Rival Sons on the L.A. Forum stage (L to R): Touring keyboardist Todd Ogren-Brooks, bassist Dave Beste, drummer Michael Miley, vocalist Jay Buchanan, and guitarist Scott Holiday. Photos by Brett Bixby.
Long Beach’s own Rival Sons amped up its role as a rock ‘n roll torch-bearer, opening for Black Sabbath last Thursday night at L.A.’s iconic concert venue, the Forum.
Rival Sons will be the opening act on Sabbath’s farewell tour, The End, throughout 2016. After playing the United States, Europe and Australia, the two bands will return to L.A. on September 19 to play at another legendary venue, the Hollywood Bowl.
On Thursday night, Rival Sons followed in the Forum footsteps of Led Zeppelin, a band to which they’re often compared. Led Zep played blazing shows at the Forum in ’72, ’75 and ’77.
Like Led Zeppelin, Rival Sons works quickly in the studio. The Sons’ fifth full-length album, which will drop later this year, was recorded in 30 days with producer Dave Cobb in Nashville.
Black Sabbath is just the latest legendary band the Rival Sons have opened for; they’ve also introduced their fiery, deeply-grooving rock ‘n roll to the concert audiences of Deep Purple, AC/DC, Alice Cooper and Aerosmith.
With a new album coming out in the midst of a lengthy world tour, hard-working and hard-rocking Rival Sons is looking to carve its own niche in the rock ‘n roll pantheon.