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Them Crooked Vultures: Live Review
By Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal

April 14th 2010, Club Nokia, Los Angeles CA: As a fanatic of rock and metal living in Los Angeles, I feel blessed enough to get to go to a huge number of shows. But such is the abundance of gigs that often I have to make a choice and pick one of two shows taking place on the same night. April 14th 2010 was another one of these. On the one hand was a free show featuring Death Angel and Arsis, and on the other hand was this show. For me it was an easy choice in the end. I had seen those other bands once before but hadn't gotten a chance to see Them Crooked Vultures yet. But in the end, three words sealed the deal: John Paul Jones. I just couldn't bring myself to believe that I was getting a chance to see one of the original members of the best band in the history of this planet, Led Zeppelin of course, performing live right in front of my eyes. Add to that the names of his band mates Dave Grohl and Josh Homme and the fact that this was a sold out show, I knew I was in for a special night.

The opening band in such a gig would always have the enormous task of impressing a crowd that was here just to see the headline act. The band in this case was called 'Middle Class Rut', an alternative rock duo from Sacramento, California. Considering the fact that I had never heard of their name before tonight, let alone the music, I quite enjoyed their opening song, which was a fast and energetic tune. It got me to head bang as well. The following couple of songs didn't quite live up to that initial tempo though and I was on the verge of shouting to them, 'Play some of that faster stuff again!' Having said that, Zack Lopez on guitar was giving a very good performance and Sean Stockham on vocals and drums was a livewire on stage. For just a two-piece band, they can certainly pack a punch. The song with which they closed their short half an hour set was in a similar vein as the opening song and to an extent made up for the slow middle portion of the set. I give them kudos for trying their level best up there and succeeding in getting some cheers and applause by the time they were done playing.

It wasn't a long wait between the two bands' sets. Middle Class Rut ended at 9 o' clock. The three members of Them Crooked Vultures along with touring guitarist/vocalist Alain Johannes took the stage among a noisy Los Angeles gathering at 9.30. One thing I knew about them going into the show was that they only play the songs they wrote together as the band Them Crooked Vultures, albeit in a different order every show. I was really glad to find this out when I looked up some of their set lists from past shows. They could so easily play a jam session of Zeppelin, Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Queens of Stone Age songs. They really could, and would still play sold out shows. But they don't do it. In fact from what I've heard, John Paul Jones gets quite upset when people ask him the reason why they don't do Zeppelin covers. I see so many musicians out there that just live off of their history, playing the same old songs over and over even though they are well past being part of the original band. Well, this wasn't the case tonight, that's for sure. They opened with the song 'Elephants'. It was an interesting choice of opening song and a hard-hitting one at that. Ten seconds into the song, I found myself head banging at full tilt and for me it sort of set the perfect foundation for the rest of the night. The fast head banging changed to a slow, more enjoyable one within the same song, such was the variety in the music. It was my first time seeing any of these musicians and my first impression was that of being amazed to say the least. Dave Grohl was really pounding those drums. I can safely say I've never heard drums being in the foreground the way they were in this song and in the rest of the set as well. Dave was definitely the lynchpin of the band's on-stage performance. His band mates were no less in their own performances, as I would find out later in the set.

The next song of the night was 'Gunman'. It was quite a variation from the opening tune. Whoever was doing the lights did an amazing job, specially on this song. They certainly had an impact along with the music, almost tripping me out and I'm sure it had the same effect on other members of the audience as well. From what I saw tonight, the lighting effects are definitely an essential part of their show. It gives a lot of impetus to their music and Club Nokia is the perfect place to be doing it in. 'Scumbag Blues' was the song that followed. This was a slower, softer song as compared to the first two but enjoyable nonetheless. Unfortunately I was facing the left side of the stage and John Paul Jones was standing on stage right, so I couldn't get a chance to take a real close look at what he was doing, but even from where I was, it was just overwhelmingly great to watch him perform. His bass licks on this song were an absolute delight to watch and listen to. He is all of 64 years old, no less. Bassists even half his age should bow down and salute. My favorite song of the night was up next, 'Dead End Friends'. I don't know why exactly, but there was just something about this song. Josh Homme addressed the crowd before playing this song in his customary style, coming across as funny yet extremely friendly. He was absolutely killer on the vocals. He was so good that he made me try to sing along even though I wasn't too familiar with the actual lyrics. This song was certainly all about him. Even though we were only four songs into the set, all of us were awe-struck with sheer amazement.

