Glorious Sons, Not Just White Noise In Belleville!

Last Friday night was the last show of the Empire Rockfest Series for this year. The Glorious Sons, from Kingston, Ontario rolled in to perform their third year in a row. This marked the first time they have headlined, and it was a sold out show to boot!

The show featured a band called Milly as the opener. They are a project featuring Seth Milberger and Johnny Grushecky, from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. They started the project to work on their own ideas after playing together in bands for some time. Even before they came onstage I was hearing good things about them from someone who had seen them in Toronto, always a good sign. I thought they sounded great. I love when an opening act comes out and tears it up, It is a good sign for the evening, raises the bar for those yet to come in my opinion. Seth and Johnny work well together and did themselves proud in their first trip north of the border.

Toronto’s Beaches were next on the bill. I had heard of them, but hadn’t heard their music as of yet so I was interested for sure. They come out of an area of Toronto also known as The Beaches, makes perfect sense, right? They played recently at the home opener half time show for The Hamilton Tiger Cats in June and were named “Breakthrough Group Of The Year” at the 2018 Junos. Did I also mention that they are an all girl rock band and their new album, “The Late Show” is out now.

When they came out onstage, I really had little idea what to expect. They showed attitude, they didn’t smile, they showed an edge, and it worked! There was a little bit of theatrics in their facial expressions which I haven’t seen in a band in awhile. They are described in their bios as a little bit glam and a little bit garage, I think that’s pretty fitting. I quite enjoyed their music, it is a bit more new age than I usually listen to, but I liked it just the same. These four talented young women have a great thing going and I wish them success in the future. I’m sure they will have it.

The Kingston area has spawned countless bands over the years, most notable being The Tragically Hip and The Headstones. It seems that we have another band taking a run for the throne, The Glorious Sons. The Sons are currently made up of brothers Brett and Jay Emmons, Chris Koster, Adam Paquette and Chris Huot. Believe it or not, I have never seen these guys in concert before, I think I was one of the few. I was looking forward to seeing them.

For The Glorious Sons set the stage was sparse and clean, plenty of room for Brett to move around. The band entered and began their first song. When Brett came on the crowd erupted. This is a much loved band to be sure.  Brett began to work the stage, moving from side to side, back and forth, never stopping for more than a second. His mid back-length hair covering his face most of the time. As quick as he would move it, it would just about as quickly fall over his face again. The show is pretty fast paced with the band moving from one song to another while Brett performed his now signature show.  He is often compared to The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie. The Sons are well practiced since they’ve been pretty busy lately. Their touring even took them to France where they opened for none other than The Rolling Stones. They play a very powerful type of alternative rock and the crowd was loving it. I looked out over the crowd, from above, later in the set. Every eye in the house was glued on that stage.

I have now had the experience of seeing the Glorious Sons in concert. It was an experience indeed. They have come a long way from a garage band in Kingston to worldwide recognition and touring. Two Canadian number one songs to their credit with a string of eight songs reaching the top ten. They have many awards along the way as well. It’s nice to see them doing this well, but perhaps a bit sweeter because they are from my hometown.

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