How To Sit In with a Tribute
Chillicothe, Illinois, population of 6,200, exists as a sleepy, riverside town until Memorial Day when Summer Camp sets up its annual residency, ushering in the first days of summer. This year, I performed on six different occasions throughout the weekend, heard some amazing music from friends old and new and experienced a few things that I never thought I would ever be a part of. As the festival kicked off on Thursday, Vinnie Amico, moe.’s drummer, and I were invited to sit in with the Led Zeppelin tribute band Zoso, by our friend and promoter of the event, Ian Goldberg. Zoso has apparently made quite a name for themselves touring, and I must say, after watching some of their show, they really nail the whole raging live Led Zeppelin performance. I was asked to show up about 30 minutes before their set to meet the guys and discuss what might work as a sit in. I thought, this should be no problem, we play Fool In the Rain and Song Remains the Same, and I also know No Quarter pretty well offhand. I met Matt (Bob Plant) first and introduced myself. A David St. Hubbins-ish looking fellow, he certainly had the Plant vibe down. He seemed pretty focused at the time, and actually asked us to hang for a few minutes while they set up their gear, reasonable enough it seemed. So Vinnie and I waited until the stage was set to discuss. A few minutes later, we asked Matt (Bob Plant) what other guests sit in on when they play with a guest; he responded rather tersely (even though he’s from the US, faking an English accent makes the quotes much more effective): “We’ve never had someone sit in before.” Ok, so moving right along. I suggested Fool, but alas, Matt says, “We don’t play Fool.” So I threw out Song Remains the Same, to which he looked at me rather quizzically and then wryly said “Song Remains the Same doesn’t have keyboards.” I tried to crack a joke and told him in my best imitation of Kris’ imitation of Johnny Carson, “Well, it does when I play it!,” but I heard no hearty Ed McMahon laughter in the response. So I threw out “No Quarter,” and he came back with “No, that won’t work.” At this point, the uncomfortable “having trouble finding a sit-in song” silence ensued and I thought it might not happen as our negotiations had come to a stand still. Then he asked me if I knew “Misty Mountain Hop,” which I certainly didn’t know how to play, although my reply was “Sure!” Great. Now I’m sittin’ in on a song that I’ve never played before. Last question from me:”Hey Matt (Bob Plant), what key do you guys play it in?” Strange look back at me from him, yet again. He responds in what I am beginning to see as his rather typically serious and droll manner, “Why don’t you ask the bass player that one.” Not sure if he didn’t know or if he thought I might be insulting his Plant-ian vocal prowess by suggesting they had to play it in a lower key. But really, I just had no idea what key the song was in and wanted to learn it correctly and play it respectably.
I had about 45 minutes until it popped up in their set, so I double-timed it back to the bus, grabbed my ipod and started memorizing the form. A quick trip backstage to my practice keyboard to work on the riffs followed, and I headed back up to the north end of the site, where they were playing at the Starshine Stage. Now another funny thing I realized while I was sitting there waiting to make my debut--as the first ever Zoso sit-in--was that Adam (John Paul Jones) would be playing bass pedals (much like Jake’s Taurus II Moog Pedals he used to play with live) in addition to playing keys when they performed “Misty Mountain Hop”. So he probably thought I was sitting in and he was sitting out, and if that was the case, we had major train wreck city waiting to happen. As I was walking out on to the stage I grabbed Adam and said, “Please play bass on this one – I’m not playing the bass with my feet!” I think he realized from the look of certain disaster on my face that we would be best off with both of us up there. Fortunately, he obliged and we had a great time rockin out. I looked up from the keys at one point during the tune and saw most of my band rockin’ out with me down below the stage too, which was a fairly unusual sight for me. And seriously, these guys put on a stupendous show. As the night continued after the sit in, I was impressed with Adam (John Paul Jones), who also played some acoustic guitar while playing bass pedals, in addition to playin’ keys and an absolute killer bass. Great show guys, and thanks to Ian Goldberg for putting that together.
A few other highlights that I witnessed at Summer Camp this year: great, great sets on the Camping Stage. The two bands I saw were The Uglysuit and The Hue. Uglysuit is an unbelievable new band from Oklahoma that will be releasing its major label debut on Touch and Go, and was recorded by our good friend Manny Sanchez, who has worked on all of the Umphrey’s McGee studio albums with Kevin Browning over the past 5 years. The Uglysuit songs are epic in a sort of Pink Floyd meets Beach Boys way and the recording (once its released) will blow your minds. You’ll notice the IV Labs upright piano on a lot of the tracks. That’s the piano we used for many of the Umphrey’s McGee pieces featuring piano on Safety In Numbers and The Bottom Half. My favorite songs they played were “Brad’s House” and “Anthem of the Arctic Birds.” Check this band out at www.myspace.com/theuglysuit. Since Summer Camp, they have received some press from Rolling Stone. Nice work, guys. A lot of folks are already familiar with the sounds of the Hue: technical yet groove oriented progressive rock that is virtuosic and melodic all at once. Some serious edge though, and I love hearing that in a band. But where are the keyboards, guys? Just kiddin. Visit their website at www.myspace.com/huemusic.
I was hangin’ out with the guys from Backyard Tire Fire, Cubs fans and a rockin band, as the Sunshine Stage came to a close. The New Pornographers, who headlined the Sunshine Stage, were experiencing the joy of a dead 15 passenger Econoline van battery, and they were stuck backstage. Hey, I know that unfortunate scenario! Except this time, I could actually help. My car was close by, and we put it to good use, got the van jumped and they were soon on their way.
- Joel