Prima Donna Rising

If one is a good enough musician, then forming a tribute bad is an easy enough task for most part. You learn the songs, you play the songs, and if you want to go the extra mile you force the rest of the band to get their hair cut like the members of the band you’re playing tribute to. That’s usually it but sometimes you can pick a band to pay tribute to that makes things very… difficult, shall we say. Led Zeppelin are unmistakeably one of those bands, however, Led Zepagain make up for their abysmal name by being a shockingly good facsimile of the live show of quite possibly the greatest live band in history. See, with Led Zep it’s not enough to simply play the songs as they were recorded, as with a lot of their songs, Zep themselves didn’t necessarily play them the way they were recorded. Led Zepagain get this and through careful study and practise, they’ve learnt not only how to replicate the playing styles of Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham but also musically think the way that they think. Every twenty minute version of Dazed and Confused isn’t a replica of one of the versions performed by the original band, it’s just as organic as a version from 1972, put together by the band’s mastery of their craft and sheer chemistry with each other. There are many Led Zep tribute bands in the world, however, few of them have done it so well they have the endorsement of Jimmy Page himself and have performed with the man who drummed for Led Zeppelin at their 2007 reunion show, Jason Bonham. These guys can stand up as excellent musicians and an excellent band on their own merits and they’re a must see for any student of rock history. Highly recommended.