No Quarter – The Gov Thursday 15 November 2018.
Words Geoff Jenke
Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham are all for it, but Robert Plant is not, so there is little chance of a Led Zeppelin reunion. If it didn’t happen this year, the 50th anniversary of Zeppelin’s first live performance, it “ain’t gonna happen” ever. It has been left up to Led Zeppelin tribute/cover bands to fill the void and to keep fans satisfied and the spirit alive.
No Quarter hail from the U.S.A. and have been playing to Zeppelin fans for over 15 years. They not only recreate the songs to the detail of how Zeppelin played them, they embody the looks as well. Singer Michael Anderson channels a younger version of Robert Plant, bass player, Chad McMurray, covers John Paul Jones role and look admirably, Nathan Carroll hits the drums almost as hard as John Bonham did and Byron Christiansen IS (almost) Jimmy Page.
The band started with a brutal version of Immigrant Song, Bryon nailing the riffs to perfection. Heartbreaker followed and if you shut your eyes, you could almost believe it was Zeppelin on stage.
Dazed and Confused was rolled out in all it’s 20 minutes plus glory, complete with violin bow solo which was executed perfectly. Good Times and a rousing Black Dog rounded out the first set, complete with audience singing along.
Set one was good, but set two blew us away. They started with an acoustic Bron Aur Stomp and Going to California, with the two guitarists and singer seated front of stage on stools, ala the live movie The Song Remains the Same. Chad playing the mandolin exactly the way J P Jones did. Sadly, no Gallows Pole.
Rock and Roll followed and then the drum solo extravaganza Moby Dick, complete with near 10-minute drum solo from Nathan Carroll. Drum solos are so 1970’s (and they should have stayed in the 1970’s) but he played a good part of the solo with just his hands which was pretty darn special. At least we didn’t get the 20 minute version on the How the West Was Won album.
Twin neck guitar strapped only means one song, Stairway to Heaven, recreated in all its live glory, including the line “Do you remember laughter?”. I have seen players use these guitars before but only use one part of it. Not tonight, we go ripping solos from both guitars.
An extremely powerful extended Whole Lotta Love finished the set. Unlike Zeppelin, who usually did not do encores, No Quarter came back to assault our senses with the song Kashmir. The perfect song for a near perfect evening of Zeppelin songs.
Apparently, John Paul Jones once said after hearing the band “I never have to worry about touring with my band again”. No Quarter capture all the subtle nuances and mannerisms of the characters they are representing. They also play the music perfectly.
However, in the end, they are still just a cover band, but darn it, a bloody good one. I was cranking Zeppelin CD’s all the next day.
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