Smoke Rising.” The elevating vocals and guitar make the song title very fitting. The fan favorite from the performance seemed to be their hit song “Flower Power.”
Other great songs from the performance were “Lover, Leaver”, “Safari Song”, and “Highway Tune.” But there really wasn’t a bad song during the performance.
This is the type of band a younger generation of people really haven’t had the chance to be a fan of. A lot of people didn’t grow up with some of the great classic rock bands of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. For a lot of people this was the next best thing. Greta Van Fleet put on one of the performances of the weekend, and one of the best performances I’ve seen in person. They are on tour until the end of the year and they’re definitely worth seeing.
Website: http://www.gretavanfleet.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gretavanfleet
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GretaVanFleet?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Photographs by Shawn Wiseman
