Led Zepagain - October 29, 2010 - Merrionette Park, IL

[Concert review originally posted to For Badgeholders Only mailing list]

[My photos here]

Led Zepagain put on a fantastic show Friday evening at 115 Bourbon Street on the South Side of Chicago, in Merrionette Park, IL. They had to deal with more technical issues than Page, Plant, Jones, and Jason Bonham did in 1988 at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary bash, but they pulled off one hell of a show nonetheless. From the opening salvo of Rock and Roll>Celebration Day to the last strains of Whole Lotta Love>Achilles Last Stand>Whole Lotta Love [reprise] (yes, a WLL-ALS medley!), the band captured the spirit of Led Zeppelin, circa Summer '73.

Zepagain followed Fair Warning (Van Halen tribute) and Blackened (Metallica tribute), even though the original program had LZ in the middle position (I joked that someone wised up enough to realize that no band should have to follow Zeppelin). I'm not a huge fan of either VH or Metallica, so I'm probably not qualified to critique either of those tribute acts. I felt a bit sorry for Fair Warning because their repeated attempts to get the crowd involved were for the most part futile. Blackened fared much better in terms of crowd involvement and interest and seemed to do a great job with the material. Zepagain had to set up during - and then wait through the judging of - a costume contest (a guy dressed as Slash [complete with actual guitar] and a woman dressed as Alice Cooper comprised the final two... the Cooper chick won). Before the show, Led Zepagain guitarist, R-O hotel resident, and FBO badgeholder Steve Z intimated that the theremin was not working correctly, and as the band set up, there were signs pointing to what lead singer Swan Montgomery acknowledged later - that the keyboards were also out of commission for the night - perhaps due to malfeasance on the part of a Southwest Airlines employee... thus, no Kashmir, Stairway, et cetera. Since this booking was 1700+ miles outside the band's normal base of operations, they had not shipped their entire instrumental arsenal - notably having to employ Blackened's drum kit (minus the second bass drum that the Sandmen

used). Led Zepagain navigated around, over, and through these obstacles to bring it on home during the course of a ~70 minute set.

I will undoubtedly leave a song out of this account, but the setlist included Rock and Roll>Celebration Day, Ramble On, Black Dog, Dazed and Confused, The Song Remains the Same, How Many More Times, Heartbreaker>Whole Lotta Love/Achilles Last Stand.

Vocalist Swan Montgomery delivered the goods with the rough-edged power and range that Robert Plant had during the 1973 American tour and thus sounded uncannily like he stepped directly out of The Song Remains The Same film. Bassist Jim Wootten's adroit playing stood out

during Ramble On, D&C, and TSRTS. Jim Kersey was relentless on drums throughout but especially impressive during Achilles. Finally, it is difficult to overstate the dexterity, dynamism, fluidity, and pure feeling that axeman Steve Zukowsky exhibited. This is going to sound over-the-top and exaggerated because people will think that I'm just flattering a fellow 'net Zeppelin' person, but I was simply blown away by how great Steve was, especially by all the little nuances he was able to incorporate from Page's work live in concert and the studio into his own style. I soon lost track of how many times I found myself grinning as I recognized yet another aural nod to a particular way that Jimmy had of playing a specific passage. Any Zeppelin fan who has watched much video of the band would also have to acknowledge that Steve has Page's stage moves down to a science, especially the Sorceror-esque arm movements.

The bow solo of Dazed was incredible - the definitive visual showcase of the evening. Apparently the high point of the evening for my wife arrived during the "got you in the sights of my..." climax of How Many More Times, since it was at that moment after "guuuuun" and the band

crashing back in that her attempt to dance with me resulted in knocking the beer bottle out of my hand and shattering it on the concrete floor below. Luckily there wasn't much harm done - it was only a Miller Lite (Miller was promoting the event and not even local favorite Goose Island 312 was available in the room where the band was playing) and it was only about 1/4 full - we laughed about our collective clumsiness and got a look of mild reproach from an employee as they cleaned up the glass. Although I had hoped to hear Achilles, I did not actually expect it, figuring instead that the band would be more likely to play the more 'radio-friendly' staples to a crowd that was seeing three different bands that night and perhaps not containing many die-hard LZ folks aside from myself. Perhaps I can chalk the good fortune of getting to hear Achilles up to whatever misfortune befell the keyboards and the subsequent elimination of Stairway et al? Either way, I roared my approval as the tales of an April morning were recounted, and Albion slept to rise again. As the show ended, Steve tossed a guitar pick my way that I was pleased to actually catch. It all added up to a very satisfying, entertaining, and enjoyable experience for this Led Zeppelin fan.

