LIVE REVIEW // Greta Van Fleet @ MSG
It’s 10 pm on a Tuesday night. I've had a long day. I’m exhausted. In my perfect world, I’d be lying in bed, watching The Sopranos and dozing off. But alas, my world is not perfect, my back is aching, and I’ve been standing in this pit for what feels like weeks, listening to songs I’ve never heard, by a band I don't even like. Instead of my cozy little bed, I find myself once again in the iconic Madison Square Garden, and surprise surprise, once again it’s not too long before I'm bawling my eyes out. If you’ve read any of my other reviews on this site, I apologize for yet another story about going to some random gig and ending up in tears. Maybe I have a problem, or maybe I’m just at one with the spirit of rock n’ roll, man. Who’s to say? But it seems to me that, sometimes, it’s the music you don’t know and the performers you don’t like that have the power to move you most. I don’t understand it, but I can tell you how it happened.
Our story starts in Flint, Michigan, in the brutally cold March of 2022. This opening gambit is a surprise to me too, as I have no business being in Flint, Michigan; I don’t know anyone there, I’m not from the Midwest, and it is definitely not the perfect destination spot for Spring Break But nevertheless, there I was, bright-eyed, ever-hopeful, in line to see a Greta Van Fleet concert at some brutalist hockey arena. As I’m waiting, contacts in, glitter on, dressed up to the nines, something ripples down the line like a contagious disease. One by one, people in front of me fall to the ground, gasping and sobbing. It seems that right before the doors were about to open and we were about to pour in out of the cold, the band has canceled the show due to illness. Obviously, that was sadder for them than for any of us outside, but the icy wind that had been buffeting me in line suddenly froze my heart as well. Without the prospect of a live show to dust the scene with magic, me and my glitter were left shivering in a bleak parking lot in Flint, Michigan and, there and then, I lost all interest in the band.
Back on the East Coast, things are less bleak and my vital organs have unthawed, but my distaste for GVF lingers and I find myself skipping their songs when they pop up on shuffle. This summer, when they released the lead single to their new album, I hate-listened to it, and would have written a scathing review for this blog if I could have summoned the energy. But despite growing out of their sound, I always regretted missing my chance to see them live just once. So when, out of the blue, a friend texted me with an extra ticket to see them at MSG, I decided to go — but this time sans glitter or enthusiasm.
Greta Van Fleet is not a perfect rock band - but who is? Yes, they often sound like an (admittedly very good) Led Zeppelin cover band, and it’s a shame they haven’t found a way to branch out into a more unique sound. Their recordings often leave you wanting more, because there’s so much unfulfilled potential, and I find myself wishing they’d push themselves that bit harder. But, seeing them on stage, I suddenly understood that I’d been looking at them all wrong. Despite their meteoric rise, with their debut single “Highway Tune” topping the Billboard U.S. Rock charts for four weeks in a row, I’d forgotten that these are just four friends, three of them brothers, who got really, really lucky. (Seriously, picture any random band from your high school and you’re halfway there.) Seeing them on stage, not even pretending to know what they’re doing, I was reminded that they’re still young, still learning, still running to catch up to the spotlight they’ve stumbled into. Seeing their humanity shine so plainly (and brightly) in one of the most famous venues in the world, these four average guys dressed up like rockstars managed to wrestle command of a stage that’s almost certainly too big for them. Watching them actively building their personas, becoming a band worthy of the predictions that have been made for their success, filled me with joy, anger, and weirdly, pride. They’re living a dream come true, and their faces on stage tell you they aren’t taking that for granted for a single second.
For example, they don’t rest on their musical laurels, they stage an actual show. Unlike many male performers I could name, they work hard to entertain the crowd with costume changes, pyrotechnics, catwalks, and a b-stage. You can see them taking the moment in, having fun, spreading vibes of joy and love, laying it all out for the crowd to take as they will. During one love song, they filled the arena with rainbow colored lights as the lead singer (who’s come out since that night in Flint) tells the crowd that “hate bound by fear will unwind” - something I’m not sure a lot of classic rock stars would be brave enough to announce. Yes, GVF sound a lot like Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd, but the incredible pipes on Josh Kiszka are undeniable and if I could sing like that I’d be hollering at the top of my lungs too BECAUSE IMAGINE HOW THAT FEELS. People often lament that rock and roll is dead, but these four basic guys from Michigan are giving it CPR and dragging it back, complete with five minute guitar solos and dramatic, if overly-reminiscent, tunes. I’ve never seen a more diverse crowd at MSG, from classic fangirls, to dude-bros, to grandparents getting their groove on; every single person in the arena was soaking in the atmosphere as the band took us on a journey through guitar riffs and mind blowing vocals.
Greta Van Fleet, for better or for worse, are introducing a new generation to rock while connecting them to the classics. Something about seeing them on that hallowed stage, desperately trying to live up to everyone’s expectations while they live out their wildest dreams, is overwhelming to witness. So overwhelming that, even during songs you’ve never heard before, or a very VERY long drum solo, or the hushed moments between set-ups, you too may find it hard to stop your eyes from getting watery. So maybe I still don’t like Greta Van Fleet, and perhaps they never will find a unique sound that forces the whole world to listen, but for two hours at MSG they were the biggest rock band on the planet, and I’m still smiling to remember it.
Photo // Dusty Kessler
