Greta Van Fleet

[paplbojo]

"I know there were a lot of words, but if you actually read them you will understand Crimson Avengers opinion of the vocalists’ prowess."

There is only one way that the above comes across. Very unnecessary. I asked him to elaborate on something I was curious about.

 

Which he did, thanks crimson. 

 

[BUK]

A little over a month to see them in Jersey. VERY hopeful! Great review Crimson Avenger! Spot on observations.

[SuperDave]

They are playing tonight at Coachella and I'm sure they'll put on a good show.  This is a big show for an up an coming band like them and should give them some good recognition and press.  The entire festival is being steamed on YouTube.  GVF are playing tonight at 8:35 pm ET.  They are on Channel 2.  Below is the link for the festival.  Just click 2 on the channels on the site.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHF66aWLOxBW4l6VkSrS3cQ

[paplbojo]

1 hour ago, SuperDave said:

They are playing tonight at Coachella and I'm sure they'll put on a good show.  This is a big show for an up an coming band like them and should give them some good recognition and press.  The entire festival is being steamed on YouTube.  GVF are playing tonight at 8:35 pm ET.  They are on Channel 2.  Below is the link for the festival.  Just click 2 on the channels on the site.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHF66aWLOxBW4l6VkSrS3cQ

Thanks for the heads up, I'd love to see them kick some ass.

Edited April 14, 2018 by paplbojo

[The Pagemeister]

 

[SuperDave]

They put on a great set, even with the technical difficulties the first five minutes or so. 

 

That's a great version of "BSR." 

 

Here's another good one from their set.  I'm guessing this will be on their first full length album later this year.  It features some nice slide work by Jake Kiszka.

 

[Crimson Avenger]

Thanks for posting those vids, Pagemeister and Superdave. Nice to see some good pro shot stuff, and the playing/singing is great.

[Stryder1978]

I don't care if they do channel LZ heavily.  They are young, good musicians playing hard rock very well....what's not to like?  I liked what I read about the Struts at first and had hope that rock music was coming back, but their music is so pop I can't stand to listen to them.  GVF on the other hand are a good solid rock band and I wish them well!  They beat the hell out of the direction music has been heading the last 10-20 years!  

[SteveAJones]

Sorry, but I despise this fucking band. It's one thing to be a Led Zeppelin tribute act or a cover band, but to copy the riffs and bass lines,  replicate Bonham's kit, mimic Plant's moves and vocal style and try to pass it off as an authentic artistic statement is just wrong. They even break out a tambourine FFS.

[SteveAJones]

On 7/20/2017 at 8:34 AM, timothy5151 said:

This song is amazing as well

 

Let's play spot the obvious Led Zeppelin ripoffs. I'll start:

Led Zeppelin

Is the new world rising

From the shambles of the old

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Greta Van Fleet

And the black smoke rises

From the fires we've been told

[Crimson Avenger]

17 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

Sorry, but I despise this fucking band. It's one thing to be a Led Zeppelin tribute act or a cover band, but to copy the riffs and bass lines,  replicate Bonham's kit, mimic Plant's moves and vocal style and try to pass it off as an authentic artistic statement is just wrong. They even break out a tambourine FFS.

Which is what all the critics were saying in 1968/69 of course. They look funny, the singer is weird, they are ripping off other people's music, not paying their dues etc etc. There was truth in all that, but what saved Zep was their sheer ability.

It's early days, but GVF can play. Sure, there's some iffy older stuff on youtube from when they were kids, but they've come a long way in the past year. Just check the jam in the second half of Leaver/Lover from Coachella posted above. I'd defy anyone to say that has no musical worth. Sure, they reference Zep a lot, but for a young talented rock band, is that really such a bad thing?

Though I laughed when saw your Rover post. I'd spotted that similarity too. Deliberate? dunno, does it matter? no, it's a great song, most of which, while definitely 70s in vibe, isn't particularly Zeppish.

 

 

 

[SuperDave]

13 hours ago, Crimson Avenger said:

Which is what all the critics were saying in 1968/69 of course. They look funny, the singer is weird, they are ripping off other people's music, not paying their dues etc etc. There was truth in all that, but what saved Zep was their sheer ability.

It's early days, but GVF can play. Sure, there's some iffy older stuff on youtube from when they were kids, but they've come a long way in the past year. Just check the jam in the second half of Leaver/Lover from Coachella posted above. I'd defy anyone to say that has no musical worth. Sure, they reference Zep a lot, but for a young talented rock band, is that really such a bad thing?

