Pianodrome, Edinburgh
16/08/22
Quite a few attempts have been made to piggyback onto a successful band by covering their music in an ironic genre. Dredd Zeppelin, Hayseed Dixie, those fannies that did a dub Dark Side of the Moon and John Martyn’s hip hop LP, which while not strictly relevant is so appalling that it should serve as a warning to all who attempt this sort of musical miscegenation.
Clearly Chris Greive and co didn’t get the memo and decided that reworking a few Zeppelin classics as a three piece jazz ensemble was a good idea.
Annoyingly it turns out it was.
In the so achingly hip it needs replacing uber groovy Pianodrome, Chris, with accomplices Graeme Stephen (guitar) and Davide L. Rinaldi (on drums)launch into ‘Black Dog’.
Mr. Greive manages to get the bass line and Robert Plant’s vocal histrionics down pat. They rocked it. ‘Communication Breakdown’ and the ‘Immigrant Song’ follow.
Then, Grasshopper, the student surpasses the master.
‘Going to California’. Reimagined as an instrumental Miles/Louis lament had the audience brimming up. It is an alright puff addled bleating match from Zep 4 but these chaps grabbed the melody like a snapping turtle and extracted a plaintive ‘is it a bit smokey in here’ heart wringer. The essential oil of the tune if you like that sort of bollox.
Imagine the sound the last wallaby in Penrith made when after a few years happily stoating about the Snakes Pass he was kidnapped by some fucking hippos in a helicopter and dropped onto an island in Loch Lomond there to join a colony of arsehole vegan wallabies.
I’m only making some of that up.
A double funky Heartbreaker is Niles Rogered to fuck.
‘Kashmir’ and ‘Livin’ Lovin’ (she’s just a Wendy)’ follow with only the minimum (still too much ed.) of jazz noodling.
The trombone in the right hands lends itself to Plant’s ‘Steve Irwin getting spiked in the distance’ vocals and doubles for the bass and all.
Filling in for Jimmy Page or John Bonham is a bit of a reach but these boys manage. Chris reckons he was lucky that Zep didn’t have a trombonist. I reckon it is Robert Plant and John Paul Jones who were lucky Zep didn’t have a trombonist or they’d be playing in the Royal Oak.
Adam McCully
Mumble Music 