The opening act for Greta Van Fleet was a duo named Ida Mae.  It is a husband and wife duo out of England who now reside in Nashville, Tennessee.  At least they have for the last 10 months as they just moved to the States to seriously pursue this thing called music.  The husband is Chris Turpin on guitar and vocals and his lovely wife Stephanie Jean also on vocals.

And they are all you got as the opening act.  It was just Chris and Stephanie on stage for their 6 song set.  And let me tell you that was all you need as they were beyond impressive.  They did some covers and played some of their original songs for an album that will not be released until June 7th.

They were selling that album though at the Merch table and, of course, I picked it up on vinyl (review will come later as I need time to dive into it fully).  I wanted to get them to sign it, but since they didn’t come out until after the show, I was unable to hang around and wait.  My kids had to go to school the next morning and it was already 10:45 and we still had to drive 45 minutes home.

Anyway, about the music.  The setlist was as follows:

1. My Girl is A Heartbreak
2. Me and My Chauffeur Blues (Memphis Minnie cover)
3. What Did the Deep Sea Say (Woody Guthrie cover)
4. Reaching
5. Boom Boom Boom
6. Feel Them Getting Closer

The band’s sound is blues obviously after seeing the covers.  It is a deep south blues mixed with British upbringing.  It is a really cool sound.  Chris comes out with his  Trussart Steelcaster and played one mean slide guitar.  His playing along with his vocals were the highlights for me. He is one hell of a great blues guitarists and he rocked it out the whole set.  His energy was infectious and his vocals were no slouch either.  He has a little grit to his vocals live and you can feel his passion for this music.

Now, he only had three guitars on stage, the Trussart Steelcaster mentioned above, his Regal-made, 1920s parlour acoustic which is 100 years old and looked it! and what looked like a sweet little Les Paul electric.  He played them all and played them masterfully.  Now, I bought the album prior to hearing them live and I was glad I did.

They grew up with the Blues and it shows in their originals and their covers they played were sensational.  I am sure most of the crowd had no idea about the Memphis Minnie song or the Woody Guthrie (I admit, I knew the Woody song, but didn’t know the Memphis Minnie although the song sounded familiar to me).

Stephanie played tambourine and sang backing and lead vocals at times.  She has a beautiful voice and blends nicely with his vocals.  And as good as she is, I just dig her husband as I am partial to the guitar and blues guitar add to that prejudice.  He was the highlight for me…no disrespect to Stephanie at all as she is fantastic and without her, whose to say he would have that passion.

I thought they were sensational and definitely worth checking out.  Since their album is due out June 7th, I will get my review out prior to the release (probably that Thursday before).  They were a great opening act and expect big things from them down the line.  It was worth getting there early to see them.  Hell, seeing the opening act is almost always worth it in my opinion (especially if you have never heard of them).  Go see them and Greta Van Fleet together soon!!!

The Greta Van Fleet Concert Review will be coming Monday…so Check it out!!!