Though I laughed when saw your Rover post. I'd spotted that similarity too. Deliberate? dunno, does it matter? no, it's a great song, most of which, while definitely 70s in vibe, isn't particularly Zeppish.

 

 

 

Well said C.A.  I like this band a lot.. There are a lot of Zeepelin influences in their music and style, but they do have their own identity.  There is also some R&B influences in their music as well as many of the old blues artists, Stones, Soundgarden, Guns and Roses and many more.  Remember these guys are only 18-21 years old and are just developing.  They are very skilled musicians and seem to be good writers as well.  They are a great live act as well.  Will be seeing them twice this year for the first time and looking quite forward to it as well as their full length album this year, which I hear is done.

[SteveAJones]

14 hours ago, Crimson Avenger said:

Which is what all the critics were saying in 1968/69 of course. They look funny, the singer is weird, they are ripping off other people's music, not paying their dues etc etc. There was truth in all that, but what saved Zep was their sheer ability.

The big difference of course is in 1968 the singer did seem uniquely strange and other people's music had never quite been reworked like that. So that's my complaint here, that what they're doing has all been done before, and as such it can't possibly be taken as authentic artistic impression. I tried to give these guys a chance, really, but when I found he was copying Robert Plant right down to the hand gestures and belt buckles, it's just too much. I am sure that Lenny Wolf and Kingdom Come had a fan base too, and it's well and good for GVF to have the same, it's just not for me. People have tried to get me interested in this band, but I just can't do it. I explain to them that it all sounds like a Live at the Winterland bootleg to me. 

Edited April 18, 2018 by SteveAJones

[SuperDave]

Hope in time you get to like them Steve as they are quite good.  But, I do see your point as many have with the band.  They are quite skilled musicians and can certainly play and especially in concert.  Just remember how young they are and haven't matured yet.  They will only get better.  It's a good thing to have a band like this who appreciates the blues and rock in general as they do.  This is severely lacking in music today as much of the rock today has no soul.  I'm sure you'd agree with that for the most part.

[SteveAJones]

16:40 is the sound of trying to hard. 

 

[reids]

2 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

16:40 is the sound of trying to hard. 

 

It reminded me of Adam Sandler or Jack Black (tenacious d) for a minute 🤪, but I do like the band. I wish the singer sang at a lower register and cut down on the hand gestures, though.

R😎

Edited April 19, 2018 by reids

[paplbojo]

The singer makes it tough for me to get into this band. There's no power behind the high pitched voice, it sounds shrill.

Also at some point in the Coachella mini concert the guitarist threw in a STH lick, casually dropping STH references in the middle of an otherwise mediocre solo, wasn't a big fan of that at all.

I do hope they inspire more people to get back to the good stuff, however!
 

Found it:

Tell me that 5:44 and the 25 seconds that follow isn't the lick that Page started to play in the STH solos in 1975... one of my favorite parts of the solo as it would develop...just being used here with reckless abandon. But, that's just me!

The guitarist also played one of the little licks Page would almost always play in his acapella Heartbreaker solos, towards the end of the solos, though I can't find a clip on YT that captures it at Coachella. Not that there's any problem with it, just pointing it out! Makes it all the funnier when in interviews the guitarist won't name Page as one of his three big influences. Nor will the singer name Plant as one of his three. (Per an interivew that aired a day or two after Coachella). Trying to dinstance themselves, I suppose. EDIT: Even the first thing he says sounds like a Plantation! Maybe I just listen to too much Led.....lol

Edited April 19, 2018 by paplbojo

[SuperDave]

It's funny how many of you say Greta Van Fleet take from Zep but then again they are young musicians and all 19-21 years old.  They are just starting.  They are one of the band's influences as well as a lot of R&B. classic rock and blues musicians.  They are very skilled musicians and certainly not another Kingdom Come in any way.  That was a one hit wonder with "Get It On."  They were pretty bad as the singer Lenny Wold said he had never heard of Led Zeppelin in an interview back in 1988 or so.  Jimmy Page commented on this and being in a band.  Greta Van Fleet admits the influences of LZ but I'm sure tired of it now as every interview with them references LZ.

