Black Stone Cherry returned to the OVO Arena Wembley for their final UK tour date. We last saw the guys here back in February 2023 when they joined The Darkness on a beast of a joint headline tour. This year, the band took on the arena themselves, proving they are truly worthy of its twelve-and-a-half thousand capacity. But who are we kidding? Black Stone Cherry is an absolute industry champion band that gives nothing but the best.
Black Stone Cherry
OVO Arena Wembley, London – 23 November 2024
Words: Monty Sewell
Photography: Robert Sutton
Heading straight to the front of the stalls, the crowd reminisces on the brilliance of support acts Ayron Jones and Skillet. The trio of bands on the billing recently released a collaboration cover of The Cult’s American Horse, and the expectation of the band’s coming together onstage is hot on the conversation. But as the lights go down and coloured fluorescence is shone upon the gigantic curtain covering the stage, the arena screams for Black Stone Cherry.
Chris Robertson is on lead guitar and vocals, Ben Wells is on rhythm guitar, Steve Jewell is on bass, and John Fred Young is on drums. We know the lineup well and know they deliver, and as they open with the blasting good Me And Mary Jane, we plonk ourselves firmly in the passenger seat of this rocking ride.
An insatiable energy comes from every soul onstage, rippling through the venue like a wild, untameable Southern horse. Burnin’ causes a mass scream-along before the guys launch into Again. A personal favourite of mine, the drum pounds out heart palpitations.
Given this is the final night of their UK tour, I was expecting the band to give us a no-holds-barred performance and that we were given. Wells and Jewell are the axe-wielding, mad-footed duo, racing around the stage with more high kicks than an Olympic-level gymnast. I wouldn’t quite class it as acrobatics, but in the moment, I swear to god, those guys are leaping a good few feet off the stage.
Out Of Pocket, Rain Wizard, Blind Man, and The Mess You Made; the band keep them rolling out like a hotbed of fire-cracking fuel. Robertson’s vocals could power a rocket as he gives us everything of his signature husky drawl. With so much technology going around to alter and enhance an artist’s recorded material, Robertson stands as a true testament that what you hear on record is what you get live.
Like I Roll takes us right into the zone of nostalgic music adoration. Something about that song brings such warmth to the soul, and to have it blasted out to thousands as they reach up to wail that chorus is just sensational. Speaking of emotion, BSC then slips into Stay without any warning. Even the burly, bearded ones around us felt all the sentiments as we swayed our arms in unison.
To stop the audience from completely breaking down with emotion, the band launched into Cheaper To Drink Alone. Midway through, Young breaks out in a drum solo. This guy doesn’t only have the chops; he has the whole flipping steak and more, with skills unmatched thundering out across the vast venue. I will never tire of seeing him perform and always look forward to his interludes.
Continuously thanking the audience and the band’s team throughout their set, Roberton takes a moment to speak of the passing of his father. A touching moment is respectively followed by Things My Father Said. Phone torches are lit and held high to commemorate the song’s meaning. Glancing around the venue, it is truly a sight to see and a moment to remember.
In My Blood is followed by When The Pain Comes before we get The Cult cover of American Horse. Ayron Jones and John Cooper (Skillet) join BSC onstage in a behemoth of a performance. It makes the entire tour come together through all the bands’ involvement in the lineup and song collaboration. The whole night is wrapped in one beautiful Black Stone Cherry bow with no one’s involvement questioned or damped.
Fan favourite White Trash Millionaire is right where it should be before head-banger Lonely Train causes a few mosh pits to open up. The band ends with Blame It On The Boom Boom. Through rain or snow, that song will be there when the apocalypse comes, and my goodness, we will dance to it.
The audience screams for an encore and gets more for what they bargained for with the heartfelt Peace Is Free. I briefly glance down at my phone to check the time, and when I raise my head, none other than Chris Robertson is standing right in front of me, right in the middle of the OVO Arena Wembley audience with a small circle of space around him.
Robertson begins Peace Is Free amongst us before returning to the stage with his band as they wrap up their UK tour with a phenomenal and touching performance. As we drift towards the end of the 2024 gigging year, I can honestly say this was a solid highlight. Black Stone Cherry has never let us down and continues to grow in their greatness each time they return to the UK.
