Live: Them Crooked Vultures, Plymouth Pavilions, 10th Dec 2009
Monday, 14 December 2009
Written by Jon Stickler
It’s not everyday you get members of legendary bands such as Led Zeppelin, Foo Fighters and Queens Of The Stone Age altogether on one stage. The excited atmosphere churned up by such an event was striking and being that this was the first night of a six date tour of the UK, it made things even more special. Supergroup Them Crooked Vultures had landed in Plymouth!
Rock royalty, Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones came, saw and powered through, similar to bursts of artillery fire, a sound that was fierce, precise and shook the sports hall-like Plymouth Pavilions to the core.
What first came across, apart from the ear splitting noise, was the stage chemistry and dynamics between these three icons. It goes without saying that Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, appearing like some kind of Rock’n’Roll Dad against his younger “sons” of rock, and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl have shifted a lot more sales than Homme. Yet saying that, the Queens of the Stone Age front man, the only communicator with the crowd, is leading the force, calling the tunes and stomping his authority all over the lyrics. At a towering 6ft 5in I still think he comes across as an unconventional but yet equally overwhelming front man, no one can touch him, an all-American yet slightly seedy as if somewhere in the past he swapped the Marines for The Hells Angels.
This was a master class in Rock n Roll without a shadow of a doubt with songs such as ‘Nobody Loves Me’, ‘Dead End Friends’ and ‘Scumbag Blues’ already superbly executed. Dave Grohl, rooted behind the scaffold of his drum kit taking the appearance of a caged animal, kept a thunderous anchor to Homme’s wizardry on the fret board up front and Jones’ cool, grooving bass lines on the side. "Don't hold back, this is the night" was the call from Homme as the group played on through two of their best songs, the venue's first crowd-surfers were hauled across a sea of arms to the blistering sounds of ‘New Fang’ and ‘Gunman’.
Ninety minutes was always going to be difficult to fill with the release of just one album but the trio, with additional guitarist Alain Johannes, were revelling in solos and drawn out jamming sessions as though they had all night. The band were clearly enjoying every minute. Muscular, intense, and aggressive at times, the elongated tracks kept the crowd completely hooked.
For me the show was stolen by multi-talented John Paul Jones. Using a variety of bass guitars, a Keytar and playing an awesome piano solo which captured the crowd, you could help but notice both band mates Grohl and Homme looking on in admiration. Too right he deserved the ovation of the night. It was a job done so well that you could close your eyes during songs such as ‘Scumbag Blues’ and ‘Gunman’ and hear those old roots of Zeppelin climb through.
With the end of the assault in sight, ‘Warsaw’ is a never-ending, dark and psychedelic experience, one drawn from Homme’s Desert Sessions perhaps? The trio trade solos throughout the terrifying token of Prog rock leading up to Homme discarding his guitar and taking on a shady, ginger Elvis role, to wail and swagger around the stage for ‘Interlude With Ludes’.
The band wraps things up with all four members stepping forward for a bow to the ecstatic crowd. There is no encore. There is no need for one. The band has done their thing as promised by Homme’s definition of Them Crooked Vultures' mission statement, "We need to roll in like Hannibal and ruin your town." Exactly! Having served up their entire catalogue to date, the whole group exit to a wild ovation, deservedly and thoroughly convincing of the term super group.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
This was a master class in Rock n Roll without a shadow of a doubt with songs such as ‘Nobody Loves Me’, ‘Dead End Friends’ and ‘Scumbag Blues’ already superbly executed. Dave Grohl, rooted behind the scaffold of his drum kit taking the appearance of a caged animal, kept a thunderous anchor to Homme’s wizardry on the fret board up front and Jones’ cool, grooving bass lines on the side. "Don't hold back, this is the night" was the call from Homme as the group played on through two of their best songs, the venue's first crowd-surfers were hauled across a sea of arms to the blistering sounds of ‘New Fang’ and ‘Gunman’.
