Greta Van Fleet at the Bowery Ballroom

Josh Kiszka

Three brothers, vocalist Josh Kiszka, guitarist Jake Kiszka and bassist/keyboardist Sam Kiszka, formed the hard-rocking Greta Van Fleet in 2012 in the Kiszka family garage in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Danny Wagner replaced the original drummer in 2013. The band chose its name when one of its members heard a relative mention Gretna Van Fleet, an elder resident of Frankenmuth; she gave approval for the band members to adapt a variation of her name. This year the band has garnered national attention. In October 2017, the band won Best New Artist at the Loudwire Music Awards. The band has recorded three EPS; the most recent, a double EP entitled From the Fires, was released on November 10, 2017.

On Greta Van Fleet's third visit to New York in 2017, the band sold out two nights at the Bowery Ballroom, a commendable merit especially since the band has not yet recorded its debut album. The band's limited catalog has received radio play and word on the street has been strong, principally because everyone seems to be saying the same thing -- Greta Van Fleet sounds very much like Led Zeppelin. Indeed, judging by this week's rocking live sets, Greta Van Fleet has studied the Zep remarkably well. Josh's Robert Plant-styled vocal wails were particularly arresting, simultaneously sounding so familiar and yet also so new, and Jake's guitar riffs and the rhythm section's bombastic approach was so classic rock, even down to the hopeful hippie lyrics. A cover of Howling Wolf's "Evil" was a distant cousin to "Ramble On," but "Lover Leaver Taker Believer" was a kissing cousin to "Whole Lotta Love." Hard rock fans have been waiting nearly 50 years for a Led Zeppelin reunion, but it is not going to happen -- ever -- and this has opened the market for the birth of a smoking doppelganger, Greta Van Fleet. The next tour could be an arena tour.

Visit Greta Van Fleet at www.gretavanfleet.com.

Setlist:

1. Talk On The Streets
2. Black Smoke Rising
3. Edge of Darkness
4. When The Cold Wind Blows
5. Flower Power
6. You're the One
7. Evil (Howlin’ Wolf cover)
8. Mountain Of The Sun
9. Watching Over (dedicated to Tom Petty)
10. Lover Leaver Taker Believer

Encore:

1. Highway Tune
2. Safari Song