Concert Review : Them Crooked Vultures - Corn Exchange, Edinburgh

This certainly counted as a "bonus" concert as I had made no attempt to buy a ticket for this concert. However, the timing of my son's examination schedule meant I was the lucky recipient of his misfortune.

Unlike many supposed "supergroups", the combination of Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones and Josh Homme was kept very much under the radar until the album was ready to be released, and some relatively low key gigs announced.

The album was a thrilling combination of three exceptional talents - indeed, sufficiently so in Jones' case that it rather made me happy that there was no follow up to the Led Zeppelin concert at the O2 as it is somewhat doubtful that it would have been able to match the heights that Them Crooked Vultures have attained.

The gig more than matched the album. The entire album was played along with two new songs (which I trust is a sign that this will not be a one off) giving an 80 minute set. No encore (not really necessary) and no nods to any of the participants other bands.

It was great to see Grohl back behind a drum kit - the man is an absolute monster and handled the complex time signatures of some of the numbers with ease and also demonstrated that he would have been more than capable of filling John Bonham's shoes had that been open to him.

Josh Homme was a remarkably charismatic front man - or, at least, much more so than I had expected. His vocals were excellent, as was his guitar playing.

And then there was John Paul Jones. As cool, calm and collected on stage as was the case in the heyday of Zeppelin, he played a wide range of instruments with ease and was clearly enjoying himself thoroughly. Although the audience was on the whole of a generation not to have enjoyed Zeppelin, it was Jones who got the biggest cheer from the crowd which is only appropriate.

The band were ably supported by Alain Johannes, who has previously worked with Homme in Queens Of The Stone Age, who helped out on guitar, bass, keyboards and vocals throughout the evening. He seems more than talented enough in his own right to justify sharing the stage with the other three.

All in all, a remarkable evening from a remarkable band