Ones To Watch: Greta Van Fleet

The 28th band to take centre stage in our weekly Ones To Watch showcase of the finest fast-rising talent are Frankenmuth rockers Greta Van Fleet.

Author: Scott Colothan Published 11th Apr 2018



Greta Van Fleet are Josh Kiska (vocals), Jake Kiska (guitar), Sam Kiska (bass, keyboards) and Danny Wagner (drums).

Listeners of MOJO Rocks with Phil Alexander will already be well-acquainted with the rip-roaring sounds of Greta Van Fleet. Since they exploded onto the scene last year, the enviably fresh-faced quartet have picked up regular plays on the show and double EP ‘From The Fires’ was proclaimed as Phil’s Album of the Week in November. Consisting of 21-year-old twins Josh and Jake, their 19-year-old brother Sam and drummer Danny, Greta Van Fleet serve up a perfect musical storm; their self-assured, instantly catchy and exultant classic rock 'n' roll is like an aural adrenaline injection.

From the hurricane-force ‘Highway Tune’ (which has notched up 12million views on YouTube and counting) to the melodic ‘Black Smoke Rising’, mainly thanks to Josh’s Plant-esque howl, the glaring comparisons to Led Zeppelin are unavoidable from the moment Greta Van Fleet’s music graces your lugholes. In a recent interview Percy himself said “they ARE ‘Led Zeppelin 1’” and joked that “beautiful singer” Josh “borrowed his voice from someone I know very well.” Added to this, Jake freely admits to being obsessed with Jimmy Page, telling Rolling Stone: "I went through a year of really intensely studying what Page did, to the point where I knew how he thought." While the self-professed similarities will no doubt fuel the indignation of naysayers, with a Led Zeppelin reunion repeatedly ruled out by Percy, the truth is Greta Van Fleet are as close as you’re going to get to them right now.

For all of Greta Van Fleet’s brilliance on record, it’s in the live arena where they truly come into their own. A potent and tight-knit live tour-de-force, their recent sold-out UK tour received widespread plaudits with Planet Rock listeners telling us they were “simply amazing”, “f***ing awesome” and other such superlatives. Just this week, they’ve announced their biggest UK headline show to date at the 1,500 capacity London Electric Ballroom on Monday 11th June, which follows a coveted Zippo Encore Stage slot at Download Festival the day earlier. We implore you to watch them if you can.



Catch Greta Van Fleet at the following shows:

JUNE 2018

Download Festival – Sun 10th

London, Camden Electric Ballroom – Mon 11th

You can buy Download Festival weekend and day tickets right here.

Tickets for the Camden Electric Ballroom go on sale from 9am on Friday 13th April from Planet Rock Tickets.

Keep up-to-date with Greta Van Fleet by visiting their official website or following them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.