As a drummer, it’s generally accepted that Dave Grohl’s one of the best and hardest-hitting of the past 20 years, and has arguably been the best part of every band he’s been in. Yeah, even that one. And with Friday night’s Coachella performance, Them Crooked Vultures were no exception. They just kind of destroyed the place. It’s probably because I’m slowly getting deaf ears in addition to the senility, lack of sense of direction and genuine aggravation the ghosts of concert past have bestowed upon me. But apart from MGMT, I can’t think of another band whose massive fanbase made it impossible for even pro photographers to get close. I’ve been to concerts where dull roars were the norm, but the fans of TCV are fanatical and feverish, a mob of white noise roar that had my ears ringing all night.
When the crowd applauded, they were louder than the band. And then there was that one guy from Led Zeppelin. If nothing else, the band rocked louder and harder than any other band tonight. A large part of this was just John Paul Jones on bass — he doesn’t move around a lot on stage but he doesn’t have to. He’s pretty much just a natural. On songs like “Gunmen” Dave Grohl was thrashing around like his life depended on it; on other stuff like “Elephant”, with its eclectic time signatures, the guy never missed a beat.
Grohl’s remarked on how bands like Killing Joke and of course Zeppelin were among his chief influences – it was pretty easy to see that in his performance on Friday; he’s a hard-rock and metal kind of guy and, God save us, one of the last remaining– and as this was my first time seeing him live, I can understand why the accolades are continually hurled his way.
A personal fave, if only by name alone, was “Caligula”, where Jones put down his bass to show off his diverse musical talents– this time playing the piano in a bluesy, ballsy ode to the Roman emperor who loved himself an orgy or two, or several at once. So perhaps ‘balls’ is a good overall theme for tonight. I’d sit through them again, if only to see Grohl and Jones rock out. If anything, should you be a fan of Nirvana or FF and haven’t seen Them Crooked Vultures yet, crawl out from under yer rock and witness what is the best of the three.
Words by Jeff Nau, Photos by JP Croswhite
