Greta Van Fleet – PNC Arena – Raleigh (A PopEntertainment.com Concert Review)

Greta Van Fleet – PNC Arena – Raleigh, NC – March 13, 2023

Better late than never. This Greta Van Fleet concert was a rescheduled date for the Dreams In Gold Tour that was originally supposed to be played last year, but one of the members had gotten sick so they had to postpone. GVF is a modern rock band from Frankenmuth, Michigan consisting of brothers Josh, Jake, and Sam Kiszka, and longtime friend Danny Wagner.

The beginning of this show started out right with openers Robert Finley and Houndmouth. You may know Finley from America’s Got Talent. He warmed the crowd right up with his powerful, blues-filled voice. Next was Houndmouth, a band from New Albany, Indiana. They seemed to be a real crowd favorite as many fans were singing along to their songs. Once Houndmouth’s set was over you could feel the electrifying energy in the air as the audience waited for Greta Van Fleet to finally hit the stage.

A curtain was put up to hide GVF away from the fans before they debuted on stage. As the preshow playlist went on, one song in particular struck a nerve with the audience as they all started to scream when they heard the opening notes of “Reasons for Waiting” by Jethro Tull being played. This is the last song that plays before the band comes on. As the song came to an end the audience started a chant, saying “Greta” over and over again, just wanting them to walk out on stage already. As everyone waited a monologue began to play. It was Josh Kiszka the singer. I could hear most people reciting the words of this monologue as if they've heard it plenty of times before, which I’m sure many of them have.

The monologue came to an end and the opening notes of the first song of the night began to play, which was “Built By Nations,” a song from their latest album The Battle at Garden’s Gate from 2021. The curtain that was up previously to hide the band away finally toppled down and unveiled Greta Van Fleet in all their glory. Fans could not contain their excitement as the song kept playing and they finally got to see what they had been waiting for all night.

After the first few songs it was time for a drum solo, which Danny Wagner happily provided. While he was playing and getting the crowd hyped, the singer went backstage and came back with white roses in hand. He then got on a security guard’s shoulders and handed out a few roses to fans on the barricade and a few rows back. I have never seen any band do something like this before and you could tell how much it meant to each person that got a rose or just shook Josh’s hand after he handed the roses out and went back down the line. This band was very interactive with its audience, and it was so nice and heartwarming to see.

As the night went on the energy in the room never faltered. The setlist consisted of thirteen songs which everyone seemed to know all the words to as you could hear the whole arena singing along. Two of my favorites of the night were “Broken Bells” and “The Weight of Dreams.” They both featured guitar solos by the talented Jake Kiszka, which I just could not get enough of, and neither could the fans. They went crazy for him every time a solo came about.

After the show had come to a close you could see how much this band affected these people. So many were leaving smiling or even crying just simply overwhelmed by the whole experience. All in all I highly recommend seeing Greta Van Fleet live if you ever have the pleasure of doing so. They put on such a fantastic high energy production and it's truly something you have to see at least once in your lifetime.

Courtney Karikka