Okee dokee folks… “You should never give a drummer a microphone.” This was spoken by drummer Jason Bonham, son of the late John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. Bonham brought his Led Zeppelin Experience to Veterans Auditorium in Providence tonight. But it was a good thing he had a microphone. The show was much more than music.
The night primarily focused on the Physical Graffiti album that was released 50 years ago. The Led Zeppelin Experience consists of Bonham on drums, James Dylan – vocals, acoustic guitar; Dorian Heartsong – bass, mandolin; Alex Howland – keyboards, and lead guitar played by Jimmy Sakurai. While, for the most part, they don’t look like Led Zeppelin, they sure do sound like them. Dylan’s vocals very closely resemble those of Robert Plant and can effortlessly carry the moans and howls that are a signature style of Plant. He mentioned how they found him 17 years ago from a YouTube video after he learned and posted Led Zep songs because his girlfriend liked Zeppelin! It takes two to cover the John Paul Jones aspect of the band with Heartsong and Howland. They give the show a closer sound to the records this way. Sakurai is almost a doppelganger of Jimmy Page, well, in a way. He dresses the part, has his mannerisms down, and even his style of playing guitar mimics Page, but most importantly he emulates the guitar sound perfectly. At times it seemed like he was channeling Jimmy Page.
Then of course there was Bonham, who obviously has the drums down to a “T.” He learned from the best and has played with the best including the remaining members of Led Zeppelin. In addition to beating the drums, Bonham would occasionally jump out from behind the kit and talk to the audience. He told stories about his father, tidbits about the songs that they were playing, and his time playing with Led Zeppelin. He joked about the rehearsal time with Jimmy, Robert and John telling how they all shared one newspaper and one set of reading glasses. Jason also talked about how playing the show helps him understand his father more and keeps his memory close.
For me this show was a treat – I’ve never seen Led Zeppelin live. This will probably be the closest to seeing them. With an encore, their set lasted over two hours and fifteen minutes. It was filled with both the electric and acoustic songs from that legendary double album as well as a couple of classic hits tossed in at the end. Though it was not performed in sequence, all of the titles from the recording were covered. “Houses of the Holy,” “Trampled Under Foot,” “Sick Again,” “Ten Years Gone,” “Custard Pie” and others were songs that I thought I would never hear performed live and performed properly. And that they were. It was even more of a thrill to hear “Down by the Seaside,” “In the Light,” and “Kashmir.” When I closed my eyes I would have believed it was the mighty Zep. For any Zeppelin fan this is the next best thing.
That’s it for now. You can listen to my podcasts (with Jason Bonham) at motifri.com/rootsreportpodcast and find my concert photographs (from the show) at motifri.com/fuzeksfotos. Thanks for reading and listening.