Led Zeppelin with Full Symphony - John Bonhams Drumming

The last post in my review of the Music of Led Zeppelin show at Dodge Theatre in Phoenix Arizona answers the questions "How would Zeppelin sound in front of a full symphony”… and for the love of God, "Who could come close to matching the Great Bonzo's drumming?"

The question of how it would sound to add a full symphony to the music of Led Zeppelin vanished after the first song. If full orchestration could add to the hard driving rhythm of Immigrant Song, then I knew that this was going to be a great experience. The symphony added fullness to the sound that was most likely missing in Zeppelin’s actual live performances. I always wondered how Page and Jones could possibly reproduce all of the components that were composed into Zep songs. Nowhere does the addition of the orchestra seem so natural than with the classic song Kashmir. I imagine that when Page wrote the music for this song he probably heard it this way. Another surprise was the excellent violin playing of Allegro, who covered several of Page's lead parts.

The final question of who could duplicate John Bonham ended up being the biggest surprise of all. Drummer Powell Randolph was amazing! See the solo for yourself. Much like Cintron, Randolph successfully captured the abstract essence of the style of Bonham, and executed an incredible reproduction of the drum solo for Moby Dick. He sounded to me like what I would imagine Bonham might have evolved into today. Having seen some of the best drummers ever, Neil Peart and Steve Smith come to mind, Powell Randolph was better!

Overall, the sound of Dodge Theatre was the only negative. If you get the chance to see Windborne’s Tribute to Led Zeppelin, or their tribute to Queen, Pink Floyd, or Eagles… do it!

The Music of Led Zeppelin

Last Friday I saw the Music of Led Zeppelin with Brent Havens and Windborne Music. Here is my review, that I will break out over the next four weeks since I had WAY too much to say about it :).

Its a Friday night... the lights dim... the hum of the string section tuning for the show... and a guy with long curly hair takes the stage belting out the iconic "Ah-ay-ah ah" from Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song. But instead of Robert Plant, who has sworn off singing Zeppelin songs, its Randy Jackson... and NOT the one from American Idol, the one from the 80s band Zebra.

For all of us musicians who consider Led Zeppelin a formative influence, this is as close as we will ever get to seeing their music performed live. I remember the day that John Bonham was reported to have passed away. I was 15, a junior in high school and was mortified to hear on the radio that my favorite band's drummer had just died. I mean, we were in the process of planning how we were going to pull off a road trip to see Zeppelins recently scheduled concert in Los Angeles in support of In Through The Out Door. That was the last time that Zeppelin would ever be involved in a World Tour.

Until now. The live music of Led Zeppelin has come back to life with the help of Brent Havens and Windborne Music. Before seeing this show, I had many questions and a few reservations about seeing a cover band performing one of my favorite bands music live. Who could possibly sing Robert Plants vocal parts? Who could possibly reproduce Jimmy Page's style on guitar? How would Zeppelin sound in front of a full symphony. And, for the love of God, who could come close to matching the Great Bonzo's drumming? Over the next four weeks I will answer those questions.