ROYAL BLOOD/BAD NERVES LIVE @ THE AGORA BALLROOM

By Eric Rauert

Royal Blood and Bad Nerves play the iconic Agora Ballroom

It was a British Invasion at the Agora and Bad Nerves from London took the stage to kickoff the evening. This fast and hard band has a punk-surf rock feel with some bright pop in the vocals. I couldn’t help but draw parallels to Julian Casablancas in both sound and style as frontman Bobby Nerves (Vocals) worked the stage, owning the mic like every other diva rock star. Two guitars (William Phillipson and George Berry) crashed along to Nerves’ vocals while riling up the crowd and moving to every corner of
the stage.

This is punk, so there’s no real lead and the guitar is simple but it does quite a bit to amp up everyone up. Their stage presence seemed to vary between trying not to care (punk) and bringing absolute rock star energy to the several cameras positioned around the stage.

Songs like “Radio Punk” and “Dreaming” seem to want that edge but keep a pop-iness in every thing that makes this music very accessible to those who might be new on the punk scene. This varied tone certainly shows Bad Nerves offering something unique, seeing as every time I tried to place their sound during the show I found it harder and harder after each song. They charged through their 9 songs and ended to raucous applause.

I also have to thank Bad Nerves for helping me experience a concert first: the crowd calling for an opener encore. I was excited to have them back on stage along with the small but loud contingent trying to coax out a few more songs but it was not to be and setup began for Royal Blood.

Heading to see Queens of the Stone Age back in 2018, young Eric was far too excited to see one of his favorite bands to research the opener. Before Josh Homme and friends took the stage, a two piece from Worthing, England consisting of just a bass guitarist and drummer took the stage and absolutely blew me away. The drummer managed to finish most of a bottle of Patron before stumbling off stage and the sound of the bassist playing like a lead guitar blew me away with his weighty notes and
complexity.

I became a fast fan and quickly consumed their only two album releases at the time. If it wasn’t clear, that opener was Royal Blood. I’ll admit I’ve since fallen off a bit on their latest releases but it has given me a unique opportunity to see how they’ve evolved from opening band to headliner.

Smoke started to fill the Agora from off stage almost immediately after Bad Nerves finished. By the time Royal Blood was ready, I might as well have been peering at the upstairs mezzanine across a fog bank. The two strolled out to simple white flood lights, giving an eerie feel with the fog bank, while Edwin Star’s “War” walked them on. It was immediately apparent that little of the talent I had seen in 2018 had left but this was also a more confident band (5 years and headlining tours will do that). Two older songs I was familiar with, “Hole” and “Come on Over” ignited the energy right away.

As mentioned, vocalist and lead man Mike Kerr worked his pedals to play his bass like a lead guitarist. While basses don’t necessarily promote fast and insane shredding, I’ve yet to see anyone who does quite what Kerr does and Royal Blood has quite a unique sound featuring the bass work so prominently. Kerr alternated between fast breakdowns and heavy “feel it in your chest” bass riffs that would probably look and feel simple on an electric guitar but have quite a weightier feel as he rocks out.

At the conclusion of “Boilermaker”, the crowd was cheering their name for more and they delivered with one of my favorites “Lights Out” with its crashing, jolty rhythm. The lights did in fact go out to end the song, plunging the crowd into darkness.

In fact, their lights were unique enough to mention as a highlight. With very minimal lights, only a few spots provided highlights and band lighting while the bulk of the rig was a set of floods on the ground backstage. These floods provided mostly monocolor lighting that was simple but worked well in time with the music. Fog was clearly an intentional choice to highlight these lights and kudos to the lighting directing for giving this a very unique feel without being overwhelming. While simple, it worked well with oranges, whites, and blues providing a singular color tone to each song in time with the beat.

Yet another bass switch from Kerr (I counted six unique instruments over the course of the night) was in order for “You Can Be So Cruel” next. The ending to this live is phenomenal, with Kerr’s bass screeching higher than the rest of the evening and a heavy down beat on the drums. Kerr joined drummer Ben Thatcher at the kit to jam the ending and the crowd couldn’t get enough. This was a trend I noticed over the course of the evening: a rowdier crowd and more participation with the two piece in their rock pocket.

“Trouble’s Coming”, “Typhoons”, and “Pull Me Through” were songs off newer albums that seemed to buck the hard rock trend, featuring Kerr on airy vocals and a more prominent electronic presence from backstage. “Typhoons” is very catchy though, with Kerr singing the title in a falsetto throughout the song while keys and the drums provide a backing beat. I do wish for a little more heat here but this is the evolution of Royal Blood’s music and it does a lot to bring some needed innovation to the raw, primal slamming of the bass.

“Little Monster” and “How Did We Get So Dark?” were two more classics that delivered. The breakdowns in “Little Monster” are some great rock in a surprisingly simple way and Kerr’s almost whiny vocals shine on this jaunty little classic. Thatcher had a chance to showcase his kit after the song and it was a serviceable solo but lacked a bit of creativity. He’s a great drummer in his own right and provides the band structure where a bass normally might but I’m certainly not coming to a show just for the drums.

“Out of the Black” concluded the main show and the crowd cheered for an encore while the band brought out Bad Nerves’ William Phillipson for “Waves”. I did not dig this song as an encore opener, as it absolutely cut the pace created during “Out of the Black” for a slower, soulful tune. I don’t think there’s anything specifically wrong with this song it just felt like an out of place thematic choice.

But the closer “Figure it Out” brought the energy back and closed the show in true Royal Blood fashion. The churning bass sets a heavy mood for the vocal choruses but they clash well in arguably their most famous song. They “figured out” a live jam on stage that extend the song and ended once again with the classic rock noise and double cymbal.

Overall I enjoyed the show but I don’t know if I would return for another Royal Blood performance. Clearly the band has innovated over time but the newer albums didn’t grab me enough to break some of the “sameness fatigue” I felt over the course of the show. As an opener, Royal Blood could fuck up the stage for half an hour and leave me with my jaw on the floor. For a longer set, more development and curation seems necessary. And while they played a wide berth of songs from their discography, their hour and fifteen show had several points where I found myself listening to what ultimately sounded like a similar song.

This is still by all means a great act to catch, as the rock star presence and lighting added quite a bit to their energetic performance and the crowd was clearly having the time of their life. Kerr’s bass work is unique enough in the rock world to catch at least once if you’re into the music but perhaps this rock duo just doesn’t have the staying power I thought they once possessed.

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