Black Stone Cherry - Bristol Review

It is always a treat to see a band perform live in a venue which is significantly smaller than they would usually headline. A recent personal example which springs to mind was catching Yes locally at The Wharf in Tavistock as a 'dress rehearsal' for their first tour since the pandemic - but it is not something which happens often for fairly obvious reasons. Generally bands want to play at the largest venues which their pulling power dictates - but occasionally they want to get back to their roots somewhat, and book a tour in smaller rooms. This is what the Kentucky-based southern rock band Black Stone Cherry did, and yesterday I headed up to Bristol to catch them on the penultimate date of their latest UK tour at The Fleece - which is the first Bristol venue that the band headlined back in 2007 on their first ever UK tour. I was lucky to get a ticket, as they sold out instantly, but I knew I had to try and get one given the circumstances - despite perhaps no longer being as big a Black Stone Cherry fan as I once was. I still like the band a lot, but tastes change and expand - so I decided to skip the arena tour which they undertook back in January with The Darkness. I last saw Black Stone Cherry live in 2021, then, at the University of Exeter. The band rocked the Great Hall that night, and it was my first time seeing them in a number of years - with the previous show before that being the one in Birmingham in 2014 which was recorded for the Thank You: Livin' Live Birmingham, UK live album and concert film. I have not seen Black Stone Cherry live as many times as I could have, but they always seem to announce tours slightly later than other bands - meaning that I often have plans by the time their tour dates are revealed. I did consider going to the aforementioned tour earlier in the year as a result, but I decided against it given that it had not been too long since I had last seen them - and I assumed that the setlist would have been very similar. This was probably the right decision, as it meant that when the current UK tour was announced, alongside the band's latest album Screamin' at the Sky, I felt ready to see them again - particularly given the small rooms which had been booked. Bristol was actually the first place where I saw Black Stone Cherry live - as I travelled up from Plymouth back in 2009 to see them headline the city's O2 Academy with Duff McKagan's Loaded in support. I was not into the band the last time they played at The Fleece, as I think I got into them in 2008 - just before Folklore and Superstition came out. I remember missing a show at the Cavern in Exeter in 2009, so the Bristol O2 Academy show certainly felt a long time coming at the time - and with my other two live experiences coming in 2014 and 2021 there have always been pretty long gaps between each show. I was looking forward to seeing the band again despite the shorter gap this time, as I knew that they would bring their all to the sold out Fleece. Given that I had seen Karnataka play to a crowd of about 30 at the same venue a month or so ago, it was great to see the place packed out - and it was clear that everyone in attendance was really up for the show, as they probably could not believe that they were about to see a band which usually plays large theatres and arenas in the UK in somewhere like The Fleece.

There was no support act, with the doors opening at 7:30pm and the band hitting the stage at 8:30pm. There was a long queue snaking away from the venue by the time I got there, but I still managed to get a pretty good spot on the floor about a third of the way back from the stage. I had a great view of the action, then, and when the band hit the stage they played for just shy of two hours - with a short encore break the only stoppage. To celebrate the release of their latest album, they opened their 20-song set with its title track - which may contain my favourite Black Stone Cherry riff to date. The high-energy piece was a great way to kick the show off - and it was the first of three new songs played throughout the night. The set covered all of the band's albums, and was generally made up of live favourites - but there were a few deeper cuts thrown in, too. From the off, the live sound mix was great. Chris Robertson's (vocals/guitar) powered above the band, and the riffing of him and Ben Wells (guitar/vocals) was on point throughout. Given the size of venue, the excellent drumming of John Fred Young was certainly loud - but the band managed to keep up, and it was probably the best that I have ever heard them sound. The hits came thick and fast early on, with the bona fide southern rock of Blind Man hitting particularly hard - whilst Wells enjoyed using his talk box during White Trash Millionaire, which was featured much earlier in the set than usual. For me, though, some of the highlights were the newer songs. The rollocking Nervous is a great representation of the raw sound of the latest album, whilst the more dynamic Again featured plenty of singing from the capacity crowd during the quiet sections. Whilst I expected lots of audience participation, the singing from the crowd throughout was loud. I am sure this has been the case throughout the tour, but the band seem particularly happy with the reactions overall - with Again showcasing the bond between them and the audience. The set was later kicked into a higher gear when Young started the intro to Rain Wizard, and it was great to hear the band's former set-opener live again. It worked well in the middle of the set, and the slab-like riffing really filled The Fleece. A moment of respite then came with a stripped back rendition of Stay, with Robertson backed solely by Wells' guitar. This prompted plenty more singing, before the band returned to party mode with anthems such as Like I Roll and an elongated version of Cheaper to Drink Alone - which included some percussion from drum tech Jeff Boggs and a powerful drum solo from Young. The band were certainly on the home straight at this point, and the rest of the set was basically all hits. In My Blood set the tone for the rest of the main set, but it was the surprising inclusion of Maybe Someday which got everyone going. The song was making its debut on this tour, as the once setlist-regular has not been played as much in recent years. It was great to hear the drum-led piece again, before more singing filled Blame It on the Boom Boom and the main set-closing anthem Lonely Train. The band did step off the stage, but Robertson and Wells came back very quickly - and the two-song encore was generally more restrained. The Rambler followed the mode of Stay, and featured arguably the biggest sing-a-long of the night, before Peace Is Free closed things out. The rest of the band joined Robertson and Wells for the second half of the latter - and Robertson ventured out in the crowd to sing the last chorus. It was a gentle end to a powerful set, but the vibe worked well - and the atmosphere reached new heights whilst Robertson was in the crowd. The setlist was:

Screamin' at the Sky

Blind Man

White Trash Millionaire

Stir It Up [The Wailers cover]

Me and Mary Jane

Again

Nervous

Burnin'

Rain Wizard

Stay

Hell and High Water

Like I Roll

Cheaper to Drink Alone

In My Blood/Whitehouse Road [Tyler Childers cover]

Out of Pocket

Maybe Someday

Blame It on the Boom Boom

Lonely Train

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The Rambler

Peace Is Free

I said earlier in this review that I no longer listen to Black Stone Cherry as much as I once did. I still like the band a lot, but last night made me realise why I fell in love with them in the first place. Of the four Black Stone Cherry concerts that I have now been to, it was easily the best. The setlist was a great representation of the band at their most rocking, and the performance was powerful and honest - and it seemed that they were relishing the smaller environment. I have been to lots of great shows this year, but last night's was one of the best so far - and I can see myself going on quite a big Black Stone Cherry binge going forward, starting with Screamin' at the Sky which I will reviewing here in due course.