Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience (Tour)

[Gigi]

Anyone going to the Houston show November 16th? Got my tickets about 2 weeks ago.

I'll be there!! We're on Row F center (I think). I'm looking forward to it. I'm not really sure what to expect but the Verizon seems like a great venue for this type of show.

[justawoman]

I'll be there!! We're on Row F center (I think). I'm looking forward to it. I'm not really sure what to expect but the Verizon seems like a great venue for this type of show.

Hi Gigi - I just checked my tickets and we're going to be on row P section 102 right of center. So I guess that's about 10 rows behind where ya'll will be?

Where exactly is the Verizon? Is it down by the Toyota Center? Say you're standing outside the Four Seasons looking toward the Toyota Center which would be on the right, is the Verizon on the left with a big parking lot in between? It's been several years since I've been down there, so my memory may be off. We're going to be staying down Westheimer from the Galleria - hubby has business in Houston that week, very convenient.

[reids]

Jimmy Page is not involved with this tour in any way. Neither is JPJ or Robert Plant.

Maybe someone who was on their label?

R

[Gigi]

Where exactly is the Verizon? Is it down by the Toyota Center? Say you're standing outside the Four Seasons looking toward the Toyota Center which would be on the right, is the Verizon on the left with a big parking lot in between? It's been several years since I've been down there, so my memory may be off. We're going to be staying down Westheimer from the Galleria - hubby has business in Houston that week, very convenient.

Hey there! The Verizon is actually on the opposite side of downtown from the Toyota Center. It's in Bayou Place near the Hard Rock Cafe, close the the theatre district. In fact, my husband and I may go to the HRC for a cocktail or two prior to the show. If y'all get to the area early, come in and say hello! Here is a link to Bayou Place:

http://www.bayouplace.com/

Be sure to leave with plenty of time to spare. Getting from the Galleria to Downtown during rush hour can sometimes take a while.

[justawoman]

Hey there! The Verizon is actually on the opposite side of downtown from the Toyota Center. It's in Bayou Place near the Hard Rock Cafe, close the the theatre district. In fact, my husband and I may go to the HRC for a cocktail or two prior to the show. If y'all get to the area early, come in and say hello! Here is a link to Bayou Place:

http://www.bayouplace.com/

Be sure to leave with plenty of time to spare. Getting from the Galleria to Downtown during rush hour can sometimes take a while.

Thanks so much for the info Gigi - appreciate it.

[Roger Fachini]

I'm going to the LZ show at the Pantages. I'm really curious about who the rest of the band will be, but even if they're unkowns I'm looking forward to the show!

[ledzepfvr]

I'm going to the LZ show at the Pantages. I'm really curious about who the rest of the band will be, but even if they're unkowns I'm looking forward to the show!

Well, everyone is curious about the band but Jason isn't telling. We will all know though after the 1st gig. I will be going to the FOX PAC show in Riverside and looking forward to it as well.

BTW, Welcome to the forum.

[ally]

Thanks to our resident Mr Steve Jones, I'll be going to the Seattle show on Sat. Nov 27. Looking forward to the show and my yearly trek to Seattle

[SteveAJones]

Thanks to our resident Mr Steve Jones, I'll be going to the Seattle show on Sat. Nov 27. Looking forward to the show and my yearly trek to Seattle

It was my pleasure to arrange it for you...and venue security has been notified.

[ally]

It was my pleasure to arrange it for you...and venue security has been notified.

Thanks again Steve ! Looking forward to a great weekend in the Seattle lock up

[bigzepfan]

Maybe someone who was on their label?

R

WOW. Could it be??

or am i not even thinking of the same person you are?

Now I have to go listen to the jblze website version of kashmir again. Will be back.

[feather in the wind]

here's hoping these 'other guys' don't butcher the music all to hell.

i still don't agree with this whole shmozel. leave it alone, and concentrate on "black country.........whatever"

and no, it doesn't mater to me that jason is john's son.

[reids]

Don't worry. It'll be great. Jason wouldn't put his name or his family name on something if it weren't going to be good.

