“I want to hear a fucking pin drop in this room!” Brett Emmons bellows into the microphone, gripping it with both hands. “Take a moment and honour the man!” The frontman for The Glorious Sons glowers at the crowd gathered at Vancouver’s PNE Forum as he steps back into the smoky blue light and bows his head.

Perhaps some hadn’t heard the tragic news of the sudden passing of bass player Chris Huot’s brother Adrian, but after a few seconds of collective hushing, fans manage to satisfy the request.

Eventually, Emmons steps forward again and as his band mates take the stage one by one, they open their set with a solemn rendition of “Amigos,” a fitting deep cut from their debut album The Union. It’s clear that the gravity of loosing someone close is weighing on each of them, but as they launch into “Sawed off Shotgun” they start to channel some of that heartache into the performance.

Wearing a black suit over a white t-shirt, Emmons bounds off the stage and gets up close and personal with fans in the front row. Meanwhile brother Jay Emmons and lead guitarist Chris Koster march up and down the stage with their respective six strings. They follow with “Panic Attack,” the energetic lead single from their latest album A War on Everything. The energy remains cranked for the next few rambunctious offerings until they slow it down a notch or two with the albums title track.

The second half of the set is largely a string of med tempo sing-a-longs with fans starting to sing “Mama” long before Emmons utters the first line.

In a world where the pressure to be perfect, mindful, and all the rest of it, this six-piece from Kingston Ontario connects with people who like to keep it real. Lead singer Brett Emmons is an everyday man with superhero charm who wears his heart on his sleeve and keeps his hair wild. He spends a good chunk of the night rushing from one side of the stage to the other, often spinning with his arms outstretched as though mimicking a helicopter. The rest of the time he is abusing a mic stand whilst belting out blue collar rock anthems.

At the end of their sensational encore, which included the hook laden hit “Kingdom in My Heart,” Emmons took a modest bow and thanked the crowd for helping them through the night. (For anyone interested in continuing to help, the guys have set up a GoFundMe campaign for Adrian Huot’s family.)

Earlier in the evening Black Pistol Fire, the rock duo made up of Kevin McKeown and Eric Owen warmed up the crowd and had everyone shimmying and shaking. Both McKeown and Owen are total freaks. Magnificent musical freaks.

The two childhood friends are originally from Toronto but currently call Austin, Texas home and they put on a set stuffed with sinew, smiles and backwards somersaults. Owen is a beast of a beat keeper, with long hair and enough stamina to hit hard for the whole set. McKeown is obviously a wizard invoking black magic sorcery to help command his guitar.

The pair produce a sound that is full of grit, blues and sweet southern rock. To call their live performance explosive doesn’t do it justice. It’s like a sonic expression of an earthquake.

This show was one for the books. Black Pistol Fire opening for Glorious Sons…. a major victory in the fight to keep rock and roll alive.