Four Sticks kicked major ass at Whippersnappers in Londonderry, New Hampshire last night with their thrill packed tribute to the music of Led Zeppelin. Usually a four piece, last night Four Sticks included bass player Rob Gourlay. Chris Lester, who usually plays bass, played guitar and keyboards. Of course, usual guitarist Tim Theriault showed up in his usual role. That dual guitar sound gave the Led Zep classics that extra kick those songs needed.
Four sticks opened with “The Song Remains The Same,” creating with aplomb a huge sound that built up to an even higher plateau. “Good Times Bad Times” found the band grooving through the twisty turns in this song, riding the corners on two wheels. You could really hear the band’s use of dynamics and the power of the two guitars in “The Rove,” a feisty number from Physical Graffiti.
Interestingly enough, Singer Gardner Berry’s voice, high-pitched, aggressive fits this music like a glove, finessing each song, whether singing over the melodic phrasing in the hard rock numbers or meshing in sweetly with Led Zep’s acoustic English folk songs from the third and forth albums. Berry had no trouble holding notes forever or belting out staccato bursts or shouting the call and response sequences with the guitars.
“The Lemon Song” featured Gourlays’ easy going low end supporting the weight of the guitars and the drums like the foundation of a fortress. Hearing that self-contained, self-controlled heaviness from Gourlay made you almost believe that the real Led Zep was on stage disguised as these New Hampshire residents.
When Four Sticks played “The Immigrant Song” you could almost picture Viking warriors sailing toward the shore with weapons in hand. The music was so exciting and intense, it made you feel something adventurous was on the verge of erupting. The song also featured more of Berry’s furious, banshee-like wailing.
“The Ocean” roared when Four Sticks rhythms section of Gourlay and infamous drummer Dave Stefanelli moved the music around in huge rocking swells. Tim Theriault’s guitar phrase on the bridge was particularly clean and edgy. “Heartbreaker” came on like a mountain of sound before subsiding into its solid traction grooves that grab hold of dynamics and tempos to build back up into that mountain of sound once more. Theriault’s guitar solo was crunchy and mean and he even segued into Deep Purple’s “Woman From Tokyo” and “Burn” before returning to the familiar high pitched fury of notes that is “Heartbreaker.”
Here, Gourlay played some eerie, moody tones on his four string, showcasing an ability to stretch the bass beyond its usual foundational role. The bass rumble soon turned into “Ramble On” from the second Led Zeppelin album, which treated the crowd to the acoustic intro from Chris Lester into the electric lead guitar outro from Theriault. Berry whipped the band into intense musical frenzies with his shifting dynamics and tempos on the unwieldy “What Is And What Should Never Be.” Berry got to show off his harmonica work on “When The Levee Breaks” and his screech during the pulse-pounding “Wanton Song” from Physical Graffiti found him larger than life with his muscular, throaty expressions.
Teriault in his moments made you think he was the one who invented the electric guitar. He whipped up a lot of exciting tones in these songs, especially the haunting eastern inspired “Kashmir.”
The second set began with Four Sticks interpretations of Led Zeppelin’s favored acoustic numbers. “Going to California” was graced by Gourlay’s mandolin which weaved a lot of texture with the acoustic guitars. Berry’s restraint on “California” paved the way for more expressive singing later in the song. “That’s The Way” from Led Zeppelin III also benefited from the Four Sticks take on Zeppelin’s acoustic English folk music.
Four Sticks segued from their acoustic numbers into “Over The Hills And Far Away” which started with Theriault’s rippling acoustic guitar notes and ended with Lester’s edgy electric phrasing nailing the underlying aggression in this piece. Gourlay went into another solo spot, twangy, boinging, fuzzy sounds running amok, and parts of Edgar Winter Group’s “Frankenstein” found their way into this mesh of bass techniques.
“Custard Pie” was marked by power chords and a walloping low end and the hippie vibe of “Misty Mountain Hop” was graced by Lester’s organ work. “Moby Dick,” of course, featured the manic drum solo from Stefanelli who became a one man show as he offered as much texture, tone, and technique as a full band.
“Bring It On Home” gave Berry a chance to show off his low, soulful vintage blues croon while the players supplied that slow chugging rumble, until it was time to get down to business with the Zeppelinesque attack on guitars and drums.
The band neared the end of the evening with the undeniable Led Zep classic anthem “Stairway To Heaven,” a number that many cover band and tribute bands cannot sustain. Yet, Lester’s acoustic guitar strums and Berry’s synthesized flute paved the way for the orchestrated multi-textured, multi-layered mesh of acoustic-electric guitar interplay. Four Sticks closed out with “Rock And Roll” and they proved that two guitars are better than one. Thicker than usual rhythms made the most out of an already muscular song.
Four Sticks have been crowd pleases for eight years now. Last night’s crowd were still talking about the show as they left the room at midnight.