Billed as one of the greatest Led Zeppelin tribute bands in the world, Tacoma, Washington-based No Quarter played to a house packed with anticipation, at The Gov on Thursday night.
Opening with the sweeping Immigrant Song, Michael Anderson’s vocals screeched out in true Plant style. Quickly moving onto Heartbreaker and then Black Dog, the group established its bona fides before Anderson took to the mic to chat. Unfortunately, I was unable to hear a single word he said, and I wasn’t alone. There were issues seemingly emanating from the mixing desk all night, which lead to, not just this inaudibility, but some messy sound in many of the numbers. The group itself also took a while to warm up, and were not as tight to begin with as I’m sure they usually are.
Good Times, Bad Times, got the room moving, before the boys settled into a sultry and driving version of Dazed and Confused, where the talents of Bryan Christiansen on guitar really shone through. It was at this point that we had the sense that the group had really come into its own.
The second set opened with a subdued Bron Y Aur Stomp moving into California Song before breaking out into a revved up Rock and Roll and Communication Breakdown. After this, the obligatory Moby Dick allowed Nathan Carroll, their wonderful drummer, to have his moment of glory. It was a solid, respectable solo. Closing number was Whole Lotta Love, done as one the original’s live versions.
Brought back for an encore, they gave us a beautiful rendition of Kashmir (this reviewer’s favourite Zep number!), which was a tour de force for Chad McMurry on keys, although, once again, mediocre mixing let the whole sound down.
No Quarter are a fantastic Zep tribute band, and they know how to put on a show. No doubt about it. However their Adelaide gig just didn’t quite hit the highs the publicity had lead us to expect. I don’t think we saw them at their absolute best.
Despite that, it was a great night for Zep lovers, and although most of the comments I heard were as mine above, there was a general sense of it having been a great gig.
I look forward to seeing them back in Adelaide soon
Official site: https://www.theledzeppelinexperience.com/
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