The general crowd activity and engagement level was pretty disappointing beyond the first ten feet or so in front of the stage. I had never been to that venue before and neither had my wife. She grew up relatively near there, but she said that it was completed right about the time she moved away for college. Despite the fact that no band should follow Zeppelin, the Metallica tribute might have had the best 'time slot' as far as crowd energy was concerned. I think some people left after the costume judging, which took quite a while. As happy as I was to hear such authenticity from the band, I think it was lost on some in the crowd. On the upside, Byrd - the DJ from The Loop 97.9 seemed to have some decent information about the guys, including their

'seal of approval' from Jimmy Page and the fact that Jason Bonham sat in with the band in March '09. I can only compare the crowd at Bourbon Street to the "Led Zeppelin 2" crowd at the House of Blues, which is actually downtown. LZ2's vocalist had real talent (although he didn't really know the lyrics very well), but the rest of the band was not in Led Zepagain's league - yet the crowd was going nuts for them. I hope that Led Zepagain can come back to Chicago soon, at a better location closer to the center of the city, where they will find a more appreciative audience.

Get The Led Out - March 25, 2011 - Grayslake, IL

Watch Get The Led Out's promotional video here:
http://vimeo.com/29823309#

[Concert review originally posted to For Badgeholders Only mailing list]

GET THE LED OUT

Friday, March 25, 2011

James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts

College of Lake County

Grayslake, IL

GTLO is comprised of:

FBO's own Paul Hammond - Electric/Acoustic Guitar/Mandolin

Paul Sinclair - Lead Vocals

Jimmy Marchiano - Electric/Acoustic Guitar/Backing Vocals

Billy Childs - Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals

Adam Ferraioli - Drums

Andrew Lipke - Vocals/Electric/Acoustic Guitar/Keyboards/Bongos on Royal Orleans!

Diana DeSantis - Vocals on Battle of Evermore

Once upon a time, I really wanted to review concerts for a living, but this delayed effort is another example of how I couldn't meet a deadline to save my life...

It was a distinct pleasure to experience the joy of a three-hour set from Get The Led Out on a Friday night amongst a respectful and appreciative crowd in a fairly intimate theater setting (the place was pretty much packed, with a capacity of ~600). We had a pretty smooth drive up from Chicago with minimal traffic, taking about sixty minutes to make the trip. After reading all the glowing reviews here on FBO, the band had a lot to live up to, but you can now count me among the believers.

Anyway, I'll hit some of the highlights. Since I've Been Loving You was incredible, Ramble On was a real treat, the entire acoustic set was fantastic, Dazed and Confused was appropriately menacing, Heartbreaker was joyous, and - well, I could go on and on, but there are only so many superlatives.

Guitarist Paul Hammond is simply amazing, playing with all the fluidity and speed of Jimmy Page in his prime. I can't adequately communicate just how awesome Since I've Been Loving You was with the combination of Sinclair's delivery and Hammond providing a sublime rendering of one of my all-time favorite Page solos. Excellent. The same can be said with Paul's delicate picking on Over The Hills and Far Away and Bron-yr-aur. Great stuff.

Hammond was ably assisted by Jimmy Marchiano, who shared the spotlight in a phenomenal Heartbreaker medley and spot-on Stairway solo, and jack-of-all-trades Andrew Lipke who played some guitar, keyboards, and even a bit of bongos on Royal Orleans, which was a tremendous surprise to hear.

You knew Billy Childs was going to be great all night after hearing him in Good Times Bad Times, which had me hoping for the addition of The Lemon Song to the set. Maybe next time? Adam Ferraioli rounded out the powerful engine room of the rhythm section and acquitted himself magnificently on Moby Dick as well as (perhaps more difficult but less-noticed) tracks like Dazed and Confused, and keeping the driving tempo of Kashmir. However, GTLO needs to make sure they mike him up better for the introduction of The Ocean - I couldn't hear that count-in very well!

Vocalist Paul Sinclair is not a carbon copy of Robert Plant (no one is), but he reaches almost all the notes Plant was able to in the 1968-1971 peak years, and does an excellent job channeling Plant with all of his idiosyncratic inflections and flourishes that we all recognize from the studio versions. Sometimes I'll see someone try to do a Zeppelin song and I just end up cocking my head to one side or cringing, but with Sinclair, there was just a lot of nodding and smiling - he was nailing it. It needs to be said just how effectively GTLO employs backing vocals from Lipke, Marchiano, and Childs to augment and enhance what Sinclair is able to do, resulting in a great layered sound. There are many examples, but Misty Mountain Hop, Good Times Bad Times, and Your Time is Gonna Come particularly come to mind. Certainly the studio version of Ramble On would be impossible to perform without competent co-vocalists, but with Get The Led Out,

it was a pleasure. One can't help but wonder how much of a different live band Zeppelin would have been if Plant could have relied on a little help from the other guys to get through some of the material, as he was able to do later with Charlie Jones in Strange Sensation for In The Light or with Jason Bonham for Misty Mountain Hop at the O2.

