It’s 7:30pm on Saturday, May 2nd. The crowd begins to file into Chicago’s very own House of Blues, teeming with excitement to see Led Zeppelin 2. You can hear the low, building murmur of voices and shuffles, as people begin to file into the venue. There is a beautiful array of music-lovers of all ages—you have the twenty-something gentlemen, donned in their finest t-shirts and jeans, young ladies dressed in rocker gear, and you have the crowd who knows better than anyone in the room who they are about to see. They’ve seen Led Zeppelin 2 before, and they’re here to be brought back in time.
Saturday’s show was titled, “The 1977 Laser Light Show”, a tribute to the later-era Zeppelin performances, which consisted of smoke machines, colorful floodlights, and laser light beams that traversed the entire spectrum of the rainbow. But high-tech light shows are no new feat for this group. In a conversation I had with the guys a few days before the show, they explained:
“We’ve played the entire “Physical Graffiti” album before, accompanied by a full projection show and audio cues. And people really took that well. That was great, so we played around with this set. This just one of the ways we like to be creative.”
Led Zeppelin 2 brings not just the talent of four seasoned musicians, but four distinct energies. There is leading man Bruce Lamont (“Robert Plant”)—a guy who oozes just as much attitude and charisma off stage as he does onstage. Then you have Paul Kamp (“Jimmy Page”)—who manages to not only crack a smile, but gives a full brim grin to the audience all the while shredding on his doubleneck Gibson. He has a remarkable ability to make guitar look easy—a rare and impressive trait. Ian Lee (“John Bonham”) is a man of many words, and as a drummer, has the least face time on stage. But when the spotlight is on him, it is impossible to take your eyes off his lightning fast drum work. He splashes and crashes down on the drums with such gusto and raw passion, that you have to stop trying to figure out how he is doing it, and just enjoy the beauty of it. Then you have Matt Longbons (“John Paul Jones”)—who rocks the bass and keyboard, and true to JPJ, is still as a statue, compared to Bruce and Paul. But while for the most part, he dons a quite stoic look, the grimacing facial expressions he wears as he plays indicates nothing other than pure focus on the music.
When the four took the stage, they were greeted with hoots, howls, shrieks—all indicative of a true Chicago “welcome home.” In true Zeppelin form, they dove right into their opening tune, “The Song Remains the Same.” Hearing Bruce sing about those “city lights so bright, as we go sliding, sliding, sliding” got the energy up steadily, just to transition into “Sick Again”—which elicited even more howls of appreciation.
The group played tunes from Physical Graffiti (1975), Houses of the Holy (1973), Led Zeppelin, II, III, and IV (1969-1971), Presence (1976), and The Song Remains the Same (1976). Their carefully crafted set list showcased Zeppelin’s famous hits such as “Kashmir,” Living Loving Maid,” “The Rain Song,” “No Quarter,” and “Stairway to Heaven,” as well as the deep cuts and songs rarely performed live, such as “Tangerine,” “Out on the Tiles,” “Battle of Evermore,” and “Achilles Last Stand.”
The band seamlessly tied in Zeppelin-isms into their performance, such as Plant’s “do you remember laughter?” during “Stairway to Heaven,” and left the stage during Bonham’s blaring drum solo during “Moby Dick”, to allow him some much-deserved solo stage time. Bruce and Paul constantly fed off each other, just as Plant and Page did. There was an undeniable musical chemistry that reverberated throughout the vastness of the room.
While Saturday’s performance was an all-around stellar one, one song that that must be noted is “Achilles Last Stand.” True Zeppelin fans know the depth of this song’s complexity, and how hard it can rock. The group indulged the fact that this is a personal favorite of theirs to perform, and after watching them play, you can completely see why. Led Zeppelin 2 brought “’Achilles Last Stand,” saddled up on a horse, and valiantly galloped off with it towards the sunset. They brought the level of gusto that immediately got fans roaring and flailing. Nestled into the middle-latter half of their set list, this song rocked so hard that and kept the tin, paint-splashed, decoration-dazzled walls of House of Blues vibrating. During this song, you could feel the music pouring throughout the House of Blues, awakening the spirits of all past performances. The energy in the already rowdy crowd was stirred up even more with each song. It is not to say every soul in the room was in full movement, but everyone was feeling it. Eyes closed, hands running through hair, with fans mouthing to each other “holy shit—this is awesome!”
The show featured Steve “Stevie” Doyle on the mandolin, for the hauntingly beautiful “Battle of Evermore” and the wall-shaking “Black Country Woman/Bron-Y-Aur Stomp” medley, as well as the lap steel guitar for folk-influenced “Tangerine.” Saturday marked Steve’s fifth time playing with the band. “(Steve) allows us to expand the repertoire for the acoustic set. He fits right in”, says Paul Kamp.
The collaborative efforts during this performance don’t stop there. “Battle of Evermore” also featured the gorgeous Kelly Lamont, who in addition to being the sibling of front man Bruce Lamont, I am fairly certain is the incarnate of the late Marilyn Monroe. Kelly was front and center, while the rest of the band were sitting on stools, which was a beautiful example of personal musical collaboration. Kelly and Bruce’s voices played against each other incredibly well, and upheld the fantasy-like tone fit for the song.
It is fascinating to watch these guys play, because while you absolutely feel you are watching Led Zeppelin play, you still very much see bits of Bruce, Paul, Ian, and Matt in the whole performance. They had Zeppelin shout outs that were absolutely spot-on, like when they all left the stage and allowed Ian to shine.
The show closed with none other than “Living Loving Maid,” which had everyone with their arms up, jumping up and down. Even after the group left and came back to encore with “Black Dog” and “Communication Breakdown,” the venue was rumbling with yells for “more, more, more!” While the crowd shuffled out the same doorways they shuffled in through, there were no low murmurs anymore. There was an electrified sense of comradery felt by all concert-goers. Everyone walked out with an extra pep in their step and ringing in their ears.
Led Zeppelin 2 is made up of four seasoned musicians who share a profound musical chemistry, so watching them get in front of thousands of fans and reproduce the music of arguably the best hard rock group of all time is a truly a mind-blowing experience. If you have not seen them play before, I highly suggest you do. Their shows discriminate against no one—if you love to rock out to some Led Zeppelin and have a killer time, then go check out their tour dates and buy tickets to the next show you can get to. You will not regret it.