When Rivers Meet
- Rock Metal Machine
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Artists: When Rivers Meet / Georgia Nevada
Venue: Birdwell Venue (Barnsley)
Date: 07 November 2025
There’s an old saying, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”; however, with When Rivers Meet you have both talent that works hard, which is paying off with richly deserved success.
Support this evening came from Country, Rock & Blues artist Georgia Nevada. With a name like that and a sound straight out of Nashville, you would be right to be mistaken in assuming that the lady heralds from the home of the red, white and blue, instead of Littleport, Cambridge, UK.
Playing this evening as a duo with guitarist Edd Robinson, she entertained the substantial crowd to a forty-five-minute set kicking off with ‘The Bright Side Of The Dark’ and it was clear from the get-go that the singer songwriter possessed an impressive voice. Nevada briefly chatted to the audience, introducing the songs including ‘Whatever You’ve Got’, the first song she ever wrote back in 2020, which went straight to #1 in the UK Country charts. The crowd joined in with gentle clapping before the guitar solo outro. Up next was her latest single ‘Pink Cadillac’, which was more Rock than Country, and taken from her forthcoming and highly anticipated debut album ‘Backfire’ (due for release in March 2026). The genre of the next song was unquestionably Country, the Dolly Parton 1974 classic ‘Jolene’, and a very laudable cover by the pair. Nevada brought out a mandolin, which she had only learnt to play a week ago in Islington, for ‘Who He Says He Will Be’. Things slowed with the poignant ‘A Day That Makes Sense’ dedicated to all those who had ever lost anyone too soon; written about a friend the singer lost in a car accident ten years ago, you could still hear the raw emotion in her voice. The pace picked up again with ‘Guilty’ and ‘Walk With Me’, whilst Nevada encouraged the crowd to sing along during set finale ‘I Can Hear It’. This was my first introduction to Georgia Nevada, and probably a lot of others at tonight’s show, and I think she will have gained a few new fans. She was certainly a good choice of opener for this tour.
Setlist (contains spoilers)
The Bright Side Of Dark / Whatever You Got / Pink Cadillac / Jolene / Who He Says He Will Be / A Day That Makes Sense / Guilty / Walk With Me / I Can Hear It
The last time I saw When Rivers Meet was on the opening night of their tour back in 2022 at The Greystones, Sheffield. Then they were a quartet; however, for this the Planet Rock sponsored ‘Tree Of Life Tour’ they were going out as a six-piece band for the first time. The backing band, guitarist Craig Garrod (guitars), Emily Frances (keyboards), and rhythm section of Adam “Ads” Bowers (bass) and James “Foxy” Fox (drums) were first to enter the stage before the main protagonists Grace and Aaron Bond casually strolled on to join them in a rousing opener ‘Free Man’. ‘Take Me To The River’ and ‘Break Free’ followed and it was evident that Grace and Aaron were alternately sharing lead vocals, a clever ploy in both preserving their voices from burnout and maintaining the variety throughout the set. The sound was excellent, which is generally the case at the Birdwell Venue since its refurbishment post COVID.
Early highlights were the slower, atmospheric ‘Eye Of The Hurricane’, ‘Trail Of Avalon’ where Grace mopped the brow of her husband pre-song, much to the amusement of the crowd, and ‘Breaker Of Chains’ with the shared dual vocals, always a highpoint. The band are always very proud that they’ve remained independent, writing ‘Preacher’ to emphasise the point, the latter taken from their latest studio opus ‘Addicted To You’, which reached #4 on the official UK album chart.
When Rivers Meet started as a duo and they played an acoustic version of ‘Golden’ with just the couple on stage. It was a great way to break up the set, but I’m pleased they now play as a full band and hope they remain as a sextet. Grace continues to play the mandolin, violin and fiddle throughout, which remains an integral part of their sound.
The paradox pairing of ‘I Will Fight’ and ‘Don’t Wanna Fight’ were further acmes, the former dedicated by Aaron to grandparents and great grandparents, with an impressive bass solo intro by Bowers and keyboard solo mid-song by Frances; the latter is Grace’s favourite from the new album, and reminds me a lot of House Of Lords’ ‘Can’t Find My Way Home’ in the verses.
Further amusement ensued when Grace told the audience that Aaron had written a song (‘Fire’) about visiting her in her dreams when they were apart, which sounded passionately romantic until Aaron quipped, “Not those sorts of dreams!”
My personal highlight was set closer, the rockin’ ‘Did I Break The Law’, which also featured band introductions by Grace and fan participation. The band left to a joyful ovation and returned a few minutes later for an encore including ‘Play The Game’ and ‘Want Your Love’
There’s an old saying, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”; however, with When Rivers Meet you have both talent that works hard, which is paying off with richly deserved success.
Setlist (contains spoilers)
Free Man / Take Me To The River / Break Free / Seen It All Before / Eye Of A (Friend Of Mine Pt2) / Never Change / Preacher / Trail To Avalon / Breaker Of Chains / Golden / Addicted To You / Tree Of Life / I Will Fight / Don’t Wanna Fight / Have No Doubt About It / Fire / Tree Of Life (Reprise) / Did I Break The Law
Encore: - Play The Game / Want Your Love
Review: Mark Donnelly
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