Saturday, 12 June 2010

At Mojo Awards Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page celebrated


Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has been inducted into the Mojo Hall Of Fame at the magazine's award ceremony.
The best album prize won the Singer Richard Hawley, while Kasabian's single Fire was named song of the year.
But Florence and the Machine, who led the field with four nominations before the London event, was overlooked.
Page, who last won a Mojo award for the 2007 Led Zeppelin reunion, revealed he was working on new material with a number of different projects.
He has been taken on by Robbie Williams' management company IE.
He said,"I'm just looking forward to making some music and surprising people with it".
"It won't be just teaming up with lots of people who are (big) names. I've got an idea of something which I've had for a long time and now's the time to do it." But he declined to give further details about his collaborators or his new direction.
Mojo is now the best selling music magazine in the UK, selling more than twice as many copies as NME.
Five winners were voted for by Mojo readers, including best album, best single and best live act. That category saw US act Midlake beat Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys and Florence and the Machine.
A further 16 honorary prizes were handed out. They included the classic album award, which went to The Stone Roses for their 1989 self titled debut LP.
Bassist Mani, who picked up the trophy, said it was "gratefully received".
Asked why there were few new guitar bands making a splash in the way The Stone Roses did, Mani replied: "Bands of my era had a whacked out agenda. They walked it, they lived it, they breathed it.
"(They were) not necessarily the best musicians in the world. I think what's wrong with British music at the moment is people are too career orientated. They're afraid, or record companies will not allow them to take risks, and that just makes everything so uniform." A number of other acts from the 1980s were also honoured, including Marc Almond, Jean Michelle Jarre and Teardrop Explodes.
Teardrop Explodes were due to reunite for the first time in 28 years to accept the Mojo inspiration award, but singer Julian Cope did not turn up.
Keyboard player David Balfe said: "At seven o'clock I was told, 'He's going to be there - he likes to make an entrance.' At eight o'clock, 'He's going to be here.' Then we got a text - and he's not here."
Balfe went on to establish record label Food, which signed Blur.
Mojo editor Phil Alexander said: "The 80s are almost the new 60s. You can hear the influence of that decade everywhere.
"The aspects of the 80s we chose to celebrate at the Mojo Honours List reflect the genuine innovation of that period and I think you sense that the best music made at that time has had a massive impact on the musicians of today, in the same way that the 60s and 70s did previously.
"Somehow, there is a freedom in parts of 80s music that resonates among a new generation of musicians and fans."

Tuesday, 8 June 2010

Best band ever of Led Zeppelin really


The best band ever of the Led Zeppelin. ‘I’m In A Rock And Roll Band!’ crowned the Seventies rock gods, after boiling it down to a short list of three: Zep, Queen and The Beatles.
All good choices, of course, coming from a longlist of The Clash, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Joy Division, Nirvana, Radiohead, The Rolling Stones & The Smiths. Presumably a lot of names got weeded out along the way but it’s hard to argue with Led Zeppelin, an incredible coming together of nice musicians who pushed and pulled rock music in a host of new directions while fundamentally defining what it meant to be a hard, heavy, sexy rock band.
But personally, I would put them third on the list. The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are the bands who set almost the entire parameters for rock music in the Sixties. They remain the quintessential rock bands, and everything that followed is a kind of offshoot, either by reacting against them, or following through on their inspiration. Led Zeppelin certainly took up the baton and charged into the Seventies, but by that time the core of what it meant to be a rock band had already been defined.
I was talking this morning to the great English folk and rock guitarist Richard Thompson (he’s curating the Meltdown festival which starts this week). I made an observation about how rarely you hear the electric guitar in modern pop records, to which he retorted, “Good, its about time”. His argument was that the truly original and creative use of the guitar dominated rock template was essentially over by 1971, but its visceral and commercial entreaty is so great it has lingered on long past its sell by date.

Tuesday, 6 April 2010

Robert Plant’s New Band Has an Old Name.

Robert Plant still isn’t reuniting Led Zeppelin, but he is digging deep into his past for the name of his next project. Coming off a successful collaboration with the bluegrass singer and fiddler Alison Krauss, Mr. Plant, left, will next hit the road with a group called the Band of Joy, a name cribbed from the 1960s group from Birmingham, England, in which he performed with the future Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham.

In a news release Mr. Plant said the lineup for the new Band of Joy would include the singer Patty Griffin, the instrumentalist and vocalist Darrell Scott, the bassist Byron House, the drummer Marco Giovino and the guitarist Buddy Miller. The band will begin a 12-city tour on July 13 in Memphis and conclude on July 31 in Miami; it is also preparing an album.

Thursday, 18 March 2010

UNRELEASED LED ZEPPELIN RECORDING DISCOVERED AT CAR BOOT SALE

A previously undiscovered bootleg of a 1971 Led Zeppelin gig has been unearthed at a car boot sale.

