them crooked vultures bless the tabernacle

I went to Them Crooked Vultures on February 11^th at The Tabernacle here in Atlanta. For those of you who don’t know, this band is made up of Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and John Paul Jones.

How excited was I to see this band play? Imagine your kid on Christmas morning and then throw in the anticipation of a birthday, a trip to Disney World, ice cream for breakfast, and a free-for-all shopping spree at Toys R Us.  In full disclosure, I thought the band’s debut album was good, not the best thing I’ve ever heard. It’s nothing new or different, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But these are guys from Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age, and Nirvana, so live they have to be pretty damn good, right?

“WHAT DOES THE BAND SOUND LIKE? It sounds like the guy from Queens of the Stone Age singing and playing guitar with the bass player from Led Zeppelin and the drummer from Nirvana. “ – Them Crooked Vultures

Um, yes. Live, this band blows 99% of all bands off the planet. There were times during this show that my jaw dropped open and stayed open for entire songs, usually thanks to JP Jones, who has more talent in his pinky than most people do in their entire bodies. He’s 64, and yes he had to sit down a few times and take a breather while touring guitarist Alain Johannes entertained the crowd, but shit, I was tired and I was just standing there with my jaw dropped to the floor.

Master Jones, as I like to call him, plays an insane array of instruments. He played keyboard for a couple of songs, a keytar (don’t laugh, he totally rocked it), mandolin, and blessed the crowd with a solo bluesy piano performance that had Grohl and Homme as giddy as school girls at a Jonas Brothers concert. On top of that, he played a handful of custom made bass guitars and other contraptions all created by his bass tech Hugh Manson. If you’re curious about the gear the band uses on tour, go to Guitar Edge for a full report and pictures.  Very interesting stuff, well if you play instruments, at least.  If not, then go to PopSugar and check out some wardrobe gossip on Rihanna.

So, that’s my story. And I have to add that all four of these guys looked like they were having so much fun on stage. They did not want to stop playing. I think if JPJ could have taken a nap, he would have continued on for another set. They were all joking around a lot. Grohl put on some ridiculous sad face/happy face performance by Homme’s request. And at one point, JPJ crossed the stage and snuck up behind the sound guy, who was very surprised to see him. How cool is that?

MerchMama