Rock and roll, it’s good for the soul, as they say and I wholeheartedly support that statement as the truth. There is a fabulous feeling of having shredding guitars and thumping bass lines push all the crazy out of your head, like therapy but cheaper and way more efficient than Prozac, that’s for sure. So with that in mind, I enter into Mill Valley’s famed Sweetwater Music Hall so I could subject myself and my internal demons to the ultimate therapeutic process of a double bill of killer rock in roll with the ladies of Zepparella and the opening act of Gretchen Menn Trio, the Zepparella guitarist’s newest personal music venture.
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Gretchen Menn is a mad woman on guitar. Her beauty is remarkable, like a porcelain doll that kills it with a six string electric and a cello bow. Her new trio, with bassist Anna Pfeiffer and drummer Tom Perry, is all instrumental, walking the line between heavy metal and classical guitar styles; it’s a dirty and elegant mix as only Menn can make it. There is such a charge with her music, pulsing, raging and completely hard-driving. Menn showcased original songs from her many solo-venture albums, including the aggressive, heavy metal vibe of “Scrap Metal” and “Oleo Strut” to the slow and gentle songs “Bures-sur-Yvette” and a cover of “Irish Eyes”.
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Then there is Zepparella, those beautiful ladies in white, busting out all the Led Zeppelin you could ever want and need. The band pays tribute to Led Zeppelin without trying to be like them, as there is no need. They do things their own way as they uphold the Led Zeppelin songbook with dignity, poise and pure female power. This band has been around for a long time, rocking hard with a pure magnetism not unlike the original Led Zeppelin. Lead singer and harmonica player Anna Kristina, who once again adds her voice to the music, struts, dances and seduces you with her prowess just like Robert Plant. Gretchen Menn comes back to her guitar and does Jimmy Page justice with pure, melodic shred while bassist Holly West and drummer Clementine bust out the backbeat like a heartbeat. Zepparella creates a mood and dynamic that plays out like wildfire. The band covered such Zep favorites as “Lemon Song”, “Bring It On Home”, “Daze & Confused” as well as “The Ocean” and “Night Flight”.
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As I have stated, like, a million times before, music is medicine, and a great night of hard-driving rock and roll was just the dose of “happy’ many of us needed
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