Now with an opening line like that you should be expecting some great super hero story, but alas I don’t have one for you, what I do have is the story of a very awesome night in which I was honored to see Jason Bonham, Son of the late great John Bonham, drummer of what to me is one of the greatest bands that ever stepped on a stage, Led Zeppelin.

I came in to tonight’s show thinking it would be like seeing a Led Zep cover band, but being that the only real thing that is different was the fact that Jason Bonham was playing drums.  That thought lasted in my head for maybe two songs,  the show was started with some home movies of John Bonham with Jason talking over them about his dad and where he started and how their lives changed because of the band, and how this show represents what his life experience of Led Zeppelin was.

With that being said, the lights went black and the oh so familiar opening drums of “Rock and Roll” came blasting out from the stage.  From start to finish it was done flawless, and then quickly followed by “Black Dog” which was also great, in which they should be due to I have no doubt these songs are engraved on Jason Bonham’s soul.  After Jason spoke a little about when he was a kid and waking to loud church organs playing in his home and being scared of them, not knowing they were to be opening of what was their next song “Your Time is Going to Come”.

About this time I was really getting in to things, this band was tighter and cleaner than any other kind of Led Zep band I have ever seen and I thought the singer James Dylan was pretty good and then, I was hooked. They started playing the opening acoustic guitar lines of “Babe I’m Going to Leave You” and Dylan killed it. I could remember countless times of listening to this song and feeling every word that came out of Robert Plant, tonight I could feel it again. Dylan had Plants soft whisper, deep yells, and that rasping breathy voice that gave Zeppelin its heart. Throw in Jason Bonham’s power behind the drums and guitarist who did a hell of a job standing in for Jimmy Page, you could close your eyes and almost feel as if the rock gods themselves were standing before you.

They followed up with “What is and What Should Never Be” and “Thank You” both were stellar performances.  Afterward young Bonham proved to all that he could keep up with his old man as they did a killer job of covering “Moby Dick” with video of John Bonham behind him playing that massive drum solo that Jason went right along with it beat for beat. The band then took a 15min Intermission, when they returned Jason spoke to the crowd about what to him was the greatest night in his life, Dec. 10th, 2007 the night that many never thought they would live to see again, the night Led Zeppelin played in London.

Or as Jason put it ” The one night, I was actually in Led Zeppelin and it started like this”, the band then rolled in to “Good Times Bad Times” I usually don’t care to hear most bands speak, but tonight was different it was great to get to hear all these things about a band I have loved for so long, to hear some of the stories he would tell about not only his dad but all the guys of Zeppelin.

This was followed up by an awesome rendition of “Since I’ve Been Loving You” and then what to me was one of the best songs of the night “When the Levee Breaks”, Jason started by saying that he was going to let his dad take over on the drums for this one, not knowing what they were going to play I listened as they did this real long slow build up, and then a video of John Bonham playing that bass drum beat that has been used by artist in all genres of music, a drum beat that gets into your body and you can’t help but be moved by it. Once again vocalist James Dylan nailed it down,  along with some amazing slide guitar and lap steel work done by the band.

The night was ended with a one, two, Knockout combo of “Stairway to Heaven”, “Kashmir” and “A Whole Lot of Love” three of the greatest songs ever done by Zeppelin. Other than getting the chance to see Led Zeppelin themselves live, I think that this will be one of my favorite shows that I have ever been to. The crowd tonight was more on the 50ish side with some mid-lifers like myself and a few 20 something’s thrown in. Even as I hate the thought of getting older tonight I envied the older crowd, these were the people who were there, who got to see as I said before, one of, if not the greatest rock and roll band who’s sound changed the music world and has become more than a foundation, but the very soul of what rock has become…