If you heard Rose Hill Drive tear their vicious way through “Communications Breakdown,” you’d be convinced there is no need whatsoever for a Led Zeppelin reunion. The Colorado trio played this set closer with all the animalistic fury they did the rest of their close to ninety- minutes at Higher Ground. It was more than enough to make you wonder why they’re still relegated to the smaller room at the venue.]
But then, RHD don’t cater to the lowest common denominator when they perform. Rather than engage in faux showmanship or otherwise fritter away their energy on stage (they engage in virtually no between song patter, except short humble thanks to those in attendance), they channel their power intelligently: Daniel Sproul, for instance, remains economical in wielding the scythe-like swath of his guitar, while drummer Nathan Barnes recalls the late Mitch Mitchell in his busy hands and heavy foot to the bass drum.
The Hendrix reference is especially appropriate for this 11/16 show. Rose Hill Drive covered two tunes from Band of Gypsys (which they have performed in its entirety in the past)—“Who Knows” and a propulsive “Power of Love" –and in general offered a deeper dirtier sound than before. No doubt that’s due, at least in part, to the fact Jake Sproul now wields a Fender bass rather than a Rickenbacker.
Sounding ever more similar to Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan when he sings, the titular leader of Rose Hill Drive still refuses to aim for notes only dogs can hear. And when you see him and his brother yelping into their mikes, clad in the jeans and t-shirts they’d wear on the street, it makes you wonder if these guys made the same deal with the devil Robert Johnson did.
Though certainly not of comparable invention, Rose Hill Drive’s blistering hard rock nevertheless owes more than a little to that man’s blues and the virtually unabated torrent of sound unleashed by the threesome so satiated the audience, there was no rousing call for an encore this mid-November night. That’s one measure of how exhilarating it is to hear this band play.
