Photos + Words | J Roddy Walston & The Business @ The Royale

One thing was clear on Friday night at the Royale in Boston, those in attendance were witnessing a fuckin’ rock ‘n roll show. As soon as J. Roddy Walston and the Business took the stage they had the place rockin’ with their early hit, “Don’t Break the Needle.” This tour is in support of their new album, Destroyer of the Soft Life, and they did just that. J. Roddy Walston and the Business were definitely not soft on Friday night, and they left no doubt that their hard rocking sound was going to get asses shaking and heads bangin’.

I can only wish to look as cool as J. Roddy, wearing white pants and a flower patterned shirt and lighting striped cardigan that must have come from some punk-rock-grandma’s closet, only J. Roddy can pull that off. J. Roddy just exudes sexual energy and seems to be making love to the music as his 70’s-southern-rock-band style long hair falls over his face as he pounds on his piano like Jerry Lee Lewis and hollers like Robert Plant.

They played a solid mix of songs from the new album as well as some of the hits from previous records. From the modern grunge sounds of “Blade of Truth” and “You Know Me Better” to the piano prominent ballads like “Caroline”, “Marigold”, and “Brave Man’s Death”, J. Roddy had the venue jumping and dancing from the beginning until the epic encore rockin’ out to Heavy Bells.

There is nothing quite like hearing someone jam on the piano to get a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on. Mix that with Billy Gordon shredding the guitar and the rest of the Business killing it, and you’ll know why when I pontificate about J. Roddy Walston and the Business I testify that “They are just pure fucking Rock n’ Roll.”