Rock Doesn’t Need to Be Saved by Greta Van Fleet

I'll be honest. I'm not a fan of Greta Van Fleet, the trendy young band of the moment who sound more than a little bit like Led Zeppelin. That said, I don't begrudge them their success. The singer does a mean Robert Plant impression, the band can play, and in the greater scheme of things there's plenty of music out there that's worse.

However, I am tired of hearing about how GVF are supposedly “saving” rock n roll. Or even more ludicrous yet, given their retro affectations, that they are the “future” of rock n roll. The implication, of course, is that there aren’t any other new(ish) bands playing genuine honest-to-goodness rock music in the classic mold. 

I call bullshit.

Into the 'Arena' with Duran Duran

In 1985, English pop band Duran Duran (Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes, and Taylors Andy, John, and Roger) were at the peak of their popularity. Back then I wouldn’t have been caught dead listening such a non-badass bunch, as it was about the same time my teenage identity solidified into that of “metal head”. And you can be darn sure I didn’t watch the hour-long concert film, ARENA (AN ABSURD NOTION), that the boys released that year. I wasn’t even aware the thing existed.

Times and tastes change, though, and these days I have more appreciation for Duran Duran. So when I recently stumbled across ARENA, I figured what the heck, I’ll take a look. It should be fun at the very least. Plus, I might score a few points with my wife, a long-time fan of the group.

I couldn’t possibly have imagined what was in store.