Royal Blood made a sold-out stop in San Diego, bringing their unique sound to The Observatory North Park, with protégés Cleopatrick in tow.
The modern tradition of the guitar & drum power duo, which was kicked off with the emergence of The White Stripes, and carried on en force by The Black Keys, and by groups like Japandroids, The Kills, and Royal Blood, is still growing strong, as evidenced by the pair of tag teams showcased at The Observatory.
Cleopatrick opened up the show, and from the start, their musical influences are clear upon first hearing their music. It was as if the young Canadians from Cobourg, Ontario, were on tour with their older brothers, the other more widely known headlining dynamic duo, Royal Blood. While their sound and style were unique enough to stand on their own, there was no denying the effect of touring with one of their stated influences has been. Guitarist Luke Gruntz and drummer Ian Fraser’s sound and music is perfect in the openers slot of this bill.
Friends since preschool at the age of four, and hailing from a town of only 19,000. The pair had plenty of time to dedicate to developing themselves into a modern power duo. Their enthusiastic performance for the sold-out crowd created them new admirers and fans. The two young men took the stage by storm, confidently giving the crowd a peek at the next generation of power rock duos.
Royal Blood blew into The Observatory North Park in San Diego, like a couple of Typhoons. Wasting no time, they set the pace and mood for the show. They opened the set appropriately with the song “Typhoons.” Royal Blood’s set was fantastic and energetic from start to finish. Duo Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher are great musicians, and their fine musicianship was on full display. Mike Kerr’s mind and string-bending bass guitar playing, contorted and processed to sound like a lead guitar all while still producing deep rich bass notes is always entertaining. The technique is truly a sight to see and amazing to hear. Percussionist Ben Thatcher’s intense precise and powerful drumming is an important piece of the melody and is the rock upon which their unique power duo sound is built.They touched on all their hits spanning all three of their album releases. The setlist kept building steam, only taking a break before the song “Loose Change” to hold an impromptu charity auction for a walking boot the band had found in storage that belonged to bass guitarist/vocalist Mike Kerr when on a previous tour when he injured himself and had to wear it around on stage during performances. The said walking boot was hung from the ceiling while vocalist turned auctioneer Mr. Kerr raised over $1200 for charity for the aforementioned plastic cast and an opportunity to hang out and spend some time with the band backstage after the show.
Following the break, Royal Blood slammed into “Figure It Out,” reenergizing the crowd and exploding the mosh pit into a frenzy. The hour and approximately 30-minute set seemed to go by very quickly, the 14-song set and three-song encore were very entertaining, leaving the packed house crowd chanting for more.
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THE OBSERVATORY NORTH PARK SAN DIEGO
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