House of the Holy

Mutual Admiration Society, Moore Theater 7/27/2004

Walking into the lobbby of the Moore about twenty minutes after the show started was kind of like walking into an empty cathedral before mass. I'd never seen it so emtpy. Without even hearing the music, muffled by the closed doors to the auditorium, I knew we made a mistake thinking there was an opening band. We settled into seats at the very back on the main floor while MAS played. Onstage were the members of Nickel Creek -- Sean, Chris, and Sara -- led by former Toad The Wet Sprocket front man, Glen Phillips. They were playing one of Nickel Creek's many bluegrass/pop tunes, with a touch of Phillips's electric guitar, along with a drummer. But what held my attention the most was the guy hanging out in the back, playing bass. From the understated (but slightly cheesy) collared shirt, to the gray hair denoting his middle age, you couldn't tell it was John Paul Jones. That's right, The John Paul Jones. Member of the legendary Led Zeppelin. Definitive rock songs like Black Dog, Stairway to Heaven, Good Times, Bad Times come immediately to mind. Paige on guitar. Plant wailing on vocals. Bonham punishing the drums. And Jones, holding everything together. Seeing the man himself was like going back in time. It was a thrill to be within a few hundred feet of him.

Tonight, the band mostly played songs I'd heard before. The set was mainly a mix of Toad songs, and Nickel Creek songs. A little disappointing, since I expected more from a collaboration of talented artists. I enjoyed the set for the most part because of the (slightly) different take on known songs. Nickel Creek mainly benefited, because the rock style drumming, plus electric guitar (not to mention Phillips's deeper voice) added maturity and depth. The Toad songs didn't fare as well. NC's violin, and especially their backing vocals, seemed out of place. Either too young, or too upbeat for Phillips's somber lyrics. And the songs written on the collaboration record didn't sound too hot, either. The music (written mostly by Phillips) didn't have energy, and the lyrics were more sedate, a la Phillips's solo release, Abulum.

Where the group excelled tonight was in cover tunes. The Beatles' Tax Man even made it in there. I loved it when they brought Pete Droge on stage to play Gram Parson's Hickory Wind (a song covered even better by Grant Lee Phillips when he played the Hideaway). Droge managed to sneak in a great tune that he and Kim Richey wrote together. And the night's cutest moment came when they brought NC's trademark one mic intimacy to a song Sara wrote and performed on the ukelele while the guys did their best barbershop quartet in the background.

Back to the pope, Mr. John Paul Jones. It's clear he can still play, adding complex bass rhythms to match his bandmates' intricate stylings (the audience was told that Jones had to learn nearly thirty songs in four days before they went on the road). They even gave him some space to solo, and he got a loud ovation every time. Normally, I loathe bass solos, but I loved it tonight.

If the crowd added more warm admiration to the band tonight, most of it was directed at Jones. And it couldn't be more apparent when he walked onstage between songs with a mandolin in hand. Now, Chris is one of the world's most renowned mandolin player, but Jones proved he was no slouch. He and Sean played alone on this song, a very familiar tune. And five seconds into it the crowd erupted in recognition of the Led classic, Going to California. Sean played the part of paige, while Jones played Robert Plant's vocals. It was amazing listening to this song flow. I had no idea that Jones could play anything else. The highlight was when Jones did a solo to Plant's bridge ("...Seems that the wrath of the Gods...Got a punch on the nose...and it started to flow...I think I might be sinking..."). When the song ended, it got the biggest standing ovation of the night. Deservedly so.

At the end of the set, the band decided to send us out right, playing Led's Gallows Pole, featuring Phillips giving his best Plant wail. Awesome. Considering that Zeppelin music at times sounds like really loud folk music, I wouldn't have minded in the least if the set list consisted of all Zeppelin songs. Hell, they should make this tour one giant Zeppelin cover/love fest.

Can you imagine Whole Lotta Love, played with steel strings, fiddle, and mandolin? I can.