R

[bigzepfan]

I'm sure it will be awesome. You had me thinking. Paul Rodgers?? But I don't think I'm heading in the

right direction.

[SuperDave]

My guess his band won't include anyone who will be a bigger name than the show itself. In other words, Jason wants this show to be the star attraction and not some singer or guitarist that is part of the band.

[SteveAJones]

My guess his band won't include anyone who will be a bigger name than the show itself. In other words, Jason wants this show to be the star attraction and not some singer or guitarist that is part of the band.

You are absolutely correct. Some of the band members are more well known than others but none are big names or famous.

[bigzepfan]

Makes sense. From what I've seen and read it's about his relationship with his Dad and his relationship with Zep. It could be just him onstage and it will still be awesome.

[SuperDave]

Makes sense. From what I've seen and read it's about his relationship with his Dad and his relationship with Zep. It could be just him onstage and it will still be awesome.

Either way, I'm sure it will be a great show due to all the hard work by Jason in planning this show.

[ledzepfvr]

Heard about this little show on the radio today. Should be a sadly thunderous event.

JASON BONHAM TO JOIN TOP ROCK DRUMMERS FOR JOHN BONHAM L.A. TRIBUTE

9/7/2010

Some of the best known drummers in rock are teaming up on September 25th to pay tribute to Led Zeppelin's John Bonham on the 30th anniversary of the legendary drummer's death. John Bonham died on September 25th, 1980 of pulmonary edema, which is fluid accumulation in the lungs, after ingesting 16 shots of vodka. He was 32-years-old.

Among the drummers taking part on the tribute show at L.A.'s Key Club on Sunset Strip will be Bonham's son, Jason Bonham (Bonham, Led Zeppelin, Foreigner), Steven Adler (Guns 'N Roses, Adler's Appetite), Vinnie Appice (Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell), Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, John Fogerty), Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot), Fred Coury (Cinderella), Jimmy D'Anda (BulletBoys), James Kottak (The Scorpions), Khurt Maier (Salty Dog), Chris Slade (The Firm, AC/DC), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chickenfoot), Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Foreigner, Billy Idol), Joe Travers (Zappa Plays Zappa, Duran Duran) and Simon Wright (AC/DC, Dio). Vanilla Fudge and Rod Stewart drummer Carmine Appice will perform via video.

Among the musicians joining the drummers on stage will be: guitarist Brent Woods, bassist Michael 'Denim' Devin, keyboardist Stephen LeBlanc, and vocalist Keith St. John.

Jason Bonham admits that like many fans, through the years he's sought to better understand his father through Zeppelin's catalogue: "I've always been a fan. It is the first and foremost thing. Y'know, after losing dad at 14, you pick up the albums and want to know everything about my father I should have asked when he was alive."

Bonham will launch his upcoming multimedia Led Zeppelin Experience tour on October 8th in Dawson Creek, BC.

[Deborah J]

Thanks for the info^^ is this going to be telecast?? I can't wait until Nivember 13th to see this event!

[SteveAJones]

Entertainment Music

The legend of Zep's Bonham lives on

By DARRYL STERDAN, QMI Agency

The Toronto Sun / September 16, 2010

Thirty years ago, the rock world lost its greatest drummer. The members of Led Zeppelin lost their friend and bandmate. But Jason Bonham lost someone far more important: His dad.

"It's obviously a far more personal thing for me," understates the 44-year-old son of John Bonham, who died Sept. 25, 1980. "I was just 14. We never went through the 'I hate you, Dad!' adolescent years. He was my idol."

Drummers around the world would echo that last sentiment.

Even before his untimely death at age 32 after a drinking binge, Bonham was universally regarded as rock's most talented, original, distinctive and influential drummer.

Not bad for a guy who never took a lesson -- and didn't even get a set of drums until he was in his teens.

"He had a God-given talent," claims Jason, who has carried on in his father's musical footsteps. "He got his first snare drum at 12. He didn't get a kit until he was 14. But within five years or so, he had done Led Zeppelin I.

"He did all these amazing feats as a drummer -- which we look at now as iconic and even life-changing to some drummers -- before he was 32. It all just came natural."

