Some might say that it’s been a tough few years for Sunset Sons.
After all, it does seem like they’ve been through the mill a bit. Sure, their debut album – 2016’s Very Rarely Say Die – did pretty well; but, they lost their guitarist (and founding member) Rob Windram a couple of years later.
They also played a bunch of high-profile shows, including support sets for Imagine Dragons and slots at Reading and Leeds – but, then, front-man Rory Williams went through a high-profile breakup and found his face splashed across the papers for a few weeks after rumours that his ex-girlfriend cheated on him with Leonardo DiCaprio.
That, dear reader, is what we call a rocky ride.
Fortunately, it seems like Sunset Sons are the resilient types.
Hell, we take that back. To call them resilient implies that they’ve merely bounced back from their hard times; when, in reality, we happen to think that they’ve emerged stronger than ever. When we headed down to Bristol’s Thekla to catch the opening night of their first UK tour in a few years, we were half expecting to be met with a band on the brink. After all, we thought, what kind of band – nay, what kind of people – could withstand those last couple of years and still step back on-stage with a smile on their face?
The answer, it appears, is Sunset Sons.
In fact, not only was their Bristol show not a shining example of how a band can power-chord their way through a breakdown, but is also happened to be, objectively, Very Good Indeed.
The new songs sounded crisp and fresh; the new songs sounded revitalised. Heck, even a seemingly ill-advised foray into the crowd by Williams – with keyboard in tow – was rescued by a crowd that seemed determined to bellow every word, of every song, back to the band at the maximum possible volume.
And, the band lapped it up. Every cheer was met with a smirk; every round of applause was greeted with a look of genuine thanks. They were sincere, and seemed genuinely grateful that people had traipsed down the show – and, we feel we can speak for everyone in attendance when we say that precisely nobody in the crowd that evening regretted doing so.
That, dear reader, is what we call a modern rock and roll show.