Having braved 40,000 Metallica fans on their last visit to Pittsburgh, Greta Van Fleet was back to play for the true believers Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.
This matters because GVF is not what we’d call universally loved in hard-rock/metal circles..
Part of that has to do with coming out of the gate sounding like a certain British band from the ’70s with the initials LZ and part of it has to do with not owning up to it.
And then there’s Josh Kiszka, who fancies himself a rock god, sings with searing range, and frequently sounds like a wounded goat.
This has all been stuff that the band has been dealing with since rising out of Frankenmuth, Michigan, in 2018, as Gen Zers who aspire to play like classic rockers.
It seemed like the kind of thing that would work in clubs for a while, maybe get to small theaters, and then fade out.
But there they were Saturday night in a pretty packed arena taking the stage standing four across above the drums and then kicking into “The Falling Sky” with a shower of pyro.
Within the first minute, Josh, in a white sequined jumpsuit, was already doing that weird voice that sounds like a combination of Geddy Lee, Dio, and your grandmother screaming at you.
His brothers — Jake on guitar and Sam on bass and keys — and drummer Danny Wagner were impressive the first time we saw them and now hammer it home like any veteran arena-rock band.
“I hope we passed the audition,” Josh said after the first song, to a resounding cheer from the crowd, who was wild for them all night.
GVF went on to stomp and grind through such bangers as “The Indigo Streak,” “Caravel” and “Highway Tune,” with those Page-like riffs. Josh sent the latter out to his “buddy” Mark Madden, and Jake kept it going with some playful guitar work that may or may not have included a piece of “Rockin’ Robin.”
GVF also explored more ethereal art-rock zones, starting with “Meeting the Master,” preceded by an acoustic intro referencing “Norwegian Wood.”
The band did not come to just plow through a tight set of songs. They went through all the big arena-rock paces: the drum solo!; the acoustic stage, where Josh gave us the Mickey Mouse version of “Unchained Melody”; and the squealing guitar jam! That was pretty impressive and came with everything but the violin bow and videos of wizards and dragons on mountaintops.
Working toward a climax, they raised the temperature and the bombast higher and higher and higher with “Sacred the Thread” and a fiery set-closing of “The Archer” that went on forever.
After that, they didn’t need to encore, but they did, pushing the show to almost 2½ hours.
Depending on your level of fandom, this massive dose of Kiszkas was either earth-shatteringly thrilling or a little thrilling with a lot of eye-rolling. I’m in the latter group.
Geese, here two years ago to open for Jack White, were back in the opening slot to make our heads spin with all their sudden changes.
The Brooklyn indie band, playing in the dark, provided a glimpse into what would have happened if the Strokes had done acid and tried to sound like Moe or some similar jam band.
It’s a pretty good formula because if you screw up and play a different song than your bandmates, no one would know. The band went in and out of funky grooves while frontman Cameron tried on a range of voices, none of them screechy.
Greta Van Fleet Set List
The Falling Sky
The Indigo Streak
Caravel
Meeting the Master
Heat Above
Highway Tune
Runway Blues
(Highway Tune Reprise)
Drum Solo
Unchained Melody
Waited All Your Life
Black Smoke Rising
Fate of the Faithful
Sacred the Thread
The Archer
Encore:
Rhapsody in Blue
Light My Love
Farewell for Now
First Published: May 19, 2024, 3:24 a.m.