The stunningly beautiful acoustic interlude (which begins with a nice nod to The Song Remains The Same film) reached its ultimate height during The Battle of Evermore and the addition of lovely Ms. DeSantis to the mix. It was a cool moment to watch Sinclair reach over to the volume knob on Paul Hammond's mandolin to gradually increase it during the introduction. As their rendition progressed flawlessly, it was difficult not to wonder what the hell Zep were thinking in talking Jonesy into singing Sandy Denny's part on the 1977 tour... who thought that was a good idea? I love JPJ, but surely if they wanted to do the song that badly, they could have found a comely lass with a good voice to bring along with the rest of their large entourage?

It was really interesting to hear the studio version of No Quarter in a live setting. It didn't sound right to Laura because she's been subjected to so many live versions, but of course the studio edition has a bit of a different vibe (achieved, if memory serves, by manipulating the playback to get that slightly druggy, slowed sound).

Thanks to all of Get The Led Out for sticking around for a meet-and-greet session after the show. It was great to meet and talk with the band, especially Paul Hammond, who had graciously included some of my pre-show requests like TY, OTHAFA, and "something from Presence" (Royal Orleans was a real shock - I'd never heard anyone attempt that, and they really pulled it off). Laura and I both had a fantastic time, and I picked up a nice GTLO t-shirt as well. Can't wait till you guys make your way back to the Chicago area!

The order is incorrect, but the setlist included:

Immigrant Song

Misty Mountain Hop

Good Times Bad Times

Since I've Been Loving You

The Ocean

Ramble On

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You

Bron-yr-aur

Going To California

Bron-yr-aur Stomp

Battle of Evermore

Black Dog

No Quarter

Your Time is Gonna Come

ROYAL ORLEANS!

Moby Dick

Thank You

Dazed and Confused

Heartbreaker (Electric Guitar Showcase Medley)>

Livin' Lovin' Maid

Kashmir

Stairway To Heaven

Over The Hills and Far Away

Whole Lotta Love

DVD Review: Robert Plant's Blue Note

(Review originally written for the Led Zeppelin email list, For Badgeholders Only)

In the first few minutes, I was rolling my eyes as a rip-off (cover?) of Since I've Been Loving You played in the background while being treated to what seemed like way more clips of bluesmen like Howlin' Wolf and the Rolling Stones than anything from Robert Plant. However, this DVD is not like one of those Biography channel type things which are about 42 minutes of mostly garbage content spread out over an hour timeslot... Robert Plant's Blue Note has a running time of 2 hours, 37 minutes, plus a little 5.5 minute bonus clip discussing Lead Belly and Plant (in terms of Zeppelin and Plant/Krauss). Despite the questionable decision to use the SIBLY cover (it led me to believe that I wouldn't be hearing any actual Zeppelin/Plant music) many times

throughout the video, more appropriate audio and video footage is employed much of the time.

This is not a Led Zeppelin documentary and should not be construed as one - so if you go into it expecting a complete breakdown of Plant's time in Zeppelin, you're going to be disappointed. There is quite a bit of time spent on Plant's influences as a teenager and how they impacted him in Zep, but most of the focus is on the early years, including claims that Plant's position in Zep was not secure even after the first album. There are clips from Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds (with and without Page), and Zep clips (all available on the official 2003 DVD, like Danish TV), as well as audio from Band of Joy (from Sixty-Six to Timbuktu). The focus on Zeppelin is brief - limited mostly to the band's formation, moving very quickly to spotlighting Kashmir and then skipping over any detail about why the band ended. The lack of emphasis on Plant's time in Zeppelin could certainly be criticized, although the program might have been five hours long if they covered Zep in depth. Skimming over the Zeppelin period did not bother me, since we have all seen quite a few Zeppelin documentaries that skip over the aftermath of the band and the solo years only to tack on a bit about Page/Plant at the end (sometimes with a mention of Jonesy's exclusion).

