Album review: Nightstage “Sunset Industry”
LA-based rock band Nightstage has released its debut album which is filled with terrific classic rock full of emotions and fantastic guitars.
Nightstage is a brand new band that only really formed in the past year. They released a single in 2017 and now their debut album has arrived. They have also started to perform live in the Los Angeles area. The core of the band consists of Nicky Renard on lead guitar and her father Max Foxx on rhythm guitar. They recorded the album in Nashville with an all-star backing band of pro session players. Lead vocals on the album are handled by Caleb Johnson while live the band is now fronted by Robbie Wyckoff (who has played with Roger Waters, Michael McDonald and Keith Emerson).
If one has to compare Nightstage to other artists, classic rock acts such as The Eagles, Journey, Tom Petty, New England and Bad Company come to mind. But this is no copycat band. They have crafted their own classic rock songs based on bluesy rock and a fair bit of Americana influences.
Nicky Renard is still in her teens but the music she creates and performs with the rest of the band is best described as grown-up classic American rock. But not the bland, boring kind. No, in Nightstage’s music there is depth and emotion, wonderfully expressed through Nicky’s guitar. Just listen to the crying guitar on the terrific rock ballad “Grovy Lane”. Wow!
An immediate favourite of mine on the album is “You Will Never Get It Back”, not least for the interaction between the guitars and Jim Hoke’s saxophone. “Not For Me” is a terrific and energetic rocker. All eleven songs on this very even album are strong and have been composed by Nicky and Max. There is some serious talent here, both when it comes to songwriting and musical performance. What a debut album!
The question that comes to mind when one is faced with such a strong debut album by a new act: where will Nightstage go from here?
Nightstage’s debut album “Sunset Industry” is out now.
