It was a rainy Wednesday night in Nashville. Skies turned dark right after dinner, and by 7 p.m., the steady rain had arrived—just in time for doors to open at Brooklyn Bowl. People came in with jackets dripping and shoes squeaking, crowding under the marquee or rushing straight through to the front. Everyone looked like they wanted to be there.
The reason? The Blue Stones were launching their METRO Tour, and Nashville got the first stop.
Photo Credit: Nick Fancher
The Blue Stones are a rock duo out of Ontario, Canada—Tarek Jafar (vocals, guitar) and Justin Tessier (drums). Over the last several years, they’ve made a name for themselves with their minimalist setup and full-bodied sound. Their breakout hit, “Shakin’ Off the Rust,” topped Canada’s rock charts and cracked the top five in the U.S. They’ve pulled in over 300 million streams, landed multiple JUNO nominations, and headlined rooms from The Troubadour to The Electric Ballroom to The Danforth Music Hall.
Their new album, METRO, came out earlier this year. It’s a concept record—a subway ride into the self. Each track feels like a different stop, a new confrontation between the self you present and the one you hide. The album leans darker, more direct, and that tone was fully present in the live show.
VEAUX opened the night, and you could immediately tell they’ve been doing this for a long time. This wasn’t a band figuring things out onstage—they were already locked in. They’ve been together since 2016, and that kind of time shows. Everything from the pacing of their set to the way they moved between songs felt natural. No stalling, no awkward filler. Just music, start to finish.
They’re a trio—two brothers and a close friend—and their sound pulls from different corners: alt-pop, some indie, a little R&B. But it’s all filtered through something that feels lived-in. The production was tight, but what stood out most to me was how their songs built slowly and paid off without forcing anything. You could hear the layers, but nothing got in the way of the vocals or the groove.
Aaron Wagner, the frontman, has one of those voices that’s clear without being delicate. It carries without pushing. I found myself paying attention to the lyrics—nothing abstract or overly polished, just solid lines that land well live.
I didn’t feel like I was just “watching the opener.” I was standing there, actually in it, which isn’t always the case. They held the room on their own terms. It felt good to see a Nashville band this dialed in at home, and they absolutely held their own.
The Blue Stones hit the stage at exactly 9:10 p.m. The lights dropped, the crowd let out a cheer, and they launched straight into “Your Master.” No intro track. No warm-up. Just two guys, fully dialed in, taking over the room.
They played 18 songs, most of them from METRO. The mood was tight, focused. Tarek’s guitar tone filled every inch of the venue—deep, deliberate, no overplaying. Justin’s drumming had its own swing, always pushing forward but never rushed.
Standout tracks like “Come Apart,” “Kill Box,” and “Happy Cry” hit especially hard live. METRO may be heavier thematically, but in person, it carries even more energy. The transitions were seamless. The band didn’t waste time with monologues. They played like they were already in mid-tour form, even though this was stop one.
They dropped in older tracks like “Black Holes,” “Shakin’,” and “Let It Ride” at just the right points—enough to light up the fans who’ve been there a while, but without shifting the focus from what’s next.
I saw The Blue Stones years ago—pre-2020—and they had the kind of presence that made you stop what you were doing. That hasn’t changed. If anything, they’ve tightened their sound and stripped out the excess. They don’t try to fill the room with flash. They do it with sound and intent. Everything felt locked in.
The crowd stayed with them the whole way. Nobody was just waiting for the hit. It felt like a room full of people who came to hear the record live and left with something more grounded.
If this first show is any indication, The METRO Tour is going to hit hard in every city it rolls through. The new songs live well onstage—louder, grittier, more direct. And if you’ve seen The Blue Stones before, you already know: they don’t need a big production to leave a mark. Just a guitar, a drum kit, and a setlist that does exactly what it needs to do.
1 comment
So good!
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