The Blue Stones
Support: Meltt
The Echoplex – Los Angeles, CA
Friday, June 13th, 2025
Review/Pics: Manuel Gay
Canadian duo The Blue Stones put out “Metro” their 4th album a few months ago and stopped by LA on their US/Canada tour on Friday the 13th of June. Due to the on-going protests in Downtown LA and the curfew that ensued, the show initially scheduled at The Regent (right in the middle of the curfew zone) was eventually moved to the Echoplex, located in the less agitated Echo Park. Although some media had been wrongly reporting that LA was burning down that week, we finally got to see some sparks as Tarek and Justin delivered a flaming hot performance.
Meltt
Meltt, another Canadian band – that I didn’t know beforehand – opened the evening. I had listened to a few of their songs on my way to the venue and though I wasn’t sure it was a great match with The Blue Stones vibe, I did enjoy what I had heard thus far. Any doubts or questions I had flew out the window after a couple of their songs. The live rendition of the tracks which sounded OK in my car, slapped me across the face.
Meltt is the best discovery I’ve made these past few months. A couple of folks I chatted with in the crowd had come to see them primarily and it made perfect sense. Their progressive sound is catchy at times, mesmerizing at others. They played a few short pre-recorded ambient tracks before some songs to create a certain mood. The audience was unanimously seduced. “The Absent Sea” from their most recent LP Eternal Embers (2023) was one of the highlights of the set along with the ultra-climatic closer “Deeper Water”. I highly recommend anyone reading this to give them a listen.
The Blue Stones
The lights turned off a bit after 9pm. Time for the main attraction of the night to hit the stage. I had the opportunity to catch The Blue Stones at the Troubadour a couple of years back, so I knew to expect greatness. They didn’t disappoint. Unlike their first three albums, it wasn’t love at first hearing for me when Metro came out. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but it took me a couple of plays to really dig it. Catching them on this tour helped really seal the deal for me as I believe this recent material takes on another dimension when performed live. I liked how the band transcribed the universe of the new material on stage with make-up and outfits that perfectly match the dystopian world of Metro.
They opened with “Your Master” which was the first single released from the new album. Tarek took a moment to thank everyone for showing up and from the reaction you could guess that these loyal fans will always show up for them. The first half of the show was mainly recent tracks, and I particularly appreciated “Don’t Feel Right” and “Killbox”. Here and there, they would throw in an oldie but goodie like “Be My Fire” or “Grim”.
The second half of the show was more focused on delivering the hits, so we got a few treats like “Rolling With The Punches” or “Black Holes (Solid Ground)”. Overall, the show was great: energy, sound, crowd. The only thing I could criticize would maybe be the lighting. As a concertgoer, it looked rad. However, as a photographer it was way too dark and made it a great challenge to get nice shot of the guys.
The Blue Stones is one of the bands I keep on my radar so I can catch them on any possible occasion. I know for a fact they don’t disappoint and I could walk into any of their shows with my eyes closed knowing I’ll have a good time. If you don’t know them yet, do yourself a favor and check them out. I highly recommend you catch any of their shows near you when you can.
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The Blue Stones
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