For Jason Bonham it's been 15 years of paying tribute to his old man's band with Led Zeppelin Evening concerts.
That's a long time of getting the Led out for the son of Zep drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980, when Jason was 14.
Not long ago Bonham thought, "What can we do to challenge ourselves?" he said from behind his drum kit at Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver. "And I thought, ‘Let’s do f**king Physical Graffiti, all of it, every song, even the ones later on some of you will go, ‘I don’t remember this one.’ Yeah, all of them, everything.
"And that is the most self-indulgent thing any artist can ask for," he added. "This is very special for us because at the end of this year, once we finish the final leg (of the tour) in October, November, it's done, we won’t do it again."
Next tour, JBLZE should re-create the live album The Song Remains the Same. Just sayin'.
On Sunday (Aug. 31), Vancouver was a final tour stop, for the time being, of a jubilant two-hour run-through of the 1975 landmark double album, 15 songs deep.
"We could re-create the order of the album, but that would be way too easy," Bonham told the crowd. "That means some of you could plan when you were gonna go to the bathroom or get a drink. It's a show, and we will do it and make it as exciting as we possibly can for you."
And so they did, as the best Led Zeppelin tribute band you'll ever hear.
, JBLZE stuck to the hits and didn't play any deep cuts.
Not this time.
It was great to hear some of the more obscure Zeppelin songs in concert, especially "Down By The Seaside," "Ten Years Gone" and "Trampled Under Foot." At the end of the show they tacked on a couple of classics ("Whole Lotta Love," "Rock and Roll") and said goodnight, no encore by design.
Bonham is an engaging storyteller. Mic in hand, he often stands in the spotlight to tell tales of growing up with his famous father and also stories of bringing JBLZE to the stage with bandmates James Dylan (vocals), Dorian Heartsong (bass), Alex Howard (keys, guitar) and Jimmy Sakurai (the most Jimmy Page-esque guitarist you'll ever see or hear).
Bonham's between-songs banter offered great anecdotes.
"I don't know about you, but when I was younger, this confused the hell out of me," he said four songs in. "When I used to read the album, I'd go, ‘Dad, why is (the song) 'Houses of the Holy' on Physical Graffiti?’ He goes, ‘Ask Jimmy.’ Yeah, so if you've seen a documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin, you'll realize that Jimmy had a plan from day one, he had a vision and thank God he was the guiding-light force behind Led Zeppelin."
Bonham is thankful that he gets to play the old songs live, "because they all deserve their time in a live environment," he said. "It's the best way I know how to pay homage to my father because while he was alive, I never got to tell him, I never once said, ‘You know what? You are good.’ I always just went, ‘Ahhh, Stewart Copeland is better than you, Dad.’ It was too late. By the time I realized he was good, he was gone. So this is the best way I know how to pay homage to him and say thanks, thanks for the music."
Introducing "Down By The Seaside," Bonham said he "always imagined Neil Young doing a great cover of it."
Before "Trampled Under Foot," he noted that the song "was inspired by a drum groove of Jeff Beck, which turned on Mr. Stevie Wonder, which then inspired the members of Led Zeppelin. So it's time to shake what your mama gave you."
He talked about the nights when the Zeppelin guys would do an acoustic set at the front of the stage.
"To keep Dad from falling asleep, they would hand him a tambourine. That's so bad, it's John f**king Bonham. You're giving him a tambourine? Really? This is a man that put fear in a hotel room and a TV set. When they knew my dad was in the room, TV sets have thrown themselves out the window. A lot of things happened in the '70s, but we won't go into that. But all we know is they were allowed to jam and be whatever they wanted to be in that band, it was so amazing. The jam sessions, they were always fighting to make themselves better.
It was never a repeat of one night, and I think that's what I love. When I listen back now, I go, 'Oh my God, my dad was just trying to beat himself every night to make himself better.' And it was meant to be. It was such a young age, when I think about it."
Before "Ten Years Gone," Bonham urged fans to light up the theatre with their cellphones.
"I won't make you do it for the whole (song), just for the intro," he said. "Show him you care. This is a special song for me, it's one of the best songwriting moments I think, a beautiful song. It’s called 10 Years Gone but really it’s 45 years gone, 45 years since he (John Bonham) left us."
Bonham talked fondly about the time in 2007 when he got to play drums with the surviving Zep members for the Celebration Day concert in London.
"People ask, ‘What was your favourite part?’ My favourite part was the six weeks leading up to it, being with Robert, Jimmy and John Paul six days a week from 11 to 6 p.m., just asking them question after question. It was one of the most amazing feelings in the world to be with them."
He continued.
"Another highlight was asking them, because my dad co-wrote some songs, how did he communicate his ideas? Jimmy said, ‘He used to sing them to me.’ Dad used to sing all the time when he was younger, and my mum said, ‘Yeah, he was a singer when I first met him when he was 16.' She used to say it was his time to be at the front of the stage and pull the chicks out, mainly The Kinks, he loved The Kinks. He was just 18 years old, and 18 months after that, boom, he was in Led Zeppelin.
"Things were going to change," he added. "We went from this 16-foot trailer behind my nan and grand-dad’s place to this house with 27 cars outside, and they only had a two-car garage. Go figure that. Even some of the cars, I’d be like, ‘Why did you repeat some of the cars?’ He’d go, ‘Different years.’ Three Rolls-Royces is a bit excessive, but different years, different colours. I'm glad he got to enjoy every step while he was here with us."
The mighty "Kasmir" capped the Physical Graffiti set of songs at the Orpheum.
"When Jimmy told me (about John Bonham singing song ideas), he said, ‘Your dad came in one day and said, ‘I’ve got an idea for a song,’ and he goes da-na-nunh, da-na-nunh, da-na-nuhn, da-na-nuhn,’ and the rest is history."