The gig, from the band's 1971 show at St Matthew's Baths Hall in Ipswich features tracks including 'Immigrant Song', 'Whole Lotta Love', 'Stairway To Heaven', 'Rock & Roll', and 'Black Dog'.

Bargain hunter Vic Kemp bought the CD bootleg at a car boot sale in Portman Road, Suffolk, and told the Evening Star that he picked it up for just "two or three pounds".

He explained: "I was going through a stand of CDs at the car boot at Portman Road and the guy who was selling them said, "you might be interested in this"."

Kemp continued by saying that the gig "must have been recorded by someone standing at the front with a microphone. You can hear Robert Plant talking to the audience quite clearly."

It's currently unclear whether any duplicate recordings of the tape have been made.

Monday, 1 March 2010

Led Zeppelin cover band

Have you ever imagined what it would be like if you could go back in time and see Led Zeppelin in concert? Open your eyes and ears to Kashmir, a band that brings you that live experience and you do not even need a time machine to take you there.Watching Kashmir perform live, you cannot help but feel the essence of Robert Plant's vocals and Jimmy Page's soulful, hypnotic classic rock trance. Kashmir has mastered the captivating display of melodic input Led Zeppelin created.

An interview with Frank Livingston helped get a better understanding of the band and their ability to replicate one of the best classic rock bands known to this day."Kashmir seeks to recreate the mindset of a 70s Led Zeppelin show utilizing in a non-pretentious way, using authentic vintage stage gear, costumes and special effects with attention to great detail," Livingston said."But most importantly," Livingston added, "Kashmir does not take any liberties on improving the music. Led Zeppelin should be played using only the equipment available of the day and should be reproduced dead on with as much great respect and admiration as possible.""Dead on" is right. Since 2001, Livingston, who is the founder of Kashmir, plays Jimmy Page's guitar riffs and solos note for note. Crowds from across NWI and the Chicagoland region gather in amazement to see them live.


Kashmir is able to deliver what the spectators are waiting to hear, from "The Song Remains The Same," "Whole Lotta Love," the John Bonham-exact drum solo during "Moby Dick" and using a violin bow during a crucial eighteen minute version of "Dazed and Confused."But what is most intriguing is when Livingston plays his double neck guitar, note for note, performing, "Stairway to Heaven."Seeing Kashmir perform brought the unity and peace you get when listening to Led Zeppelin to another level, with no breaks between the songs they perform. Kashmir is the next best thing to actually seeing the real deal because at the end of the show you feel it would not be such a crime to say, "I got to hear Led Zeppelin live!"Livingston thanks Led Zeppelin for being what they were and are known for today.During the show, Livingston shares information and the history behind the songs and albums Led Zeppelin made.


It really shows something when you can see a performance where the members of the band have so much passion for the music that the energy can feed to the audience as well.The professional attitudes and social output the members share with the audience is universal itself. Kashmir is highly recommended to perform at any gathering where people of all age groups are into Classic Rock, via Led Zeppelin.

Monday, 1 February 2010

Led Zeppelin replacement singer idea 'fell by wayside'

Led Zeppelin's plan to find a replacement singer for Robert Plant "fell by the wayside", bassist John Paul Jones has explained.The bassist, now playing in Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl and Josh Homme, said that despite he and guitarist Jimmy Page auditioning potential frontmen, they couldn't agree on a new band member."

Jimmy and I rehearsed a bit with [drummer] Jason Bonham and we couldn't really agree on singers and that fell by the wayside," he told BBC 6 Music. "Then this [Them Crooked Vultures] came along and, to be honest, I'm really happy."Jones was keen to heap praise on Foo Fighters drummer Grohl, saying it was a pleasure to play with him in the new outfit.


"I immediately recognised that this was a drummer that was a) really good, b) groovy and c) listened. All those nice things that bass players like in drummers," he explained.Them Crooked Vultures release their self-titled debut album on November 17. Listen to the album's first single, 'New Fang', by clicking on the video below

Friday, 13 November 2009

Tribute show Led Zeppelin


How many can say they witnessed Led Zeppelin perform live in the band's prime? The legendary group ceased touring regularly in 1980 after drummer John Bonham's untimely death -- to the devastation of fans worldwide. Despite a few particular appearances over the years, the remaining three members can't seem to launch a full on reunion. Whether this aversion to regrouping stems from infighting or a lack of enthusiasm toward regurgitating the old hits is up for debate. While Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones mull over their intertwining futures, the rest of us can enjoy seminal songs such as "Stairway to Heaven" at Led Zeppelin Live! Starring Heartbreaker. This tribute show incorporates the music and look of the band. Jefrey James as front man Plant even gets the pants right. And Led Zeppelin fans take Plant's pants very seriously. 8 p.m. Saturday, The Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University, 1 University Parkway, University Park. $22; 708-235-2222 or centertickets.net