The Sunset Sons are a band that I first heard when they were added to the BBC Music Sound of 2015 list at the beginning of the year. I have since seen them at Scala, and at The Barn On The Farm Festival, where they were very impressive and gained many new fans with their infectious rock and surfer looks. So the fact that they were supporting Imagine Dragons at the O2 really was two gigs for the price of one for me. I am looking forward to booking to see them again next year when they play Koko in March, and I am sure , after last night’s performance, I will not be the only one!
Lead singer Rory Williams from Dorset was playing covers to the snow boarders of the Alps before he met Geordie drummer Jed Laidlow and along with two other buddies, guitarist Rob Windram from Epsom and Australian bass player Pete Harper from Sydney, decided to start a touring cover band. They started to write their own material and quickly came to the attention of record labels with industry bosses even jetting to the Alps to hear them play.
They were signed to Polydor and are now in the process of touring and perfecting tracks for their forthcoming album, some of which was recorded in Nashville.
They played a 45 minute set of eleven songs which climaxed with their excellent new single “On The Road” but included fan favourites “She Wants” and “Remember” . It’s never easy playing support at such big venues but Sunset Sons are an excellent choice as their music has been perfected on the road and the band know exactly how to please a crowd. It was great to see Twitter full of complements about last night’s gig and I hope they increase their fan base on this tour. If you have never seen them check out their headline tour next year to promote their new album before they, like Imagine Dragons, end up playing arenas as the headline act and the tickets become very expensive. Don’t say you haven’t been warned!
Steve Holley is a live music enthusiast. His son Max is a singer-songwriter. Stay tuned for more of Steve’s updates, and an interview with Max.
