It’s been four years since Lukas Nelson and his band Promise of the Real last performed live in the UK, playing at Glastonbury 2019 (having previously appeared there as Bradley Cooper’s band in the 2018 version of ‘A Star Is Born’, which Lukas also produced the music for) as well as a one-off show at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Since then they’ve released their seventh studio album, 2021’s ‘A Few Stars Apart’ – with the follow-up ‘Sticks And Stones’ due next month – and are now finally back out on the road here, playing a run of shows around their Black Deer Festival set this Sunday. Last night the tour rolled into London’s Kentish Town Forum, and we were lucky enough to be there in the audience.
After an introduction from the legendary Bob Harris, the band walked out to enormous cheers from the crowd before launching into ‘Sticks And Stones’, the title track from their upcoming album. It’s a rollicking, twangy number with a big singalong chorus and the bluesy touches that are now a staple of their live performances, and really started the evening off on a high. They followed that with ‘Every Time He Drinks He Thinks Of Her’, a song Lukas previously covered with his dad Willie Nelson, which gave him the first chance of the night to show off his incredible vocal belt.
Ahead of the release of the new album, the band took the opportunity to play a few tracks from it live. ‘More Than Friends’, the group’s track with Lainey Wilson which has just topped the Americana chart in the US, was an early standout with its slinky bassline and playful tone, whilst ‘Ladder Of Love’ – which Lukas described as a “real country song” – rattled along at breakneck pace and current single ‘Alcohallelujah’ had a swampy feel about it and a soaring, anthemic chorus that disguised its bittersweet lyrics. It’s made me very excited to hear the new record in full and definitely captured the vibe of delivering a great live show, which Lukas spoke about in our recent interview with him.
That said, there were still plenty of old favourites to be enjoyed too, from the funky, bouncy groove of ‘Fool Me Once’ – one of many moments where Lukas jammed out with bassist Corey McCormick – to the beachy feel of ‘Carolina’ (appropriate given the heatwave we’re currently having) and the killer riff of the tongue-in-cheek ‘Four Letter Word’, which saw Lukas pull off an incredible split leap at the finale of the song! However, I particularly loved the one-two punch of ‘Die Alone’ and ‘Find Yourself’. The former featured a driving, 70s-style melody which saw the crowd clapping along and Lukas coming to the front of the stage to deliver just one of many absolutely killer guitar riffs, which the fan next to me summed up as ‘proper rock and roll”. The latter had the entire room singing at top volume, with Nelson calling on them to “take us to church London!” as he belted out a massive note whilst dropping to his knees before delivering a wailing, drawn-out, high pitched vocal riff. It really emphasised both his musical skills and showmanship and provided a brilliantly entertaining moment.
My personal highlight was the acoustic section towards the end of the show. Nelson, McCormick and pianist/banjo player Logan Metz (who also deserves a shout-out for his fantastic harmonica skills and outstanding piano riff leading into ‘Just Outside Of Austin’) produced some gorgeous harmonies on ‘Turn Off The News (Build A Garden)’ before Lukas was left solo on stage. He performed a beautiful version of his dad’s hit ‘Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground’ that I’m not ashamed to say made me well up towards the end, before moving into the gorgeously romantic ‘Consider It Heaven’ and a moving piano rendition of ‘Smile’ from 2021’s ‘A Few Stars Apart’ which held the audience absolutely spellbound. It was a lovely pause for quiet in the midst of a raucous, high-energy show and his songwriting skills absolutely shone through due to the simple, stripped-back approach.
After introducing his band and an incredible percussion riff from drummer Anthony LoGerfo and percussionist Tato Melgar, Lukas closed the main portion of the set with ‘Something Real’. I felt the song really summed up the set with its stop-start riff, punchy drums and impressive vocal runs from Nelson that had been a thread throughout the entire show. It finished with Anthony tossing his drumsticks in the air and Lukas holding his hat aloft as he thanked the crowd. After leaving the stage to loud whoops and cheers from the crowd, they returned shortly afterwards to play ‘Set Me Down On A Cloud’ for their encore. The organ-style intro and harmonica gave it a wonderfully atmospheric, almost spiritual feel, paired with a brilliantly noodley guitar riff, and it ended the performance on an uplifting note before the crowd erupted and they waved their goodbyes.
Overall Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real delivered a standout performance that commanded the stage, showed off their incredible musicianship and Nelson’s impressive vocals, and was packed full of fantastic energy and positive vibes. They couldn’t keep the smiles off their faces – and judging by the audience around me, the feeling was definitely mutual – and their love for UK fans absolutely shone through. There’s still plenty of tickets left for their upcoming shows so if you’re a fan of classic country rock and blues, then make sure you see them whilst they’re here if you can! And in the meantime, there’s only a few weeks until that new album…
Set list: 1. Sticks And Stones 2. Every Time He Drinks He Thinks Of Her 3. Fool Me Once 4. More Than Friends 5. Four Letter Word 6. Just Outside Of Austin 7. Forget About Georgia 8. Ladder Of Love 9. Carolina 10. Find Yourself 11. Die Alone 12. Running 13. Turn Off The News (Build A Garden) 14. Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground 15. Consider It Heaven 16. Smile 17. Alcohallelujah 18. Something Real Encore: 19. Set Me Down On A Cloud Performance date: 15th June 2023
Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real’s new album, ‘Sticks And Stones’, will be released on 14th July 2023 via 6ACE Records/Thirty Tigers.
See Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real live in the UK and Ireland this June:
17 June – SWX, Bristol
18 June – Black Deer Festival, Tunbridge Wells
19 June – O2 Academy 2, Manchester
20 June – Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow
22 June – Ulster Hall, Belfast
23 June – The Academy, Dublin
