Ben Thatcher – Royal Blood live at the Fillmore in downtown Detroit September 18, 2023

You have to love an intimate venue where it’s just you and the band with a few people. Thats exactly what happened in downtown Detroit Monday night when the UK band Royal Blood paid a visit. The band is on tour celebrating their new album titled “Back To The Water Below” out now. Let’s keep in mind Royal Blood has gone on to selling out arenas and playing on some the biggest stages worldwide, but these small historic venues are just next level. The duo of Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher who deliver like a 5-piece band sounded phenomenal with the sold-out crowd showing their love.

The band ripped through a dazzling old school Royal Blood tracks mixed in with some soulful tracks from their latest album, it was indeed a very well-balanced set the 16-song set was a banger! Mike Kerr showed his stellar self-tonight with pics raised high in the air to his amazing guitar skills, along with an incredible set of pipes. The energy this band gives on a nightly basis cannot or will not be matched anywhere. Speaking of high energy Royal Blood gave a jolt of electricity to the sold-out venue with some vintage rock ripping through “Mountains At Midnight” talk about a whiplash effect. As mentioned, Kerr displaying his talents bobbed and weaved his way back and forth from bass to the keys with tracks “Waves” and “Shiner in the Dark” a pretty cool highlight from “Waves” track came when William Phillipson from Bad Nerves played guitar further lathering up the crowd.

Mike Kerr performing live at the Fillmore – September 18, 2023

Another badass moment came after the track “Little Monster” when drummer Ben Thatcher went full beast mode with a banger of a drum solo. Holy hell if you didn’t get goosebumps after that you need to get checked out. If I can get back to “Little Monster” for a minute, the crowd needs a shoutout for sure. The placed turned into one big choir delivering spot on riffs that could be heard in Canada which by the way is about a 5-10 minute drive from the MotorCity, give yourself a big high five Fillmore. The night was amazing indeed this is my third time covering the band and it literally gets better each time. Closing out the night with my favorite song “Figure It Out” which kind of played out like a rock battle between Kerr and Thacher each showing their incredible talents going back and forth to the likes from the sold-out crowd. Catch the band in a city near you and see for yourself what a two-man wrecking crew looks like. On tour with the band and opening up is the UK punk band Bad Nerves.