 

Just remember what influenced Zep, The Stones etc as they took and got a lot of influences from the various blues musicians and guitarists from the 50's and before from Chicago, Texas (especially Austin area), Mississippi Delta area with Clarksdale as well as Memphis and Elvis. Even though this is the official Led Zeppelin website, there was a lot of music and mostly over the first couple of albums that the band took liberties with.  Some of it was obvious and others were a bit negligent as things Atlantic Records should have checked out but didn't.  A matter of giving credit where it was due.  Some credit given to the wrong artists etc.  I still love Zeppelin and such an incredible band and the best ever.  Not the greatest songwriters ever as that belongs to Lennon/McCartney as well as Bob Dylan.  I'm saying all artists borrow from each other and will continue to happen.  I think we should be happy there are young musicians like Greta Van Fleet who love rock and the blues as much as they do and want to do it in a good way and bring rock back in a good way.  If you are going to be heavily influenced by a band I think Led Zeppelin is a good one.  I think we all should be happy that young musicians like the three Kizka brothers and their friend Danny (drummer) appreciate great rock music as much as we do here!  So cool to have a younger generation of musicians have this ideal and follow this musical direction which may please all of us in time!  It does for me!

I don't know how else to says this!  Looking forward to their first full length album later this year as well as my first two GVF concerts in May and July at the Panorama Music Festival in NYC.  We shall see what happens in time!

[SteveAJones]

On 4/19/2018 at 2:10 PM, paplbojo said:

Tell me that 5:44 and the 25 seconds that follow isn't the lick that Page started to play in the STH solos in 1975.

It definitely is. If you scroll back to the radio station performance clip I posted where the singer is doing his best Adam Sandler as Opera Man, there's an acoustic run from 15:25  to 16:08. It's not Led Zeppelin but I know I've heard it somewhere before in a 1970s song  I just can't put my finger on it. Possibly Summer Breeze by Seals & Crofts or a similar song. It's been keeping me up at night trying to recall.

[reids]

Opera man. I knew he had that Sandler thing going on.😀

 

R😎

[reids]

50 minutes ago, SteveAJones said:

It definitely is. If you scroll back to the radio station performance clip I posted where the singer is doing his best Adam Sandler as Opera Man, there's an acoustic run from 15:25  to 16:08. It's not Led Zeppelin but I know I've heard it somewhere before in a 1970s song  I just can't put my finger on it. Possibly Summer Breeze by Seals & Crofts or a similar song. It's been keeping me up at night trying to recall.

I think you’re right, Steve. It sounds like early 70s  “Summer Breeze” From Seals & Croft or something borrowed from CSNY / Stephen Stills.

R😎

[TheStairwayRemainsTheSame]

On 4/17/2018 at 4:19 PM, SteveAJones said:

Sorry, but I despise this fucking band. It's one thing to be a Led Zeppelin tribute act or a cover band, but to copy the riffs and bass lines,  replicate Bonham's kit, mimic Plant's moves and vocal style and try to pass it off as an authentic artistic statement is just wrong. They even break out a tambourine FFS.

Shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as Led.

The songs aren't even songs just pieces of rubbish trying to sound like Led

[The Pagemeister]

 

[Crimson Avenger]

I've thought a bit about this, and my best response to all these criticisms is that I simply don't care about them. All bands and musicians have always copied from each other and swap musical styles. Sure Jake throws in a lot of Page references, but they are never the obvious ones. I'm not sure I wholly hear the STH reference given above, but either way, as SuperDave says, Kingdom Come this is not. He's done his guitar homework, and I can't bring myself to see that as a musical crime. It makes me smile when I spot a Zep reference; it means he's a fan too. As a band they have an understanding of the dynamics and interplay that makes a good live act. I'd rather concentrate on that their belt buckles or funny faces.

Is it artistically invalid for one musician to reference another in their work? Surely not. When we hear Jimmy play a great version of White Summer/BMS, do we admire his superb playing skills, or do we frown and point out that he lifted more or less the entire thing off Bert Jansch? Do we love the brilliant acoustic/electric interplay of the guitars on BIGLY, or do we sourly point out that the chord sequence is much the same as George Harrison's While My Guitar Gently Weeps? I'm in the former camp re Jimmy, and feel the same way with GVF. Disagree by all means, but I think you are missing out.

 

[Crimson Avenger]

On 21/04/2018 at 7:40 PM, The Pagemeister said:

 

Having watched that, I'd say they either really really know their stuff, or they are the most brazen con act in rock since The Darkness or maybe even the Sex Pistols.

(the former obviously, for the avoidance of doubt!)