Rose Hill Drive: Higher Ground, South Burlington, VT – 11/08/07

"…Distortion becomes somehow pure in its wildness…"

"Pure and Easy", The Who. 1971

The three members of Rode Hill Drive walked unassumingly on stage at Higher Ground November 8th, before brandishing their instruments to create a virtual firestorm of sound in front of perhaps a hundred spectators in attendance at Higher Ground.

It was a galvanizing performance the likes of which should demand a much larger audience. The Colorado trio was gracious in their expression of gratitude to those present, displaying no dismay at the turnout in the Showcase Lounge, but rather, in a little over an hour exhibiting virtually all the distinguishing characteristics the trio has to offer.

Jake Sproul extracts taut lines from the Rickenbacker bass that merely twangs in the hands of most users. Then again most vocalists in hard rock/heavy metal bands love the frequencies only dogs can hear and Sproul would prefer to relegate his high-pitched vocals to an animalistic howl.

Playing so heavily he sounds like two drummers in synch, Daniel Barnes generates something of a tsunami wave of rhythm. Yet he remains far too nimble and quick to succumb to the ponderous or heavy-handed.

Meanwhile, guitarist Daniel Sproul appears the antithesis of the guitar hero, eschewing posing and posturing, but more importantly, extraneous effects applied to his own instrument. His restraint extends to his playing, as its searing tone is a demonstration, like RHD at large, of the therapeutic effects of high volume.

The pulverizing attack of this trio recalls (without directly imitating) that halcyon period of rock between 1968 and 1970, where Jeff Beck was first playing "Bolero" and The Who were in their glory Live At Leeds (with a side trip to the crucial juncture in history where Steve Marriott was taking over Humble Pie from Peter Frampton via "Four Day Creep.")

Rose Hill Drive’s performance set reached a frenzied conclusion, before a dwindling crowd. The threesome enganged in more free-form improvisation than their previous visit to this same venue back in May of this year: recall the instrumental conflagrations of Cream in their heyday, if you would, and relish the self-renewing aspect of great rock and roll.

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