Welcome to yet another weekly edition of Grousing The Aisles. This week we have some great audio and video from established legends with five letters in their last names like Frank Zappa, Warren Zevon and Bob Seger, as well as up-and-coming acts Brock Butler and Rose Hill Drive. Check it out:

Rose Hill Drive 12/30/06 DAUD (FLAC)

Rose Hill Drive continues to make fans of some of the biggest names in rock, like Roger Daltrey of The Who. On December 30th, the boys started their concert with a tribute to Jimi Hendrix by playing Band of Gypsys in its entirety at the Boulder Theater. RHD tears through such classic tracks as Who Knows, Machine Gun, and Power to Love with brute force. Daniel Sproul does a fine job of channeling Jimi, who is not exactly an easy musician to cover.

Covers weren’t the only showstoppers of the night for Rose Hill Drive, as they also played driving versions of Cool Cody and The Guru, amongst other original songs. The interplay between the Sproul brothers and drummer Nathan Barnes is incredibly tight, leaving the impression these boys have played together for decades. I expect big things from these guys in 2007, as do we all.

Brock Butler 1/6/07 DAUD (FLAC, MP3, STREAM)

I love the Internet. Jamcruise disembarked a few days ago and already we get to sample some of the music from the annual hippie vacation. The first show I’ve heard from the boat is the solo set by Brock Butler of Perpetual Groove. Butler played a number of covers yet added his own style to songs such as Paul Simon’s Graceland and The Secret Machines’ Alone, Jealous, and Stoned.

Brock

Photo from this show courtesy of the back-on-land SuperDee

The highlight of the poolside set was Brock’s version of Taj Mahal’s Queen Bee. in which he works a nice percussive beat while emoting the lyrics in a distinctive manner reminiscent of Van Morrison. Truly awesome stuff. Sadly the taper had technical issues that forced him to stop recording midway through the set. What he did get is a great mellow listen in which you can just imagine being on the MSC Opera watching the waves roll by. I can’t believe I biffed Jamcruise again.

For more Brock, also check out this soundboard recording of his set from the Georgia Theater on December 29th, 2006.

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band 03/21/77 FM (FLAC)

After 10 years of writing songs, knocking on doors and playing in dive bars, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band finally achieved the national success they wanted with the release of Night Moves in 1976. So as they embarked on tour of bigger venues, Seger and his band already had an incredible repertoire of songs (including Katmandu, Turn The Page, and Travelin’ Man). The show featured here from Boston Music Hall was captured off Boston radio, and the sound is phenomenal. Even better than the sound is the performance itself, in which you can hear Seger give every bit of himself to the crowd. Highlights include Turn The Page, The Let It Rock Medley, and of course Night Moves. No Chevrolets were harmed.

Frank Zappa 10/31/81 PRO SHOT (DVD)

Gail Zappa has complained like a whiny bitch about the lack of money coming in from her husband Frank’s illustrious career. Perhaps she should actually release a concert film if she is so concerned about cash flow. While Baby Snakes and The Dub Room Special are awesome releases, myself and about 10,000 other Zappateers would like to see the estate release a full concert on DVD. Luckily for us, some footage of Zappa’s Halloween concerts at the Felt Forum has been making the rounds.

The 1981 Halloween concerts feature an extremely talented band of musicians with Stevie Vai, Ray White, and the always entertaining to look at Tommy Mars. Of the 25 songs on this DVD, the highlights include Montana, Fine Girl, and Flakes. The quality on the video is pretty good (as you can see from the screenshot above), but you can tell it was taped off the television. When the Zappa family finally releases a remastered version of this material, I will be first in line to buy it. Perhaps Gail should stop complaining and start releasing concerts on DVD so that I can stuff her pockets.

Warren Zevon 7/27/78 SBD (FLAC)

While I had always been familiar with Werewolves of London, it wasn’t until just before his death that I found the music of Warren Zevon. Werewolves is a fun song, but it hardly shows the versatility and genius that made legends such as Jackson Browne and Bruce Springsteen big Zevon fans.

If you haven’t discovered Warren’s music for yourself, check out this crispy recording from the famous Record Plant in Sausalito, California. Zevon was in high spirits that night, cracking jokes and changing lyrics on the fly. His set includes outstanding versions of Lawers, Guns, and Money, When Johnny Strikes Up The Band, and Accidentally Like A Martyr. Don’t worry, he plays a ripping Werewolves too. Every week I recommend new music to people, but I’m going to take it a step further and strongly urge you to download this show: the song writing talents of Warren Zevon can’t be denied.

Got anything of note I should be listening to or downloading? Let me know.