GALLERY: Royal Blood
TORONTO, ON | SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 | BY FABIANA MOREIRA
Two-piece duo Royal Blood visited Toronto’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre and truly had every person in the audience moving throughout their entire set, with a dazzling light show accompanying them on stage. You wouldn’t have known it was actually a Monday night telling from the way the room was filled to the brim. Hailing from Worthing, UK, the group embodies a heavy yet funky sound, with lead singer and bassist Mike Kerr playing a hybrid of riffs that are equally as melodic as a traditional guitar would have, accompanied by drummer Ben Thatcher’s rhythms that create such a grand atmosphere and tone when combined. This was also rounded out by their touring keyboardist Darren James.
The group got right down to business and did not leave much time for banter, ripping right through a 13-song setlist and later returning for a 3-song encore, mixing a good blend of tracks from their entire discography. They were definitely feeling the love and reciprocating this right back to the crowd, of which Ben adorned a CN Tower shirt for the set, as well as making time midway through to step into the crowd near the barricades and shake fans’ hands. During favourites such as “Little Monster”, at points the crowd nearly overpowered the vocals singing each and every word. When the group popped back out for their encore, they slowed things down with “Waves”, and had one of the guitarists from opening band Bad Nerves accompany them to play it through.
If you appreciate some punchy rock and roll with a nice dose of the blues and electronic touches, Royal Blood will easily become a part of your daily rotation, and would highly recommend catching one of their shows to get the full experience. They are currently in the middle of a North America tour, making stops out east this week, and slowly making their way south and to the west of the US over the next month.
