Recently the Den has booked several different bands which pay tribute to the same legendary Rock N Roll groups. We’ve seen the Beatles done as Classics Album Live and as the Fab Four. We’ve also seen Great Escape do their version of Journey then watched Voyage (w/ Hugo) do their rendition of the same. Friday night brought another of such events.
Back in March, Zoso: The Led Zeppelin Experience (Rock Log 032512) demonstrated a ‘looks like/sounds like’ set of Led Zeppelin’s best and did a very good job. Classics Album Live performed Led Zeppelin II and took it to a new level on Friday – at least on the audible front (as a Classics Album Live show will never be mistaken for a look-a-like band.)
What amazes me most about the Classics Album Live shows I’ve seen is the amount of musicians it takes to re-create the sound of the originals. The Who and The Beatles have four band members and in each case it took eight musicians to replicate their sounds. In the Led Zep case – it was another seven to match the original four.
Tonight was all about the lead singer. While you would expect the Jimmy Page guitarist to be the show stopper in a Led Zeppelin show – and he was very talented, the guy doing Robert Plant was absolutely amazing. I’m just an average Led Zep fan – but smart enough to know that this guy had it going on....long notes, high notes, low notes, grunts, harmonica, timing, screams...everything on cue and to perfection.
After forty five minutes of straight forward Led Zeppelin II, highlighted by a strong opening tune of “A Whole Lot of Love” – the band played another forty five minutes of other Zep favorites. A first for all of us was the song where the drummer played with four sticks (a la Jon Bonham)...I found it really unique and fun to watch, but unfortunately couldn’t actually hear the difference the extra two stick made.
Fearing “Stairway to Heaven” would end the show, we were all pleasantly surprised that this song was nixed from the setlist and they ended in grand fashion with “Kashmir”. Definitely one of the Top 10 songs I’ve heard play live at the Den since I started oh so many years ago.
This night provided no oddball people, no drop dead gorgeous gals, no extravagant sets – nothing to remember it by except the music. I guess that’s the way it should be....
Randall
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