By: Emma
Emerging from “Out of the Black” shadows of rock music, Royal Blood did not hold back their passion and intense rock sound, while playing to the innocent ears of both the young and the old during their US tour. Hard rock duo, Mike Kerr, singer and bassist, and Ben Thatcher, drummer, brought their head banging British style to Marquee Theatre on Sept. 28 in Tempe.
Formed in 2013 in Brighton, England, Royal Blood shook up the rock community with their bluesy, hard rock sound showcased on their self-titled album. In October of 2015, they finished their debut album tour, traveling all over from Europe to Brazil and finally, the US. Their popularity, success and fan base grew from the start, making their debut a very impressive one.
Their album alone is a great compilation of distortion, dominant drum beats and clever lyrics. But as a live performance, Royal Blood is an entirely different animal. Kerr and Thatcher claimed the stage as their own and inspired the fans to reciprocate their hard rock sound with mosh pits. Throughout the concert, fans split up into groups, pushing and laughing with Royal Blood’s songs in drunken feelings of euphoria and literal alcohol. It was surprising to see how diverse the crowd really was and how everyone rejoiced for the same reason of great music. From high school students to 50 year-olds, all were bouncing and created a frenzy during the performance.
Kerr beating on Thatcher’s drums while performing a cover of “Iron Man” showed how connected they are as performers.
Royal Blood performed all of their 10 songs from their debut album, while performing a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” hyping up the fans even more. While it was truly an exciting experience, their most memorable songs performed live were, “Out of the Black,” “Come On Over,” “Figure it Out,” “Little Monster” and “Better Strangers.”
Throughout the concert, Thatcher’s drums hit like a punch in the chest, and Kerr’s skilled riffs and smooth, but heavy lyrics rang in fans’ ears hours after the concert ended. It is refreshing to see raw music at its finest and expect Royal Blood to rise to the top of rock in the near future.
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