“I hope you guys like loud rock n roll music because we’ve got a bunch to play.”
It’s decent of The Commoners’ Chris Medhurst to write the intro to the review for us, to be fair, but he’s only half right. You see, he’s missed a few words. out. He might have said: “I hope you guys like loud rock n roll music because we’ve got a bunch to play, and we’re just about the best at it in the world right now.”
And if that sounds like hyperbole, then may we respectfully suggest that you merely watch them for 50 minutes—because to do that is to watch a band on the absolute cusp of something very special.
From the minute they play “Shake You Off,” it’s utterly clear that the Canadians were—put simply—born to do this, a feeling that “The Way I Am” only reiterates.
They’ve been on the road for five weeks, and if that has presented some issues (“When Rivers Meet wanted us to dress up, but all we got is flowers and bell bottoms…and they ain’t clean!”), it means they’ve honed their craft.
Afforded a longer support slot than usual, they can add the mighty “Who Are You,” which is built on its glorious organ from Evan Branagh, and if life on the road can be tough, then “Restless” and “See You Again” channel that and make it something wonderful.
“Thank you,” offers guitarist Ross Citrullo, “for allowing us to explore our sensitive side,” and they are just as good at that, but “Devil Teasin’ Me”—the lead track of 2024’s album of the year contender “Restless”—and “Find A Better Way”—the title cut of their 2022 breakthrough—are very much their hinterland.
One thing you can’t escape with the band is the obvious comparison to The Black Crowes, but so what? They are sensational and blessed with everything you need. This is just another signpost along the road to stardom.
Let’s get this out of the way: I hate Christmas. I hate parties. I particularly hate Christmas parties.
So why am I at the When Rivers Meet Christmas party? It’s a fair question, and the answer comes in “Seen It All Before.” Absolutely glorious, primal blues, and believe me, when the band gets it right—and they very often do—they are up there with anyone in the UK right now.
And a large part of that has to do with Grace Bond. One of the de facto two focal points along with husband Aaron, she is both blessed with a wonderful voice and a beguiling presence, so much so that when they do “Play My Game,” we are basically living in their world.
A set that spans not just their albums—”My Babe Says That He Loves Me” and “Bound For Nowhere” are both welcome—but also their new single “Christmas Is Here” (“we think it’s a banger, so we had to do a gig just to play it”) and a couple of brand new tunes. One of them is more standard WRM brilliance, while the other is a departure because it sees Aaron “unleashed,” as Grace puts it, as lead singer—a role he obviously relishes.
As ever with WRM, there’s a changing cast around the core members, and new piano player Emily Francis is as sassy as you like. Indeed, that’s the key to the appeal of When Rivers Meet. They aren’t quite like anyone else. No other blues band would bring in a violin as Meet do on “He’ll Drive You Crazy,” and none has such a bewitching, folky strand.
They have such ambition and scope in their work, though. “Tomorrow” sounds huge, while “Never Coming Home” and “Free Man” are similarly impressive in scope—and believe me, they’ve got some crackers (you can have the Christmas pun for free) to save for the end in the shape of “Testify” and “Did I Break the Law?”
Let’s also say that for a band like this to break through like this is hard. Independent, they’ve put it together piece by piece to the point where the live album is currently top of the blues charts. As Grace remarks, “What have we built, hey?”
And ok, they appear to know a good proportion of the crowd personally (and considering Storm Darragh was raging and the attendant travel problems it caused the numbers were very healthy) and there’s rather too much fancy dress for my taste (see introduction for explanation), but as they draw the raffle (they’d been raising money for the Dogs Trust), you are left to marvel at what you’d seen. Talented, clearly lovely people, who have wonderful songs. As an exercise in preaching to the converted, there’s never been a better one.
Now to smash the glass ceiling in 2025, as they deserve to.
