ANKH TV

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A Performance Etched into a Hometown Stage

Rival Sons bring “Look Away” to life from The Wiltern in Los Angeles with the kind of poised intensity that has long defined their presence onstage. Set against the historic theater’s vaulted ceilings and deep-blue glow, the song’s slow-blooming drama and taut dynamics feel amplified by the room itself, a landmark space that has hosted generations of rock performances. This rendition honors that lineage while underscoring what makes the band a singular force in contemporary rock: a commitment to songcraft, emotional clarity, and unflinching dynamics.

From Feral Roots to the Footlights

“Look Away” appears on the band’s 2019 album Feral Roots, released on Low Country Sound / Atlantic Records. It is one of the record’s emotional keystones, a study in tension and release that distills the album’s broader aesthetic: raw and weathered at the edges, yet carefully arranged, grounded in blues tradition, and sharpened by modern rock heft. The track sits at a crossroads of the band’s influences, moving from acoustic introspection to a heavier, electrically charged payoff, a hallmark of how Rival Sons build narrative arcs inside individual songs.

Dynamic Architecture and Instrumental Color

Arranged with a clear sense of contour, “Look Away” opens in a quieter register. Cleanly plucked acoustic figures hang in the air with patient restraint, leaving space for organ swells and tremolo-laced guitar phrases to color the margins. The rhythm section keeps a deliberate heartbeat, letting silence do as much work as sound. As the performance develops, the band layers harmonic density and rhythmic insistence, gradually warming the tone until the chorus arrives fully bloomed. By the time the coda hits, electric guitars have taken the reins, cymbals bloom into the upper register, and the song’s initial hush gives way to a wind-swept surge.

The tonal palette is rooted in the band’s signature contrasts. Scott Holiday’s guitar work toggles between burnished cleans and saturated grit, building textures rather than foregrounding sheer volume. Subtle organ pads, often present in the group’s live mix, round out the harmonic spectrum and lend a quiet gospel undercurrent. Mike Miley’s drum approach, crisp on the snare and unhurried on the kick, keeps the groove steady while allowing for dynamic peaks. Dave Beste’s bass lines speak in the low midrange, anchoring the harmony without crowding it, a crucial counterweight to the song’s airy opening passages.

Vocal Gravity and Lyrical Tension

Jay Buchanan’s vocal performance remains the focal point. He phrases with a slow-burn urgency, bringing grain and soul to each line without tipping into excess. In “Look Away,” the lyric feels like a plea addressed inward as much as outward, circling ideas of withdrawal, warning, and the uneasy distance between self-preservation and surrender. The repetition of the title phrase turns into a kind of mantra, reflecting the song’s double life as both benediction and boundary. Live, Buchanan navigates that ambiguity with finesse, shaping the melody so its high notes land like decisions rather than ornament.

The Band’s Onstage Chemistry

Rival Sons operate as a unit that privileges interplay over display. This performance highlights that ethos. The band resists the temptation to rush the early verses, instead using eye contact and slight tempo inflections to widen or tighten the frame as needed. When the arrangement pivots from acoustic glow to electric charge, the transition feels earned, a sum of small adjustments—more air in the hi-hat, a hairier edge on the guitar, a deeper tug from the bass—rather than a simple flick of a switch.

Part of the group’s live strength lies in their ability to suggest breadth without crowding the soundstage. Guitar overdubs become implied rather than literal through well-chosen voicings and room-filling delay tails. Organ textures thicken the chordal spine without stepping on the vocal. The result is a mix that breathes, capable of hushed intimacy and full-throated release within the same four minutes.

Hometown Venue, Lived-in Resonance

The Wiltern’s Art Deco expanse is more than a picturesque backdrop. Its character bleeds into the music. The natural reverb of the room softens the edges of “Look Away” during its early passages, adding a halo to acoustic strings and voice. When the track reaches its apex, the theater’s acoustics turn the drum transients into a physical presence, a sensation you feel as much as hear. For a band with Southern California roots, performing this material in Los Angeles carries a certain gravitational pull, an echo of the scenes and histories that helped shape their approach to rock and soul.

Behind the Camera

Directed and filmed by Rick Horn, with additional filming and editing by Justin Brunner, the video captures the performance with an uncluttered, documentarian instinct. Close-ups linger on Buchanan’s phrasing and Holiday’s fretwork, while wide shots place the full band in the theater’s luminous geometry. Edits follow the song’s contours rather than fighting them, allowing the camera to hold when the tension is high and cut when the chorus finally blooms. The color grading favors warmth and shadow, which suits the track’s twilight mood.

Position in the Rival Sons Songbook

“Look Away” crystallizes what Rival Sons do best: harnessing traditional rock and blues vocabulary while refusing to be hemmed in by nostalgia. It is not their loudest or most virtuosic moment, yet it might be one of their most revealing. The song trusts melody, tone, and space. It understands that a whisper can set up a roar more effectively than a constant shout. In a live setting, that balance becomes even more pronounced, inviting the audience into the quiet before delivering the catharsis.

Personnel

• Jay Buchanan – vocals
• Scott Holiday – guitars
• Dave Beste – bass
• Mike Miley – drums
• Todd Ögren – keyboards

Final Impression

As presented from The Wiltern, “Look Away” plays like a meditation that turns stormward, guided by a band in full command of dynamics and feel. It is a study in tension, release, and restraint, executed with a clarity that reaffirms Rival Sons’ standing as one of rock’s most reliable live propositions. With the framework of Feral Roots behind it and the Wiltern’s history in front of it, the performance finds a compelling intersection of craft and atmosphere.

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