Judah & The Lion

4/6/25

House of Blues, Cleveland

Opener: Ethan Regan 

Proclaim it from Pride Rock: Judah and the Lion is king

I never gave much thought about what it would mean to be in a lion’s den. The biblical story of Daniel that is the phrase’s origin never connected with me. A meerkat and a warthog once sang about a lion sleeping tonight, and before them a band called the Tokens in 1961 (I had to look that up), and one would think that lions do their best sleeping in their dens. People have dens in their homes for the principal purpose of relaxation (I don’t; I have a movie theater instead, and I highly recommend it as an alternative). So den, then, seems to imply some degree of coziness. But then there’s the lion. And that must convey the opposite of coziness. Lions are fierce, dangerous, roaring, kingly beasts. You don’t want to be in the same room, even a cozy den, with a lion … unless you’re also a lion, or a very good friend of one. 

But that’s exactly where I found myself on a Sunday evening in Cleveland, Ohio. 

This particular pride had taken residence in the House of Blues for a Judah & The Lion show, which I had the pleasure of observing through the lens of a Canon EOS R8 from “the pit.” Far from an elephant graveyard, the band, formed in Nashville and touring live as long as Osama Bin Laden has been dead (2011), ruled over a lush Serengeti of a fandom. 

The Lion’s own Rafiki, opener Ethan Regan (Charlotte, N.C.) did a fine job of establishing the vibe, backed by the folk rock twang of Dipsea Flower, joined by the immaculate banjoist Samantha McKaige. The best compliment I can give Ethan is this: If you love Noah Kahan, you should check out Ethan Regan. 

Then, demonstrating that they are a king of The Land and for The Land, Judah & The Lion’s Judah Akers (wearing a throwback #23 Cavs jersey tributing The Land’s own King James) and Brian Macdonald started the set in a stampede of wildebeests, with guitar and mandolin and a mic stand amidst the VIP, on the fan-side of the standing-room-only barrier in front of the stage. 

So dedicated to immersing the audience in every note, Judah & The Lion had sampled their new song in the pre-show announcements, playing a snippet over the PA to preview the crowd participation part of “Maybe the Best” to ensure a rehearsed, no-fan-left-behind full-volume call and response. Then, in the swarm, the duo tipped the crowd off on their pregame ritual, encouraging a boisterous echo as the full band did a hands-in chant reminiscent of the Jamaican bobsled team immortalized in the 1993 sports-comedy “Cool Runnings”: feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, get on up, it’s bobsled time! 

And what a thrilling trip down the tropical luge it was that the Lion took us down. 

This is a band that gives everything to the fans. And I mean everything. From the roaring rasp of singer Akers to the emotional resonance of storyteller Akers. At times as intimate as a prayer circle, as with the acoustic ballad “As the Crow Flies,” a tribute to Akers’ 8-year-old cousin and grandmother who passed within a week of each other, inspiring Judah & The Lion to compose their latest album, “The Process,” as a reflection on the stages of grief. But there was to be no grieving this night, punctuated with high-energy folksy rock stadium-sized, sugar-coated anthems like “Floating in the Night.” The band’s unique sound is perhaps best expressed by the title of its 2017 album “Folk Hop N’ Roll,” which includes the imminently singalongable “Suit and Jacket” and a reprise of what is probably the band’s most overplayed radio single in “Take It All Back 2.0,” both of which raised the roof of the HOB on this tour stop, and likely will each subsequent. But the thing is, every “J&TL” song is a singalong a “J&TL” show. And it never feels like a case of “we’re tired of playing this song, so YOU sing it.” This band thrives on making the fans not just part of the show, but the whole thing. Remember what I said about giving the crowd everything? That literally includes the shirt off the Lion’s back, as Akers unhesitatingly obliged a fan’s shouted demand of “Take off your shirt” for the encore, which included a live recording of the alluded-to fan-tastic rager “Maybe the Best” that Akers promises will become part of the song. 

I’ll admit, I didn’t have high expectations for this show. I’d prebulked the algorithm’s “best of” playlist for days before, as background music to the typical day-job grind. And though there were a few “aha” moments of familiarity, no single really seduced my concentration from its natural course. There are hits, to be sure. But I’d go as far as to say that if you’ve only heard this band on the radio, Spotify or even a well-tended collection of every pressed vinyl (the superior format), you’ve never heard Judah & The Lion. That’s cause this is a live band through and through. It’s not possible to capture, in any digital recording or even the grooves of the finest polyvinyl chloride, the energy and passion these guys exude on stage, and their fans off it. If I never buy a J&TL record, you can bet I’ll never miss another chance to see them in concert. 

This was my first concert as a “working photographer and rock journalist,” and I’m going to say it set a high bar. I love live music, and rarely am unmoved by a well-played set. I’ve gotten, if not pressed against the barrier at the front of a standing crowd, then at least very close at many shows. But, as this experience has taught me, there’s no better way to be indoctrinated into a band than to be literally inches from a performance and, more specifically, in the immediate space that exists between them and their most dedicated VIP, at-the-venue-since-3-for-an-eight-o-clock-show, front-row fans. (Though, as mentioned earlier, with this band, that space is quite tight, and indeed nonexistent at times.) In the pit with other photogs and stern-by-default security, it’s impossible not to be swept up and submerged in the love and vibes that are going both ways, coming at you and through you from stage to crowd and crowd to stage. It’s like Brandi Carlisle says, “you can dance in a hurricane, but only if you’re standing in the eye.” And won’t somebody tell Survivor, the eye of the tiger is no match for the eye of the lion. 

I’m a sucker for the “old-school” guitar rock bands, who don’t just play their instruments, but PLAY the fuck out of their instruments. Growing up in a house where the parental/sibling soundtrack was equal parts George Jones, Elvis Presley and Allison Krause, I naturally gravitated to rockabilly and folk rock, which for me is pinnacled by the band Counting Crows. As a writer and movie buff, I most respect the songwriters and storytellers in any genre (and especially the ones that bend them). J&TL checks all of those boxes. 

Brian "The Lion" Macdonald left the crowd with sound advice we should all heed: 1) Eat more chocolate 2) Be kind to others and, perhaps most importantly, 3) Listen to more Judah & The Lion. 

Robert McCune is a full-time journalist, part-time photojournalist and aspiring rock journalist and podcaster. Follow his journey on Instagram at every_thing_after_photo.