The audience seemed like a 40 year old high school reunion of sorts, as people came with canes, walkers, oxygen tanks and even teddy bear packs to give a whole new meaning to the term “60s Rock.”
Opening the show was JD McPherson’s band whose leader walked away from being a school teacher to play music similar to Blackboard Jungle. Along with Jimmy Sutton/b, Jason Smay/dr, Ray Jacob Jacildo/key and Doug Corcoran/g-ts, McPherson set the tone of the set with a short recorded overture by Thelonious Monk before having his band sear into a rockabilly take of “I Wish You Would” that got the mellow Angelenos up and clapping to the infectious and inviting beat. Armed with a looks and a voice akin to Gene Vincent with a tonal dash of Lloyd Price, McPherson revisited the innocent joy and fervor of early rock with swinging shuffling tunes such as “Fire Bug” and “Northside Gal” while chopping rhythms on “Head Over Heals” mix the earthy grooves of Bo Diddley with the swinging guitar of Link Wray. Between the smoking Hammond B3 and wailing tenor sax, McPherson sang songs that reflected of an more joyous time and spirit, and he defied you to stay in your seat and not swing with your partner. He indeed let “The Good Times Roll,” with his infectious music getting the LA hipsters to start dancing in the aisles like Lindy Hoppers.
Move up a generation and a war in Southeast Asia, and you get the mood and feel of Robert Plant, who was part of the missile head that started heavy metal back in the late 60s with Led Zeppelin. His latest band of Dave Smith/dr, John Baggott/key, Justin Adams/b, Liam Tyson/g, Billy Fuller/g and Juldeh Camera/str sounded much more thunderous and ponderous than the opening act as they stomped through hard hitting and plodding revisitations of “Black Dog” and “The Lemon Song.” Looking like George Custer’s grandfather, Plant, wearing an Irish green satin shirt and surrounded by millennial musicians in black, sounded best on acoustic pieces such as “Goin’ To California” (which turned into a singalong-REALLY?!?) and the delightfully African percussive “Maggie’s Baby,” while Camera’s stringed African violin added extra exoticism to the otherwise trudging and electrically effected read of “Spoonful.” What Plant’s voice has lost in flexibility it has made up for in veritas as the band jazzed up “What Is And What Should Never Be.” Plant must be commended for taking creative changes with his more popular tunes, but the entire set felt more of a justification of earlier musical allegiances than an actual celebration of a consistent sound and style.
Upcoming shows at the Greek include The Doobie Brothers 06/06, Tedeschi-Trucks band 06/10 Brian Wilson 06/20 and Joe Bonamassa 08/29
Robert Plant photos by Juan O’Campo