Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires LP Release Show @ The EARL

On June 30th, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires released their latest and third LP, Youth Detention via Don Giovanni Records, with a special evening that started out at Criminal Records in Atlanta before taking the chaotic party to The EARL in EAV. The Glory Fires are known as “the real Alabama rock-and-roll,” and this whole night left no doubt that this band is one of the most important current southern rock bands around.

Lee Bains currently resides just outside of Atlanta, so it wasn’t a surprise that the band kicked off their tour behind Youth Detention in Atlanta before heading to Birmingham, Alabama the next night for a special release show in their hometown ahead of their current US tour. Lee started the evening out with a solo in-store set at Atlanta’s beloved Criminal Records. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires in a full band setting is a loud rock ‘n’ roll band taking elements of classic rock, punk, hardcore and grunge with a country flair to form southern rock greatness. But at his core, Lee Bains himself is simply an amazing songwriter, and sometimes that isn’t as obvious on the surface of the full band turbulent rock ‘n’ roll. It’s always been there though; hidden under the screeching guitars and off the chain live shows has always been Lee and his words that carry a lot of weight and depth that you wouldn’t typically expect from a good ole boy from Alabama. It was a treat to see Lee Bains at Criminal Records, armed simply with his electric guitar, his voice, and the songs he has written. The solo set put his words and his vocals front and center for once, making it obvious to those in attendance that Lee Bains would have no problem achieving prominence on the singer-songwriter circuit if that’s the direction he ever wanted to go. But just like his Glory Fires mates, Lee Bains III is rock ‘n’ roll to the core, which is what makes Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires a lethal combo and a force to be reckoned with.

Whether during his solo set at Criminal Records, or full band rock at The EARL, the one thing you can pretty much expect these days from Lee Bains is heartfelt speeches between the songs that not only tell the stories of the songs he has written, but also Lee pushing for a better world (of which many of these songs are about). No this isn’t some annoying musician on stage preaching to the audience and pushing an agenda (though you may get a well deserved Fuck Trump during these speeches) where you just want to yell at the stage to stop talking and start playing. Instead this is a musician that is using his platform not for some just liberal agenda, but simply a really great good ole boy who is fighting the stigma of what you typically think of a true southern man. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires is a band that preaches for inclusion, no matter your background, race, or sexual orientation. They are a band that wants the human race to come together as one, and fight for what’s right for all, not what you think is best for yourself. These are just regular guys who just so happened to grow up in the south who are for breaking down walls and building solidarity amongst people.

Said Lee during one of his speeches at The EARL: “I’m from Alabama where there are lots of good ole boys, these guys are considered to be good ole boys (pointing to his band members), they love their families, they love where they come from, they don’t talk shit if they don’t want shit, they know how to party, they like fucking football, they do all this shit, these are good ole boys. Donald Trump ain’t no fucking good ole boy, come on!” and as soon as his speech ends, the band starts blasting out the straight fire. But really what else can I/should I ramble on about Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, the pictures tell the true story of a band that doesn’t know what a bad or boring live show is. Simply put, their live show is always one of the best shows you will see, no matter the setting.

Bitter

Circling back, their show at The EARL included three opening acts. Atlanta-based Reconciler kicked off the show first with a set of their own rock ‘n’ roll fire that paired nicely with Lee Bains. After Reconciler, one of Atlanta’s hottest young acts, Bitter, performed to the enthusiastic crowd. This was somehow my first time personally catching Bitter live, but it’s become obvious since the release of their debut EP earlier this year the respect they’ve earned in that short time, seemingly becoming the go-to local band for pretty much any bill that wants a hot local act with something much more to say. They even made a comment that night thanking their fans for coming to see them AGAIN at The EARL that night, laughing about how many times they’ve played the venue (and many others) recently. Truthfully, I expected the Latinx queer punk band to just be another new face in the local punk scene that got the crowds going with heavy riffs. But what I heard on the stage that night was so much more. Bitter’s hooks and riffs go beyond the simple punk methodology, bringing pop sensibilities to their arena worthy sound while mixing elements of grunge to shoegaze and much more. Lead guitarist, Chava, was so effing good that a drunken (and annoying) fan couldn’t help but approach her in the middle of the set to tell her how great she was. I can’t say I disagree at all, but maybe wait till after the set to tell the band how much you adore them. Either way, Bitter is certainly on their way to much more!

After Bitter ended their set, Lee Bains came up to introduce a very special short set from the next act, Atlanta-based artist Lonnie Holley. Like Lee, Lonnie is also originally from Birmingham, Alabama, where Lee mentioned that growing up, they referred to Lonnie as “The Sandman”. Now Lonnie is known around the world for his sacred and mystical art, and more recently his euphoric and out of this world music. Lonnie and Lee seem to share a common bond, fighting for this world through their art to be a better place, and together, Lee joined Lonnie on a backing guitar for a mesmerizing set that totally switched up the flow of the evening, giving the audience a slight reprieve, delivering sweet euphoric sounds. All of this though, before Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires took the stage for one of the best sets I’ve seen this year.