KISS bassist, glam rock legend and professional loudmouth Gene Simmons proclaimed “rock is finally dead” earlier this month in Esquire.
Well, Airbourne, Glorious Sons and Flash Lightnin’ proved him decidedly wrong at Average Joes, Sept. 23 with an intense show of loud, exciting, balls to the wall, entertaining rock and roll music for several hundred enthusiastic fans.
While I unfortunately 
missed Flash Lightnin’, who I saw opening for ZZ Top earlier this year, I arrived in time for most of Kingston's The Glorious Sons’ set of pumped up anthem rock.
The title track and one of my favourites off their new album “the Union” was an immediate highlight with country tinged blues boogie flair. And then it was time for the hits.
Frontman Brett Emmons sneered and growled like a young Sebastian Bach (of Skid Row) and told a story about living in Halifax going to school and coming to the realization that he wanted to be a musician for a living and getting the timely call to move back to Kingston to work for his brother’s construction company and join the Glorious Sons.
That lead to the band playing “White Noise,” the first song they ever wrote together and the song that got everything rolling for the band.
He shouted “Are you ready to rock” and the band and the audience definitely was.
“Man Made Man” was another highlight then they wound up the show with their other big hit “Mama.”
Airbourne had six Marshall stacks on stage, so you knew it was going to be a loud, roof raising kind of show. Luckily I remembered my CKXU earplugs because it definitely was.
They roared onto the stage with “ Ready to Rock,” and were as ferocious as a kick in the groin with a steel toed shoe and as loud as being inside the engine of a 747. They borrowed heavily from fellow Australian rock and roll monsters AC DC with just a touch of KISS.
Frontman Joel O’Keeffe shouted “ We love Canada, B.C. bud, rock and roll, alcohol and beautiful women,” which basically summed up what the band was all about and most of the subject matter of their songs — lots of songs about rock and roll, alcohol and beautiful women,” and sometimes all three in the same song.
There was plenty of AC DC style dirty , blues tinged guitar riffs, ear shattering bass, nasty solos, shout along choruses and lots of running up and down the stage.
One of their first big hits “Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast ” came second in the set in the
set and tracks form their first CD “No Guts No Glory” like “Chewin the Fat,” during which he sprayed the audience with beer from a can he broke over his head, “Black Dog” and “Blonde, Bad and Beautiful” were sprinkled through the high octane, close to an hour long set.
I didn’t hear “No Way But the Hard Way,” but there was plenty of dirty, sleazy rock and roll to be heard.
“ Girls In Black” was a highlight” and the catchy blues rocker “Cheap Wine, Cheaper Women,” lead to O’Keeffe drinking from a bottle of wine, telling the frothing audience to get on each other's shoulders and getting them to carry him on their shoulders to the back of the room and onto the bar to play a solo.
Bassist Justin Street banged his head and stuck his tongue out while shouting along with the gang vocals chorus with guitarist David Roads while drummer Ryan O’ Keeffe,” flailed away at his kit, hidden between the two sets of three Marshall stacks.
He appeared back on stage, as if out of nowhere to finish the song. it was like seeing a young, hungry AC DC for the first time live.
They saved two of their bigger hits “Live It Up” and “ Running Wild” for their encore.
They brought an old hand cranked air raid siren on stage for “Live it Up.” And rock and roll lives on to fight another day, no matter what Gene Simmons says.
