Led Zeppelin Experience kicks off week of DFW classic rock concerts
Jason Bonham is family.
Not only is he the son of legendary Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, but he also played alongside his dad’s former bandmates in their last reunion concert in 2007.
Zeppelin is literally coursing through his veins.
That makes his Led Zeppelin Experience tour, which comes to Dallas’ House of Blues at 8 p.m. Monday, something more than just another show featuring a sound-alike, dress-alike tribute band.
Bonham, who’s also the drummer for Sammy Hagar & the Circle, gets a lot of satisfaction out of doing this tour, which originated in 2010.
He never got the chance to play onstage with his father, who died in 1980. But one of the highlights on his Led Zeppelin Experience show is the drum-solo duet, Jason and John (via film clips on the big screen) blasting their way together through a rendition of Moby Dick, from the band’s second album.
“The show allows me not only to honor the music,” Bonham says, “but it’s also a way to have that shared experience with my father that I didn’t get while he was alive.”
Bonham’s House of Blues show kicks off a week of memories-filled, classic rock-fueled Dallas-Fort Worth-area concerts.
Thursday, Bad Company and Joe Walsh’s “One Hell of a Night” tour comes to the Gexa Energy Pavilion in Dallas. Friday, Daryl Hall & John Oates take the Gexa stage. And on the following Friday, May 20, the Gexa Energy Pavilion has Journey and the Doobie Brothers.
How many more ’70s-era FM radio favorites can we handle?
As for Bonham, it’s always gratifying for him to see that the music his father made with guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant and bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones is still fresh and alive to fans today.
“We get fans of all ages,” Bonham says. “I’ve had three generations of Zeppelin fans come to see my shows: a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter. I’ve had grandfathers, fathers and grandsons, too.
“It’s everything from people who saw Zeppelin live in the ’70s to kids who aren’t even in their teens yet.
“And it’s often very emotional, very heartfelt all around,” he said. “There’s a special thing that happens onstage when I’m with the band. We work really hard to make it the best show possible.
“We’re not Led Zeppelin — I’m always quick to remind people of that fact — but we are representing what I feel is the spirit of what the band was all about.”
Bonham’s band — which includes Tony Catania on guitar, James Dylan as lead singer, Dorian Heartsong on bass and Alex Howland on keyboards and guitar — don’t do just the hits, like Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love and Kashmir.
Zeppelin was taken away from us too soon when my father passed away, so many of the songs ... never got played live by Led Zeppelin.
Jason Bonham
“We also do some of the more obscure songs that never got played live,” Bonham says. “Zeppelin was taken away from us too soon when my father passed away, so many of the songs, even those from Physical Graffiti (the 1975 double album that Bonham singles out as his favorite), never got played live by Led Zeppelin.
“Even the song Hey, Hey, What Can I Do, which was the B side to a single (1970’s Immigrant Song) and only later got put onto the compilation album (in 1990). It’s fun for us to play a little bit of all of it — although, don’t get me wrong, we do plenty of the hits to keep those fans happy.”
They might not mimic Zeppelin note-for-note, sound-for-sound the way some tribute bands do, but Bonham is quick to point out that Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham didn’t try to re-create their records when they performed live either.
“Anyone who’s heard their version of Whole Lotta Love from The Song Remains the Same (the 1976 concert album) knows that they liked to go off and jam,” he says.
That said, Bonham’s group can come so uncannily close to the original sound that it even fools the experts.
“One time I played a recording of a live thing we did for John Paul — it was Heartbreaker,” Bonham remembers. “And John Paul said, ‘Which Zeppelin show is this from?’ And I said, ‘It isn’t. It’s my band.’
“It’s moments like that when you know you got it right.”
Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience
- 8 p.m. Monday
- House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., Dallas
- $27.50-$65
- For tickets and information about this and the other shows, visit LiveNation.com.
Seventies sensations
Remembering what made these North Texas-bound rockers stand out in the 1970s:
Bad Company: Formed in 1973 and fronted by singer Paul Rodgers (who later teamed up with Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page as the Firm in the 1980s). The band’s hit singles included Can’t Get Enough, Movin’ On, Feel Like Makin’ Love and Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy.
Joe Walsh: No. 54 on Rolling Stone’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 with the Eagles. Solo hits were Rocky Mountain Way and Life’s Been Good; Eagles highlights include Life in the Fast Lane and Hotel California.
Hall & Oates: The rock and soul duo, who partnered up in 1970, released six No. 1 hits: Rich Girl, Kiss on My List, Private Eyes, I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do), Maneater and Out of Touch. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.
Journey: Formed in 1973, the band’s biggest hits came in the early 1980s while fronted by singer Steve Perry. Signature tunes include Wheel in the Sky, Who’s Cryin’ Now, Open Arms and Don’t Stop Believin’.
The Doobie Brothers: Formed in 1970, this ever-evolving California band’s biggest hits included Listen to the Music, China Grove, Black Water, Takin’ It to the Streets and What a Fool Believes.
This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Led Zeppelin Experience kicks off week of DFW classic rock concerts."