Electric, Raw, Unforgettable: Rival Sons in Stockton

★★★★☆ (4/5)

RIVAL SONS PERFORMING AT STOCKTON-ON-TEES GLOBE THEATRE
PHOTOCREDIT; JOHN HAYHURST

Rival Sons tore through The Globe Theatre in Stockton-on-Tees on July 3rd with the kind of ferocity that announces its presence. The old venue with its curved balconies and art deco cup cake design was shoulder to shoulder with fanatics who knew that they were in for something more than just a rock gig. And when the lights in the house descended and the opening riffs of End of Forever reached their ears, the reaction was immediate—cheering, whistling, fists in the air. No easing in gently, no build-up gradually. Straight to it.

Singer Jay Buchanan is looking hairier than I’ve ever seen him, wearing a brown suit he sauntered on barefoot and with a deadly stare, he can go from soulful blues to a wolf like howl in milliseconds. The opening song with its thudding rhythm and dark, rolling riff set the tone for a night built upon power, accuracy, and emotion.

Without hesitation, they ripped into Electric Man and the crowd erupted. A song that seems to have been built for the stage—swaggering, raucous, and gritty with attitude, even if we have no idea where the “sugar shack” is.

Guitarist Scott Holiday moved through the stage in classic cool attire and shades, he coaxed riffs from a balance at once of blues fury and space-age fuzz. Bassist Robin Everhart and drummer Mike Miller were firmly in lockstep with each other, giving every tune a hard-hitting thump behind it. But lead singer Jay Buchanan’s voice was the magnetic attraction—raw, soulful, and explosive. He sings like a man wringing revelations from deep within his own gut.

Halfway through the set, something shifted. The band retreated, and Jay was in center stage with an acoustic guitar. In silence, he played Shooting Stars No theatrics, no effects—just six strings and a voice. The crowd that had been raucous moments before was in quiet reverence. Phones lowered. Heads tilted downward. He had something vulnerable and open in the way he played it that took a crowded theatre and made it intimate and private. You felt the power in the silence in-between every line in the lyrics. This was one of those moments where time seemed to freeze.

The rest of the set grazed that emotional peak—bridging full-bore rockers and longer slower-burning songs. They sounded huge but never bulky. Each song earned its placement, every solo had something to say. The acoustics in the Globe helped, too—that’s a space that enhances presence and doesn’t swallow it whole. You had the bass thump in your body and still could hear every little nuance and tone from Scott’s guitar or every little sandpaper vocal in Jay’s top notes.

They concluded the set with a little surprise: Secret which segued into Young Love then suddenly careened into a snarling heavy tease of Black Sabbath’s Electric Funeral. The place completely erupted. Some in the crowd looked like they got the reference to their upcoming performance at the “Back To The Beginning” Sabbath tribute show in Birmingham in two days time. A cheeky ploy—an Easter egg for the fanatics, a buzz for the neophytes. And it paid off. By the end of the night, the energy in the space was sapped but electric. Everyone was held in the venue and did not want to leave. The night had everything: the roar and the quiet and the shock and the weight. Rival Sons came to Teesside and just for one evening left every single person in the venue with a memory that’s going to live under their skin for a long time.