The Glorious Sons @ El Rey Theatre - Los Angeles, CA (Support: The Matchstick Skeletons & Des Rocs)

The Glorious Sons took the El Rey Theatre by storm on Tuesday, February 11th, and brought their Canadian flare to the heart of Los Angeles. The no-frills rock band brought along the boundary-pushing artist, Des Rocs, to open the show, as well as LA locals, The Matchstick Skeletons, resulting in a night full of top-tier rock music. The perimeter of the El Rey was already buzzing when I showed up, as fans began to pile into the venue fully dressed in merch or drawn-on sharpie of the bands’ logos on their hands. The sense of community was incredibly strong even from the outside of the venue, and I knew it was going to be a great show.

The Matchstick Skeletons came on at 7:30pm with only the frontman Neu Mannas on stage before the rest of the band piled on for their first song. They celebrated the release of their new single “How Does It Feel” that came out today, and played it live for the very first time. The audience loved the new single and a few fans around me were even shazaming the song and immediately adding it to their playlists. They kept the energy up and played one of their hit singles “Told Ya So” and both Neu and guitarist/pianist Ryan Stead proceeded to not only play their guitars right on top of the first row of fans, but also lay on the ground whilst playing. The Matchstick Skeletons definitely set the tone for the night, and had the energy high before Des Rocs’ set up next.

Des Rocs opened his set by standing in front of his stage lights in a power pose, creating an epic silhouette that had the whole crowd cheering. Des Rocs erupted into his first song of the night and as soon as he hit the first note on the guitar everyone was dancing. The crowd was in love with his unique style of rock, which he self-describes as sounding like a “jack-o-lantern doing coke on the N train”. If that doesn’t give you a good idea of the madness and excitement that went on during Des Rocs’ set, I’m not sure what will. Des Rocs played some of his fan favorites, “Used to the Darkness” and “Maybe, I”, even showing off his insane ability to play the guitar behind his back while spinning and jumping. Des Rocs took a moment in the middle of his set to explain the story of how he found his mom’s old guitar which changed his entire life, and how he went from learning the A chord from google to opening for the Rolling Stones with that very same guitar. He then went on to make the sentiment that when you love something, you have to hold it close before playing a cover of “With a Little Help From My Friends” by The Beatles. He concluded his set with one of my personal favorites of his “Let Me Live / Let Me Die”, and “Give Me the Night” and had a quick drum battle with his drummer, William Tully, before exiting the stage. Throughout his whole performance there was enough jumping, yelling, and energy to last a full lifetime, and everyone was left sweaty and ready for more from The Glorious Sons.

The Glorious Sons came on around 9:30pm, beginning their set with only their frontman, Brett Emmons, on stage who performed the beginning of the song “One Church Town” before the rest of the band came on to finish the song with him. They then fell right into their next song, “S.O.S. (Sawed Off Shotgun)”, which was one I had been waiting to hear since doors opened. During this song the whole crowd came together to sing the start of the last chorus acapella with the band, which was an amazing moment to witness. They kept the tempo up and every one of their songs included mic slamming, headbanging, or interacting with fans. My favorite fan interactions were between a handful of fans in the front row and Brett Emmons, who would put his hand against their heads and sing right into their face. Another honorable mention would have to be when someone went to give him knuckles and he instead kissed their hand. Throughout the rest of their lengthy setlist they played some of their newer songs including “Kingdom in My Heart” and “A War on Everything” as well as older classics like “Josie”. They closed the show with a crazy performance of their song “Mama” with each member giving their all and Brett slamming down the mic stand as if he was smashing a guitar. As if they hadn’t already exerted all of their energy, The Glorious Sons came out for an encore of “Closer to the Sky ” that finished the show on the highest note possible. What I loved about their set was that absolutely nothing was off the table when it came to their performance, and they left everything they had on stage. This band is truly revolutionary.

It was an absolute pleasure to be able to photograph these bands tonight and be able to experience their live sets. These artists truly have some of the best stage presences I have seen and the amount of emotions that they brought out of not only themselves, but the crowd, is nothing short of amazing. This was one of the most fun shows that I have been to in a while and I, along with everyone else at the show, left on such a high. I would suggest to anyone to catch these guys on tour- you won’t regret it.