By Andrew Bansal
[Live photos by Ronnie Lyon]
July 20th 2013, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: Moby Dicks, a Los Angeles-based all-star tribute to Led Zeppelin, is led by Brian Tichy on drums and features in its ranks James Lomenzo on bass, Stephen LeBlanc on keyboards, Brent Woods on guitar and Chas West on vocals. This group of musicians took the Viper Room stage last night for a recreation of Led Zeppelin’s 1977 Day On The Green concert in Oakland, which turned out to be the band’s last show in the US. Zeppelin played a long 3-hour show on that occasion, and it was going to be a challenge to successfully emulate that. But this band took upon the task, hitting the stage at around 10:15.
The Saturday night crowd had turned up in numbers at the Viper Room and it looked like an ideal setting for a Zeppelin overdose. For the most part, the Moby Dicks stuck to Zeppelin’s original set list for Day On The Green, although the ordering was changed a couple of times for logistical reasons and two or three of the songs weren’t played. So it wasn’t an exact recreation of the ’77 set in the literal sense, but it was close enough and in that aspect the Moby Dicks did the best they could. But what I liked most about this performance was the creative improvisation thrown in by the band, specially by Brian Tichy on the drums. A major characteristic of any Zeppelin show back in those days was the manner in which Jimmy Page and the gang would change up the songs from their studio versions and give each show a sense of unpredictability for themselves and for the audiences. I thought Moby Dicks replicated that quality excellently well last night.
Brian Tichy’s drum solo, for example, was a different animal compared to the studio version, with an extended period of Tichy going nuts on those drums with his bare hands. James Lomenzo combined with him on the rhythm section, looked like he was having a great time and came up with some great bass licks of his own. I have seen him performing with Megadeth in the past and he didn’t look nearly as happy on stage with that band. Guitarist Brent Woods and Stephen LeBlanc on keyboards and mandolin did a fine job on their respective instruments as well, with guest musicians Rob Clores (The Black Crowes) on keyboard and Kenny Aronoff on drums also joined in for a couple of songs each, while Brian Tichy switched instruments to don the double-neck and acoustic guitars whenever required. But more than anything, I enjoyed this concert for Tichy’s performance on drums.
Aside from whenever Dave Lombardo played with his band Philm, I had never made such a connection with a drummer before. The drummer is oftentimes the most talented musician in a band but is sadly out of focus when the band plays live. The tiny Viper Room really brought the drum kit close to the audience and gave everyone a real taste of what a drummer playing Zeppelin songs has to do to bring complete justice to those classic tunes. Tichy not only nailed all the core parts of each tune, but added his own fills and used his entire drumming skill set to liven up the show. He was having the time of his life and played with a smile throughout the set. In fact, I would go as far as saying that Tichy’s drum sound became the foreground for my ears and eyes and every other musical element of the band was merely a backdrop.
Tichy singlehandedly carried this show and made it successful, but one thing that did bother me greatly was the performance of a certain member who I haven’t mentioned yet, the singer Chas West. Don’t get me wrong, and it’s perhaps unfair to criticize a tribute show, but several tribute bands across Southern California have proven that playing tribute gigs is a very serious and professional thing around these parts. Bands like Led Zepagain for instance leave no stone unturned in replicating the Zeppelin experience for the audience. But on this occasion, it was disappointing to see that the Moby Dicks’ singer Chas West, who also sings for Jason Bonham’s Zeppelin Experience by the way, was using lyric sheets for almost every song, even the super-popular ones like Stairway To Heaven, Black Dog, and pretty much the entire set. I was extremely surprised and shocked to see that, to be quite honest. A singer of a genuine Zeppelin tribute act needs to know his lyrics, end of story.
His eyes and head were pointed downwards towards the lyric sheets the entire time, and it took away from the energy of the show to a large extent. This is probably why the crowd wasn’t giving the band the kind of reception that Tichy’s own performance deserved. But other than that, it was a great set. As a Zeppelin fan I absolutely loved OD’ing on the Moby Dicks’ three-hour treat last night. Zeppelin forever \m/
Check out a slideshow of live photos from the show, by Ronnie Lyon:
Related: Brian Tichy Talks In Detail About His Zeppelin Tribute Shows
Set List:
1. Song Remains The Same
2. The Rover
3. Sick Again
4. Nobody’s Fault But Mine
5. Over The Hills And Far Away
6. Since I’ve Been Loving You
7. No Quarter
8. Ten Years Gone
9. Battle Of Evermore
10.Going To California
11.White Summer/Black Mountain Side
12.Moby Dick
13.Achilles Last Stand
14.Kashmir
15.Stairway To Heaven
Encore:
16.Black Dog
17.Whole Lotta Love
18.Rock n’ Roll