'No One Loves Me And Neither Do I' brought along some more slow head banging fun. For some reason I found that I was the only one actually head banging, at least among the people in my immediate proximity. Some old dude next to me kept elbowing me trying to get me to stop it. But hey man if you're reading this, it was a rock show and I was just having fun. I don't go to shows to stand with my arms folded across. If you want to do that, remain at home and watch the Them Crooked Vultures DVD, whenever it comes out. Well anyway, I enjoyed the heck out of Dave Grohl's drumming on this one. I am not a Nirvana or Foo Fighters fan, but one thing's for sure, this guy is a beast on drums. The 'beast on drums' terminology is used way too often for way too many drummers. But if anyone ever truly deserves that title, it's Dave Grohl. I happened to see a 'behind the scenes' video of the band that showed Dave's obsession for fresh pots of coffee. I wonder how many fresh pots he had before hitting the stage tonight. A lot, by the looks of things!

It was time for a song they recorded as an additional track after the album release, 'Highway One'. I hadn't even gotten a chance to listen to this before tonight, so it was a first time for me. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw JPJ bring out the mandolin for this one. Zeppelin fans would know the famous songs featuring JPJ on mandolin, 'Battle Of Evermore' being the most memorable one. The crowd really got going with their clap-along for this one as the combination of JPJ's mandolin and Josh's vocals hit our ears. I can't even express how glad I was seeing JPJ use that instrument without needing to play a Zeppelin song. So far all of us loved every minute of this, feeling privileged to be a part of this Godly display of musical talent. And we weren't even half way into the set. 'New Fang' was up next. It started with a killer drum intro and settled into another very entertaining hard rock tune. It was amazing how they played songs in an order completely different from that on the actual album, not playing even two songs that appear consecutively on the album. Yet the songs were flowing into each other and didn't feel out of place at all. The ending few seconds of this particular song had almost everybody, at least the younger lot, rocking out. 'Bandoliers' followed and I would say this was the only time they came close to a Nirvana song all night, which I personally thought was a good thing. Grunge just doesn't bring out a musician's talent. The guitar riffs, bass licks and drum patterns are way too simple. Having said that, they made it sound a lot heavier than the studio version, specially on the drums. Dave's drums were easily the saving grace of this song.

Moving on, one of the faster, fun songs 'Mind Eraser, No Chaser' followed. Josh's vocals really shone through on this one. The chorus was the easiest to sing along out of all the songs played tonight so as a result the crowd got involved in this one pretty well. The next song was one whose title interested me the most when I looked at the track listing a few months back. The song in question is 'Interlude With Ludes'. It definitely was like an interlude in the whole performance. It was a weird feeling to be honest, as I didn't quite know how to react. There was nothing happening on stage other than the vocals, a constant but extremely soft drum sound and the occasional guitar riff. After this interesting departure, it was time to rock out again to a certain extent with the song 'Caligulove'. My apologies for not mentioning Alain Johannes yet. He did a great job on backing vocals and guitars and was very much an integral part of the band's stage show. He even did a delightful flamenco guitar solo somewhere in the middle of the set. His contribution was quite evident in this song. The band pulled a surprise on us by playing a brand new song for the first time, the song entitled 'You Can't Possibly Begin to Imagine'. To the delight of everyone in the crowd, JPJ brought out the violin for this one. The song's interlude was slow, dark, intense and trippy and definitely stood out on its own. We were lucky to be able to see them do this, but I'd say we deserved it.

Pretty much everything had overwhelmed me so far, but next up was the most overwhelming part of the show, a piano solo by John Paul Jones (link to video clip above). Now, I know that a piano solo doesn't 'rock' and isn't 'metal', but it's genuinely enjoyable for any music fan. JPJ laid down all those past years of magic and delivered a beautiful rendition of the intro to the song 'Spinning In Daffodils'. After the solo the song quickly turned into a fast-ish rocking number. After this, sadly it was time for the last song of the night 'Warsaw Or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up'. It was slow and long, giving the listeners plenty of opportunity to absorb the music and the atmosphere for one final time tonight. It did pick up pace gradually though, serving as a perfect ending to the set.

Overall, the musicians on stage proved why they are regarded as some of the best and did so in an emphatic style. There were no gimmicks on stage but they did put on a show, and did so just through their use of the instruments. Everyone from the first row of the GA floor to the top most seat of the balcony was giving a standing ovation to a brilliant performance by Them Crooked Vultures. It was a surreal feeling, one that would only be replicated the next time I see this band perform.

    Here's their complete set list:
  1. Elephants
  2. Gunman
  3. Scumbag Blues
  4. Dead End Friends
  5. No One Loves Me & Neither Do I
  6. Highway One
  7. New Fang
  8. Bandoliers
  9. Mind Eraser, No Chaser
  10. Interlude With Ludes
  11. Caligulove
  12. You Can't Possibly Begin to Imagine
  13. Spinning In Daffodils
  14. Warsaw or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up

Check out the band's official website.

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