***

Like his talent, Bonham's career and success seem almost pre-ordained.

Born May 31, 1948 in Redditch, Bonham left school at 16. A headmaster supposedly predicted he would "either end up a dustman or a millionaire."

At first, the former seemed more likely; he worked for his father as a carpenter. But he soon put down the hammer and took up the sticks full-time, working with a succession of local bands to make ends meet.

One of them was called Band of Joy, fronted by a young Robert Plant. Their friendship came in handy a year later when former Yardbirds guitarist Jimmy Page was recruiting members for his new band.

Plant suggested Bonham, and after seeing him work his magic onstage, Page offered him the gig. Bonham initially declined -- the £40 he was earning weekly with his current band was a bird in the hand he didn't want to lose. Eventually, he reconsidered. Life would never be the same.

Led Zeppelin's self-titled debut album came out Jan. 12, 1969. Who drummer Keith Moon had supposedly named the band when he quipped they would go over like a "lead zeppelin." He was wrong.

The power of Page's blues-rock pyrotechnics, Plant's feral yowl and John Paul Jones' nimble basslines -- all underpinned by Bonham's hammer of the gods wallop -- proved undeniable. And their momentum proved unstoppable.

The band spent the next few years on the inevitable rock treadmill, writing and recording between endless, grinding tours. The work paid off.

Their studio discs -- most notably their untitled fourth album, which contained Black Dog, Rock and Roll and Stairway to Heaven -- made them one of the biggest bands in history. Their epic live shows, which often included Bonham's half-hour drum solo Moby Dick, cemented their reputation. Their offstage antics only increased their notoriety.

Tales and rumours of their excessive chemical and sexual appetites -- exemplified by the infamous Mudshark Incident involving a groupie and fish in a seaside Seattle hotel -- became legend.

Despite his rep as a down-to-earth homebody, Bonham made it clear he was capable of living up to his nickname: Bonzo.

"He was the whole package," Jason says.

"Not only did he inspire millions of kids to pick up drumsticks, but he also inspired millions of kids to want to throw a TV set out a window and smash up a hotel room.

"He and Keith Moon created a whole new genre of drummers. Now we are known as the neanderthal men of bands -- this force of destruction. That was Bonzo."

That force became self-destructive on Sept. 24, 1980.

While rehearsing for the band's first tour in three years, Bonham was hitting the vodka hard. Supposedly he downed upwards of three dozen shots during a binge that began over breakfast and continued into the evening.

He was put to bed in a bedroom of Page's house. Jones and the band's tour manager found him dead the next morning, asphyxiated on his own vomit.

He was cremated and interred at a Worcestershire cemetery.

"He will always be remembered in our hearts," the tombstone reads.

***

Three decades later, Bonham is not only remembered -- if anything, he's more influential than ever.

Mastering his thundering fills has become a mandatory rite of passage for drummers. His big beats have been used by rappers like Beastie Boys. The sound of his bass drum has been sampled on countless recordings.

It's all testament to his talent, says Jason. But the real secrets to his father's brilliance lie elsewhere.

"The simplicity was the great thing about his playing. The simplicity and the groove. His groove was immense -- intensely relaxed and laid-back, but not late. If there's anything that's the hardest thing to get right, it's his groove. No one can touch him. Me? On my best day, I couldn't shine his shoes. There isn't anybody out there that could."

Jason oughta know. He literally learned to play at his father's feet.

He's spent years collecting, studying and mastering his father's work. He's performed with Zeppelin's surviving members several times -- including their 2007 reunion in London.

This fall, he's launching his own show: Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience, a multi-media tribute to his father that will stop in 30 North American cities.

He'll approach it the way his father would have, he says.

"I will play as a Bonham," he says. "Dad never played the same way twice. He had fundamental signature parts, but everything else was freeform. That was one thing he taught me: Always take chances."

But before he pays tribute to the world's greatest drummer, he'll pay tribute to his dad.

"On Sept. 25," he says, "I'll be at home with my family in Florida, thinking of him."

