Greta Van Fleet Announces AND Releases: Part One of Live Show at Red Rocks Amphitheater
At 11:00 AM central time (also known as my time), 12:00 PM eastern time, 9:00 AM pacific time on Monday, September 21, 2020, Greta Van Fleet posted to their Instagram for the first time in MONTHS. Beginning on Friday, September 18, individuals began receiving letters in the mail from “The Peaceful Army” PO Box. “Just you and me can agree to disagree, that the world is only what the world is made of” is what each slip to each individual said. Along with white flower pedals, as they have always sent for the past two years, there was also something else sent… A red rock. Myself and several others knew exactly what was going on. Each time this band was preparing to announce or release something, they send letters out to members of the Peaceful Army. My first thought was that a DVD release of the band’s live performances at Red Rocks was going to be announced. Then on Monday, the account (as well as on Twitter) released part one of their live performance at the amphitheater in Colorado on YouTube, twenty-two minutes long, free of charge.
The first three songs, because this band always jams and rocks out so hard at their show, took up the entire video. The beautifully eerie -like feeling of the band walking through back stage, what seemed to be a guitar roadie handing Jake his guitar, the band walking onto stage to see the sold-out crowd of over nine-thousand people, is something that nearly brought tears to my eyes. And that was just from seeing it on my TV.
The very dramatic pause after the band comes out on stage, tuning guitars, Lead singer Josh Kiszka stating, “This will be our second night here at the beautiful and historical Red Rocks Amphitheater.” Guitarist Jake Kiszka ready to shred, Drummer Danny Wagner getting the crowd excited with loud bangs. Josh then stating, “I would suppose, I hope we have a hell of a show for you.”, as if this band ever disappoints a crowd. Jake teases the crowd by playing a few short and simple riffs that really gets the crowd going and excited.
Four minutes into the video, the band breaks out into “The Cold Wind”, the second track on their debut album, Anthem Of The Peaceful Army. Josh’s vocals sound amazing as always, the film features quick views of the crowd, a huge rock that is lit up red, and the band’s outfits are… FANTASTIC. Josh is to be seen in a dark blue jumpsuit, that features moons and stars, with an outline of a sun circling his neck. His twin Jake is to be seen wearing something that somewhat matches his brothers outfit choice, which seems to be a two-piece ensemble with white roses and gold stars, both on top and bottom. Sam Kiszka on bass, is dressed in all blue with jaguars on the top inside of his blazer. Danny has on what is to be seen as a top with tons of jewels or sequins on it, along with white feather earrings. All in all, the band’s outfit choices of course were spot on as always.
Leading straight into the next song, Safari Song, the first single on From The Fires EP, and my favorite song to jam and head bang to when they perform it live, the crowd went crazy when they heard the first few note of the song from the guitar. Between the guitar, drums, bass line and vocals, it’s a song that is perfectly well put together. My favorite part of this performance is when Jake joins in with Josh singing “Your heart” during the chorus. Another one of my favorite parts of this performance is the drum solo. Especially the way everything was designed and put together for this film. You just happen to be sitting there, watching Danny absolutely destroy the solo, and then of all sudden, the images start moving on your TV. It’s almost like you’re on psychedelics. Things just kinda go crazy for a few minutes, to match how crazy the drummer is going during his solo. But it’s amazing, all in all. The best part about the Safari solo is he stops all of a sudden. Then resumes by doing one simple bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Gets the audience clapping along with him. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Jake switched guitars. Bang. Bang. Bang. Josh took a drink. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. And then of all sudden… The chorus to Black Smoke Rising is played as the three brothers, especially Josh, run back onto stage.
Black Smoke Rising is another one of my favorite songs to rock out to, being that it is the title track from the band’s first ever EP, Black Smoke Rising, released in 2017. This is just one of many environmental songs that Greta Van Fleet has released into the world so far, speaking of climate change. Josh’s vocals have sounded incredible in each of the three songs of course, but for some reason, the vocals just sound even stronger in this particular song for me. I suppose the lyrics, “Many people are dividing and a world apart with just one heart is bound to kneel and fade away” are just too real for me. Singing of something so true that more people need to hear. Both times I’ve heard this song performed live in person, this specific song was extremely loud in my ears, but in the best possible way. In the middle of the performance, the graphics have the image of Josh multiply, in a somewhat similar way of Danny during the drum solo. While the camera is focused on Josh in a certain shot, the reflection of Jake playing guitar is seen in the background and I just think that is the coolest thing. The creativeness of this film already, in part one, is just so amazing to say the absolute least. The song ends with a guitar solo and the crowd goes insane.
Part one of this performance of only three songs has already been absolutely amazing. Rumors are that there will be four parts, then possibly a DVD release in the future? Possibly new music, even just a single before the year ends? Fingers crossed for sure. But if not, this performance will hold everyone over for a while, I’m definitely sure of it. Stay tuned for when Greta Van Fleet releases part two!
*All photos are stills from Greta Van Fleet's YouTube Performance Video*
Review Of From The Fires: Here
Review Of Anthem Of The Peaceful Army: Here
Greta Van Fleet’s Website: Here
Greta Van Fleet Music: Spotify Apple Music
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