Demo2DeRo: Blackdog
As you might expect from a band named for one of the most iconic songs on the most famous of all officially untitled fourth albums, the Chicago quartet Blackdog gives a whole lotta love and then some to Led Zeppelin, which ranks first and foremost on a list of classic-rock heroes that also includes Cream and Jimi Hendrix. Yet while this can be a dire thing indeed in the hands of mere mortals or copycat wannabes in the Lenny Kravitz mode, thunder god drummer Andrew Elbert, bassist Jason Segal and guitarists and vocalists Antony Ablan and Sam Reicher have both the chops and the bluesy, boozy joie de vivre to pull off the sound and the stance in a most convincing way.
The band released a self-titled album last year, and it offers a hefty sampling of its heavy tunes on both its MySpace page, www.myspace.com/yourblackdog, and its own Web site, www.yourblackdog.com. The group also is gigging with road-warrior regularity; the next stop on the itinerary: Phyllis' Musical Inn, 1800 W. Division, at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Jim DeRogatis