With those caveats out of the way, I will say that this DVD covers Plant's post-Zep period better than his official Nine Lives documentary or anything else I've seen. Particularly fascinating to me was the in-depth interview with Robbie Blunt, since I can't recall seeing another interview with him anywhere. Blunt was obviously very proud of his work with Robert in those crucial years in the wake of Zeppelin's demise, but he was also enormously frustrated by the way the partnership ended - mystified by Plant's efforts on Shaken 'n' Stirred to distance himself from everything familiar (or commercially successful). Blunt shares a great anecdote about being coerced into working with a Roland guitar synthesizer. Plant had chided Blunt by telling him something to the effect of "well, Jimmy's getting on fine with his", but apparently Benji Lefevre talked to Page's guitar tech, who confided that Jimmy had chucked his out the window by that time... He also talks about Slow Dancer as the most Zeppelin-esque of all the Plant/Blunt compositions - something with which I think most of us would agree. Blunt gives an enlightening and enjoyable interview.

Next up was Phil Johnstone, whose interview takes a similar path from initial euphoria at being on the same page with Robert to eventual frustration at not being able to find common ground and produce a final product that pleased Plant; though he thought he knew what Robert wanted, by the end he also knew that he was not the guy for the job. Johnstone essentially describes Plant's eagerness to combine the American West Coast elements of Moby Grape & others with North African music, all combined together with rock and folk instrumentation/song structure...and Johnstone admits that he is basically a pop guy and wasn't cut out to provide Robert with what he really desired - which leads nicely into the Unledded collaboration with Jimmy Page.

This period is covered well, with a Hossam Ramzy interview providing most of the content. Ramzy raves about being able to watch Page and Plant burn through Since I've Been Loving You on a nightly basis and talks about the difficulty his players had with things like Friends and Four Sticks. Also of note is a fairly extensive piece on the influence of Egyptian vocalist extraordinaire Oumme Kalsoum (many spelling variations exist)on Plant over the years in various incarnations, most of which was new information for me. I would have been impressed if the documentary had also included audio from the 1972 Page/Plant trip to India when they attempted to play Four Sticks and Friends (available on numerous bootlegs), but while those sessions were mentioned briefly, they were not heard.

Unfortunately, Walking Into Clarksdale is glossed over as a disappointing follow-up to the Unledded TV special and subsequent tour, and the documentary moves pretty rapidly through the Priory of Brion years and into Strange Sensation, the music of which in the narrative retrospect of the DVD seems like a logical culmination of Plant's quest for the perfect amalgamation of styles... but just when it seems all is right in his world, we lurch off in another direction toward the mountain music influence on Raising Sand and the collaboration with Alison Krauss and the next step of Band of Joy. It's been a few days now, but I don't remember the Zeppelin reunion at the Ertegun tribute show being mentioned on the DVD, so add that to the short list of grievances.

Robert Plant's Blue Note includes interviews (that were apparentlydone specifically for this DVD) with:

Nigel Williamson (author of The Rough Guide to Led Zeppelin)

Barney Hoskyns (the caption claims he wrote a book called "Trampled Under Foot" [sic] about the excesses of Zep, but all I can find is a book on the fourth album for a Rock of Ages series)

Chris Dreja (Yardbirds)

Robbie Blunt (RP guitarist and songwriting partner circa 1981-1985)

Phil Johnstone (RP guitarist/keyboardist and songwriting partner circa 1987-1993)

Hossam Ramzy (leader of the Egyptian orchestra on the Unledded/No Quarter project)

John Lomax III (grandson of John Lomax, son of Alan Lomax - interviewed about Leadbelly and Raising Sand)

All of the other interview footage and onstage clips of Plant, Zeppelin, Page/Plant, Strange Sensation, Alison Krauss, T-Bone Burnett, et cetera that augment the documentary... all of that is brought in from readily available sources like the Canadian radio interview Plant did last year, the 2003 Zeppelin DVD, the Page/Plant Unledded DVD, Strange Sensation Soundstage, Festival in the Desert, CMT Crossroads, By Myself BBC broadcast, Nine Lives DVD and not done specifically for this Blue Note DVD. I didn't see anything "new" in that regard.

Some will find fault with the amount of time spent on discussing Plant's influences (and the inclusion of audio and video of those influences), but with a documentary of this length, I didn't have a real problem with it. Even with the inclusion of material that most fans already have is not a significant issue, since it provides context for the subjects being discussed. The most informative and interesting parts are the interviews with Blunt, Johnstone, and Ramzy. The documentary could have benefited from new interviews with other key contributors (like Justin Adams, Doug Boyle, Francis Dunnery, Porl Thompson, Skin Tyson, and Buddy Miller, for instance), especially at the expense of some of the time allotted to Williamson and Hoskyns, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were contacted and declined. All in all, this is a solid effort well worth watching for any fan of Robert Plant's work, especially for those fans who appreciate at least some of his post-Zeppelin output.