Greta Van Fleet's Josh Kiszka reflects on the hate that greeted the band's early success

Greta Van Fleet frontman Josh Kiszka has reflected on the dismay with which his band’s early success was greeted by some members of the rock fraternity.

In an exclusive interview in the current edition of Classic Rock magazine, Kiszka recalls the reaction to GVF’s breakthrough, when the band’s soaring popularity was accompanied by a very vocal minority who hated what they were doing.

“When we came along, I think people were so concerned we were going to penetrate their hallowed rock’n’roll world, y’know, their religious temple, this bunch of snot-nosed kids wanting to change things up,” he says. “But it was quite the antithesis. It was our respect for the genre. We just wanted to do something new, to move things along.”

Kiszka goes on to reveal how some of the attacks affected him personally, so he did the most sensible thing.

“I stopped reading them,” he says. “I’m fairly sensitive, so I thought, ‘This is weighing on my consciousness.’ I don’t even know the name of the publication, but someone said we were a bunch of talentless musicians who don’t know how to write a song or perform it. Things like that stab you where you’re tender. Some of that I carry. But I don’t believe it.

“I had a vocal coach come to our show in New York,” he continues. “It was our first outdoor amphitheatre/arena-type thing. She saw the show, then told me backstage she was one of those people who thought, ‘How dare they!’ But she said: ‘You deserve everything that is coming to you, and thank you for carrying the torch.’ So her tune changed very quickly.”

GVF’s Into The Beginning tour will launch on February 3, 2027. Full dates below.

To read the full interview with Josh Kiszka, get issue 359 of Classic Rock.

Greta Van Fleet: Into The Beginning tour 2027

Feb 03: Savannah Enmarket Arena, GA
Feb 05: Tampa Benchmark International Arena, FL
Feb 06: Jacksonville VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, FL
Feb 09: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Feb 10: Nashville Bridgestone Arena, TN
Feb 12: Rosemont Allstate Arena, IL
Feb 13: Omaha CHI Health Center, NE
Feb 15: Minneapolis Target Center, MN
Feb 17: Green Bay Resch Center, WI
Feb 19: Louisville KFC Yum! Center, KY
Feb 20 – Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, PA
Mar 02: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI
Mar 03: Cleveland Rocket Arena, OH
Mar 05: Boston TD Garden, MA
Mar 06: Albany MVP Arena, NY
Mar 08: Brooklyn Barclays Center, NY
Mar 10: Philadelphia Xfinity Mobile Arena, PA
Mar 12: Charlotte Spectrum Center, NC
Mar 13: Knoxville Food City Center, TN
Mar 15: Fort WorthDickies Arena, TX
Mar 16: Tulsa BOK Center, OK
Mar 19: Anaheim Honda Center, CA
Mar 20: Phoenix Mortgage Matchup Center, AZ
Mar 22: Reno Reno Events Center, NV
Mar 24: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Mar 25: Portland Moda Center, OR
Mar 27: Boise ExtraMile Arena (BSU), ID
Mar 29: Salt Lake City Delta Center, UT
Mar 30: DenverBall Arena, CO

May 15: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
May 16: Milan Unipol Forum, Italy
May 18: Hamburg Barclays Arena, Germany
May 19: CopenhagenRoyal Arena, Denmark
May 21: Berlin Uber Arena, Germany
May 22: Prague O2 Arena, Czechia
May 24: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Holland
May 25: Brussels Forest National, Belgium
May 27: Paris Adidas Arena, France
May 28: London O2 Arena, UK
May 30: Birmingham Utilita Arena, UK
Jun 01: Manchester Co-op Live, UK
Jun 02: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Jun 04: Dublin 3Arena, Ireland

Jul 05: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
Jul 07: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Jul 08: Calgary Scotiabank Saddledome, AB
Jul 10: Winnipeg Canada Life Centre, MB
Jul 13: Kansas City T-Mobile Center, MO
Jul 14: St. Louis Chaifetz Arena, MO
Jul 16: Columbus Nationwide Arena, OH
Jul. 17: Noblesville Ruoff Music Center, IN
Jul 20: Raleigh Lenovo Center, NC
Jul 21: Columbia Merriweather Post Pavilion, MD
Jul 23: Hershey Giant Center, PA
Jul 24: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Jul 26: Gilford Bank NH Pavilion, NH
Jul 28: Laval Place Bell, QC
Jul 29: Toronto RBC Amphitheatre, ON
Jul 31: Grand Rapids Acrisure Amphitheater, MI

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