Custard Pie stole the show at the Mardi Gras Multi Club in Cranston, Rhode Island last night. Custard Pie, a Led Zeppelin tribute band, came on before and after local Rhode Island cover bands Zinc Alloy and Archive, and they proved to be the most entertaining of the three.Custard Pie found a good home in Cranston’s Mardi Gras Multi Club, one building housing four different music rooms. The Led Zeppelin tribute band packed the Multi Club’s J. R.’s Bourbon Street Rock House. There were six screens around the room and its bar to watch the band on if you couldn’t find standing room in the stage area.Custard Pie take their name from the first tune off of Led Zeppelin’s two record set Physical Graffiti. And like Led Zeppelin’s sixth studio release, Custard Pie is a large and varied offering of Led Zeppelin music.
The highlight of last night’s show was “No Quarter” from Zeppelin’s Houses Of The Holy album, a minor key, chilling tale of winter night warriors who stay true to their cause. The keyboard and synthesizer work was provided by guest musician Harry Lawton from Worcester’s Pink Floyd tribute band Gilmour’s Breakfast, and his misty minor key chords and notes made this classic come to life. Throw in guitarist Jonathan Hathaway’s psychedelic blues riffs and phrases and front man Mark Moretti’s eerie vocal delivery, and you have one inspiring rendition. A doubling of the bass notes created a powerful vibe in the most progressive, most dramatic lyrical tale in Zeppelin’s catalogue.
Custard Pie were not perfect last night. There were awkward pauses between numbers, and they flubbed the opening of “Black Dog.” Yet, this Rhode Island cover band more than made up for it with their avalanche of talent. Their energy and their way of keeping things interesting that made them the stars of the night.
As lead singer, Moretti’s high pitched notes, held forever, were filled with charisma and richness. His frenzied yelp on “I Can’t Quit You, Baby” matched Hathaway’s blistering bluesy guitar attack. The rhythm section built up, in each song, a big, bad-ass foundation for the guitars and vocals to blast off from. It is hard to imagine Hathaway’s screaming guitar sounding as intense if he didn’t have that walloping backdrop from bass player Pat Lynch and drummer Ben Banning.
After the band briefly lost its footing in the first verse of “Black Dog,” Custard Pie’s rhythm section controlled the tune’s stop-start groove with powder keg oomph that constantly made one feel as they were on the verge of witnessing some incredible historic event in music.”
“Ramble On” from Led Zeppelin II received the royal treatment. Hathaway’s sing-song, gently picked melodic phrase pulled listeners in with its cool feeling of movement while Moretti finessed the words. This slow boil song allowed a glimpse into how well this tribute band works together. Each member built a corner stone of this freewheeling sound.
Led Zeppelin came close to recording pure blues on their third album’s hit “Since I’ve Been Loving You.” Last night, Custard Pie gave this long song enough energy and charm to keep this monster grooving strong. Hathaway got fiery, frenetic half way through, unleashing a manic solo with notes flying around with hurricane force.
This tribute band briefly went into Led Zep’s version of Robert Johnson’s “In My Time Of Dying” only Hathaway’s blues licks sounded closer to Johnson than Jimmy Page before they blew out Led Zep’s sublimated blues rendition. Speaking of blues, Robert Johnson’s “Traveling Riverside Blues,” as recorded by Led Zeppelin as a single, saw more of Hathaway’s slide guitar magic shadowed by Lynch’s very fluid and precise bass notes.
Cover band Archive followed with their polished but less intense version of J. Geil’s Band classic “House Party” and Aerosmith chestnut “Mama Kin” but didn’t keep me interested enough to want to hang around. Opening band Zinc Alloy were a pretty good cover band with an interesting set list, including a cover of The Hollies’ “Long Cool Woman,” which I’ve never seen a cover band perform before last night. Both bands featured the same lead singer, Steve DeMello, as his Archives appearance was a reunion gig. DeMello was more interesting in Zinc Alloy as he tackled everything from Van Morrison’s “Wild Nights” to Brownsville Station’s “Smoking In The Boysroom” to Judas Priest’s “Living After Midnight.”
If you ever get out to Cranston, Rhode Island, check out the Mardi Gras Multi Club. Aside from J.R.’s Bourbon Street Rock House, they also have country line dancing in the Diamond Rodeo and dance, hip-hop, and techno music in The Monkey Bar and Caribbean theme music in Johnny Bahama’s
Hi Bill,
I just wanted to send a sincere thank you for the great review!
It’s very much appreciated by both myself & the band.
Mark Moretti
I cant help but insert my 2 cents here! Custard Pie was very good! But I would not go as far as to say they Stole the show! I think this review is OFF by just a wee bit to be honest! The first band Zink Alloy is in my eyes is a brilliant co…ver band! They pulled stuff out that you just dont hear from the avg. classic rock cover band! Great job Zink Alloy!! The owner of that club should have you as a headline band for sure.. Custard Pie one of the best Zepp tribute bands I ever heard.. Hands down.. But the highlight of the night from where I was standing was no doubt the reunion of Archives.. And those guys gave the crowd what they came for.. The crowd went wild after every tune at least thats what I saw from where I was standing! They were magnificent to say the least for a group of guys who have not played together in 14 years i think they said.. And hey! They still had the place packed full at 1AM! So much for being boring! A very bias review if you ask me.. Couldnt help it but the other 2 bands delivered and it looked to me to be Archives crowd!See More
I have to agree with Sal. The reunion gig of Archives had to be the highlight of the night. Many of their fans from 20 years ago made it out for the show and were not disappointed — they danced, sand at the top of their lungs and a few even jumped up on stage! Archives sounded like they’d never put their instruments down, much less not played together in 14+ years. Much of the crowd arrived early and stayed until last call (watching and enjoying all three veteran bands performances). Having been there for all 3 bands I have to say, while Custard Pie was good, Zinc Alloy and Archives rocked the house! If the music critic had taken the time to stick around for the entire show, he would have seen great talent and heard some truly awesome renditions of classic rock n roll.
Well said Sal & Erin 🙂 i was there the whole night also with a group of friends i traveled with…..they all loved the show……starting the night out with Zink Alloy was awesome as always….and ending the night with an archives reunion after not seeing them together for 14 years…..we all thought they had an awesome performance also….with all that said…Custard Pie was a great Zepplin tribute band……but def did not steal the show by no means .
From my point of view, I found Custard Pie much more interesting than the two cover bands. Custard Pie’s delivery of No Quarter and SInce I’ve Been Loving You displayed more talent and attention to detail than what Zinc Alloy and Archives had to offer. Everything in No Quarter had to be right to get that special vibe. The same with the blues-tinged SInce I’ve Been Loving You. The fact that Custard Pie could handle the prog-rock atmospherics of No Quarter as well as the blues feeling of Since I’ve Been Loving You proves the artistic range of this tribute band. Zinc Alloy, while playing unusal choices for a cover band, didn’t show much difference in detail from song to song. Archives, like most reunion gigs, came across as rushed and one-off(ish). I live in New Hampshire, and I have very little connection to the Rhode Island scene, so I would say I was quite unbiased.
Ok Ben. Give me a call damn it