If you’d told anyone in 2004 that Kiefer Sutherland, 80s heartthrob and star of the immensely popular 24, would not only record and release three country-rock albums but that these albums would be good, they might have looked at you weird. If you’d followed up by saying that these songs were even better live, they might’ve had you committed. But the Kiefer Sutherland Band are a genuine powerhouse, a taut combination of hard rock and country stylings fuelled by Sutherland’s actor-y charisma and an incredible lead guitarist. It’s not perfect, it’s a bit over-earnest, but Sutherland, the band and the audience are having the time of their lives.
Support is ably offered by Fine Lines, a country-folk version of Steeleye Span with a strong line in violin infused melodies and two lead singers. More folk music than Sutherland’s style, it nevertheless warms and entertains the audience as the leadup to the main event, and more than that the band seem genuinely thrilled to be there, relishing their songs and the exposure.
And then the main event. To their credit, the band gets straight into it, beginning with ‘Ole’ Lonely Life’ and rarely easing up except to have a brief chat to the audience from a stage dressed to give a homely vibe, complete with a little living room lamp under the piano. Singles, album tracks and covers, old and new, fill the setlist, and are strung together by Sutherland’s anecdotes, which toe the line between cringey (a ‘boy and his pony’, indeed) and heartfelt. Sutherland frequently tells the crowd how happy he is to be there, playing songs primarily written during Covid, and bounds about the stage like a movie star Labrador, completely joyous. But Sutherland’s music career, unlike those of his acting contemporaries, has chops (he has written or co-written all but one song on the setlist), as does his voice, a gravelly but smooth and captivating country hum that carries the audience away. It works as well on ballads such as ‘Chasing the Rain’ as it does on brisker, poppier numbers such as ‘Something You Love.’ Patty Loveless’ ‘Blame It On Your Heart’ is also mixed in, and Sutherland acts his way through the number.
The triumph of the evening is the backing band, who lean more towards hard rock than anything else in many numbers and have a strong line in pulsating, primal rhythm. Slower tracks such as ‘Going Home’ are lifted in this way, whilst the exhilarating ‘This Is How It’s Done’ helps round off the evening in the whirlwind of a fifteen-year-old entering a bar for the first time—a genuine experience, Sutherland says, dropping the slightly put on country accent to embrace his Canadian routes, as after all, he ‘has the right to be nostalgic’. ‘Down In A Hole’ gives each member of the band a star moment and finishes with an immense drum solo; the song whips the crowd up into a frenzy. Frequent guitar solos embellish the night, and it is here that the band seems at its best: with Sutherland as the crooning centre focus but giving way to show just how good his colleagues are. I didn’t expect this country show to come complete with guitar work to make Metallica blush, but there we are.
Don’t let the movie star tag put you off: we’ve all been burnt before by the subpar singing of artists like Russell Crowe. But Sutherland isn’t just playing at being a pop star, although the acting experience helps (especially to sell some of the more plot-based songs). He has the genuine vocal and musical talent to go with his strong stage presence, makes enough references to 24 to please the crowd, and a good crop of songs that tick off all the country beats but have pep and vigour of their own. Complete with one of the best backing bands in the business, it’s an unbeatably enjoyable night. Not too bad for the boy from Bloor Street.
Words by Issy Flower
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