Bustle in Your Hedgerow – Brooklyn Bowl – October 20, 2009

(Photo: Nicholas Tolson)

Bustle in Your Hedgerow: What are these guys? Are they a cover band? Supergroup? Tribute band? Rock band? Jam band? Luckily, for those who hauled out to Brooklyn Bowl on a Tuesday night, they were a little bit of all those things. Playing (mostly) instrumental versions from the Led Zeppelin catalog, the band—Marco Benevento on keyboards, Dave Dreiwitz on bass, Scott Metzger on guitar and Sir Joe Russo on drums—hit all the right notes. Like a cover band, they explored all the facets of the catalog—the wily blues, the gargantuan rock and roll, the psychedelic groove—while adding their own twists. Like a tribute band, they stayed true to the originals, ensuring that everyone in the crowd could follow, pump fists in unison at all the well-worn changes and even sing along should the urge arise.

Like a supergroup, the quartet rose above the material, letting their talents shine: Dreiwitz’s pitch-perfect rock bass set up the pins and knocked ’em down. Benevento’s organ played Plant’s vocals, combining the wail with the warmth. Metzger’s guitar innovated on the invention, interweaving his own solos with Page’s iconic riffs. And Russo…let’s just say John Bonham was spinning in his grave, turning over so he could better hear what Russo was laying down on his brand new drum kit. Several laws of thermodynamics were broken on that drum set last night.

After blazing through hit after hit, like “Ramble On,” “Custard Pie” and “What Is and What Should Never Be,” they announced they were skipping a set break and were commencing with the second half of the show. Somehow, things clicked into higher gear at that moment, the band melting into a jamming goo. The remainder of the show was superlative: “Thank You,” with its elegiac piano and guitar solos, “Moby Dick,” with its gonzo drum section, and the monster set-closing “Kashmir,” which perfectly encapsulated a perfect night of Zeppelin. Well into the midnight hour, the band returned for a straight-reading encore of “The Song Remains the Same.” It certainly does. —A. Stein