Alex Borsody

Words: Alex Borsody

Images: Rob Chapman

Bustle In Your Hedgerow continues to win fans with their sporadic gigging since coming together in 2003. Formed off the solid core of Joe Russo and Marco Benevento, they brought in friends Dave Dreiwitz on bass and Scott Metzger on guitar to form an epic Led Zeppelin cover band. The catch is that they play the songs in a completely new way, incorporating organ funk and jazz to create unique renditions of familiar rock standards. I got a chance to check them out at Brooklyn Bowl, a venue that sits in the heart of Williamsburg, across the street from a famous street art installation.

[All photos by Rob Chapman]

The show was 21 and up, as are many of the shows at the venue featuring jazz or funk influences and the place was still full of people. Over The Hills And Far Away was one of the highlights of the first set and featured an intro with Russo on vocals. These were the only vocals of the night and segued into Benevento’s melodic organ playing followed by one of the longest jams of the first set.

The set break saw hipster liaison Marco Benevento introducing the band, saying “if there was a magazine called Jersey’s Finest we would all be on the cover every month,” referring to the band’s Garden State origins.

Ramble On has perhaps one of the most memorable and melodic bass lines of all time. It is difficult to keep the melody and rhythm in sync and it took Dave Dreiwitz a little while to find the groove to the song. To his credit trying to keep up with John Paul Jones is not easy. The song climaxed with a solo from Benevento. You Shook Me was very bluesy and saw the guitar replacing Jimmy Page’s vocals. The five minute drum solo on Moby Dick, had Russo doing his best John Bonham.

READ ON for more from Alex on Bustle In Your Hedgerow…

When I saw the bill of Telepath, Eliot Lipp and Joe Nice on the schedule for April 9 at NYC’s Sullivan Hall, I knew I should attend this show. I was introduced to grime and dubstep through the music of Mathhead/Passions and Curses/Drop the Lime, co-founders of the Trouble and Bass collective. For a while, I have thought that the hippie culture might be saved from obscurity through the incorporation of dance music and electronica.

Jambands have been inflicted with stereotypes that no longer hold true. The word jamband does not work anymore and could be used synonymously with “improvisational music” or “live music.” Dance music serves the purpose of relieving stress and creating a sense of well being, which is the same thing that drives the live music industry. What these three acts all have in common is that they are all skilled and unique musicians who put on a great live show.

Musicians like Telepath, Eliot Lipp and Joe Nice are contributing to our happy family of live music lovers, helping to bring good music to a new audience made up of brightly colored, flat brimmed freaks, in their own right. Though this culture has a slightly stronger emphasis on consumerism, it might balance out the crusty, radical hippie ideals that got this music tossed aside in the first place. Though it’s not like it ever really mattered what the mainstream thought anyway.

READ ON for more of Alex’s Telepath/Eliot Lipp/Joe Nice review…