JOHN BONHAM HIGHLIGHTS

You can't go wrong with any of Bonham's performances on Led Zep's eight studio albums. Here are a few highlights:

Rock and Roll

Not just Bonham's signature, but one of the most iconic beats in history. The beginning -- with Bonzo bashing out simultaneous, syncopated 16th notes on his open hi-hat and snare -- was reportedly inspired by Little Richard's Keep A-Knockin'. The ending -- when he unleashes a thundering torrent of triplets and quadruplets on his toms and bass drum -- is all him. If you can't play this, you're not really a drummer.

Moby Dick

Bonham's aptly titled spotlight was indeed a whale of a solo, often stretching to 30 minutes in concert -- and ending with his hands bloodied from beating the drums without sticks. The version at Royal Albert Hall in 1970 -- captured on the Led Zeppelin DVD -- is awesome.

Good Times Bad Times

First album, first song. Bonzo instantly makes his presence felt, laying down a solidly funky groove and filling every space with bass drum triplets and cowbell flecks. An auspicious introduction.

Black Dog

The stop-start beat. The off-balance accents. The shifting time signatures. That little tom-tom shot in the bridge. That groove. It all seems so simple. It's not.

When the Levee Breaks

Like Black Dog, the behind-the-beat rhythm Bonzo lays down seems easy -- but no less an authority than Jason Bonham says it's almost impossible to replicate.

The Crunge

Along with power, Bonzo had precision. Listen to him make like Clyde Stubblefield, setting intricate James Brown funk against a 9/8 groove. Has anybody seen the bridge?

Dazed and Confused

Kashmir, Stairway to Heaven, In My Time of Dying, No Quarter -- Zep had more than their share of majestic slow-burn epics. Any will do in a pinch. But it all starts here.

Nobody's Fault But Mine

The way Bonham accents and builds a beat in the middle -- while Page works the slide and Plant moans in unison -- illustrates the difference between a drummer and a musician.

Fool in the Rain

This lazy shuffle from In Through the Out Door is one of Bonham's more subtle performances. Until it shifts into a samba midway through.

Your Call

Everybody's got their own favourite Bonham beat. Insert yours below.

http://www.torontosu...6/15379511.html

Edited September 20, 2010 by SteveAJones

[justawoman]

Thanks SteveAJones for posting the above article. Enjoyed reading the entire thing, even the early history of the band. It's stuff we've read many times before, but like a good story or tale, you never get tired of hearing it. Also enjoyed the quotes from Jason and his perspective on his father. The never having to go through the "I hate you" stage of the father/son relationship was thought provoking. Looking forward to this concert.

[sam_webmaster]

Plant gives Bonham touring advice

By JANE STEVENSON

Saturday is the 30th anniversary of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham's death, and Robert Plant said he did give his late bandmate's son and drummer Jason Bonham some advice on touring his Led Zeppelin Experience this year (including some dates in Canada).

"I played with him recently at his mom's house with his sister Zoe and with John's sister, Debbie, and he asked me what I think and I say, 'Whatever you feel you have to do because he was your dad; your mom's still there, you don't have to ask approval or feel bad about anything. Just please make sure that you do something for yourself soon."

Plant -- who reportedly turned down $200 million to reunite for a full-out Led Zeppelin tour following the one-off 2007 reunion show with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones (with Jason filling in for John) in London -- is doing something for himself with his new album of Americana covers, Band of Joy.

"I've gone into, I wouldn't say the unknown 'cause obviously after (2007's) Raising Sand I knew that it was a great place for me to be vocally now, and it was classy without trying to be classy. I didn't need a tuxedo to sing like this. But now, older guys, make records of songs that they've always loved, some dig deep, some don't. If you don't dig deep you're basically only supplying more fodder for real banal average radio, which is the death of music."

http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/music/2010/09/20/15411671.html

[SuperDave]

Thanks Steve and Sam for the articles. Good reads!

[Deborah J]

Thanks Sam and Steve for posting^^ Keep them coming! I absolutely can say I am beyond excited to see this and experience the emotion. November 13th can't get here soon enough.