LOplaysLZ 2008.11.07 - Louisville

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE "One Night Only" The Louisville Orchestra plays the music of Led Zeppelin Friday, November 7, 2008 The Kentucky Center for the Arts - Whitney Hall Louisville, Kentucky Lineage: iPod Nano w/Belkin TuneTalk Stereo (44.1x16) > PC > Adobe Audition 3.0 > CD-R > FLAC(8) Recorded from Grand Tier Left, Row B, Seat 16, roughly eight feet vertically upward from the soundboard, stage and soundboard center Recording and Mastering by Tim Druck, 2008. Disc One Introduction (3:40) Immigrant Song (3:01) Ramble On (5:20) Good Times Bad Times (3:41) Kashmir (8:42) Going To California (4:56) Ten Years Gone (7:20) Heartbreaker (10:24) Misty Mountain Hop Whole Lotta Love (5:44) Disc Two Four Sticks (5:15) All My Love (6:24) The Rain Song (9:14) Dancing Days (4:45) Since I've Been Loving You (7:26) Moby Dick (8:05) Black Dog (6:33) Gallows Pole (3:31) Tangerine Thank You Stairway To Heaven (8:31) The Ocean (4:52) After a rather lengthy introduction by the chair of the Louisville Orchestra and a rep from sponsor Brown Forman, the set lights off with a spirited Immigrant Song - I found the arrangement a little spare but very accurate. The program notes that Conductor Brent Havens, who scored the show originally for the Virginia Symphony, intentionally kept the sounds familiar, to avoid the jarring sensation of changing such very familiar music - to the point of using exact-line arrangements and using the orchestra for enhancement. I agree. Yes, that's my dear wife at the beginning of Ramble On asking "Did you notice the conductor dancing along?" Singer Randy Jackson (not *that* one) puts in a very credible vocal on this track, and the show is really starting to turn into something special, with the cascading strings dashing daringly over that amazing chugging freight-train sound of a Les Paul laying it down, and the talented electric violinist (named Allegra, no less) absolutely flying. Jackson introduces GTBT as the "first song the band played at their O2 concert - how many of you guys went over for that?" I'm totally struck at how much this band *sounds* like Led Zeppelin. The rhythm section really gets it, you know? Guitarist George Cintron is an absolute jewel, shredding his finest for sure - but this is really the difference between imitators and the Real Thing - the gentleman in the seat next to me leans over at one point and says "He's good, but he doesn't sound like Jimmy Page." Upcoming highlights coming up from Mr. Cintron, though, and he also does backup vocals on GTBT. Awesome intro to the next track - Kashmir appears a little early in the set from what I expected, but the intro from the singer is a great anecdote leading into a very powerful performance. The crowd is getting positively rowdy - remember these are season-ticket holders to the Louisville Orchestra, and the whooping and hollering is positively rock-concert level as the strings drive home the riff and drummer Powell Randolph pounds away at the confines of big Whitney Hall, the main venue of the Kentucky Center for the Arts, surrounded by a big Plexiglass shield - anyone know why drummers do this? At one point my wife points out that the drummer is backed by no less than *four* orchestral percussionists to achieve this monumental sound - you can't hear it on the tape though because it's effing LOUD in here. Going to California is gorgeous as the band takes a break, vocalist Randy Jackson taking a very nice turn on a barstool with a 12-string Tokamine with a sharpness that makes the woodwinds float etherially over the melody, the vocals turning out nicely and violas filling out the sound very roundly and prettily - I could listen to this all day. I'm really impressed with Randy, by the way. He took a very difficult role and did damn well. Bassist Daniel Clemons is doing his best John Paul Jones impression, staying low-key, but you can't help but notice the whomp of his rig as Ten Years Gone launches majestically with little to no percussion at first. The word of the day is gorgeous - this type of production of the music really highlights how very *pretty* Led Zeppelin music can be, how anthemic and powerful this band was at its very best. Clarinets and violas again in the quiet parts, and I distinctly remember this arrangement moving me to tears in the hall. After the song you can hear me lean over to ask my wife if she had ever heard this track (she's a casual fan at best) and she shook her head no - she was choked up as well, by a song she'd never heard before. Another cool intro by Randy for George Cintron and Heartbreaker blasts off after some audience misbehavior - pretty standard Heartbreaker until the jaw-dropping guitar solo. Forget what I said about Cintron earlier. This effing guy can play, no doubt. His solo, featuring right-hand fret-tapping that would make EVH jealous, really riles up the crowd - women are melting all over the place and this chunky Latino strapped into the Les Paul is setting the world on fire. Looks like George Lopez with Slash's hair, plays like Paganini. Hilarious reference to The Lemon Song in there, as well as a few others very quickly, and jumping into what? Misty Mountain Hop? Are you kidding? Jackson gets the crowd clapping in the correct rhythm as the band blasts into it full-force, the vocals getting even better as the show moves on, Cintron is doing the Jimmy Shuffle, and the crowd is eating it up. Over the hills where the spirits fly, and out as Cintron continues his now-grotesque, Page-esque, totally-excessive Heartbreaker solo, mixing in feedback to thrill and teasing "Since I've Been Loving You" before roaring back into the last verse of Heartbreaker, pausing of course for a lengthy round of applause for George Cintron, well deserved. By the way, Allegra the Electric Violinist is *hot*, kinda doing an unconscious bump and grind during that raunchy, filthy-sounding last verse - always one of my favorite Zeppelin moments - it's accurately captured here. Straight into Whole Lotta Love with no pause, the crowd explodes almost wearily, their expectations already met only 47 minutes into the show. Neat interpretation of the middle section, with lots of percussionists sweating and Cintron ripping his brand-new Les Paul to shreds imitating the theramin. This crowd is at a rock concert - lots of rich people and gorgeous women in little black dresses are swaying and grinding and basically acting like they're at a Zeppelin concert. Womaaaaaaan! You neeeeed.. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! Intermission, and much needed - the crowd can't take much more of this. The bars were woefully understaffed at KCA this night, as the lines for drinks are ridiculous and most people don't get served. My wife and I stood in line through the entire intermission and did not get drinks, heading back into the auditorium for the second half of the show. With no warning, Four Sticks erupts from a dark stage, the lights coming up suddenly - if you weren't in the arena, too bad. Very Zeppelin. To my delight, drummer Powell Randolph is actually playing with four sticks, and the tambourine is really atop his hi-hat, just like Bonzo. The orchestra is dark and eerie and amazing, the high strings really hot in the ascending runs, and the track elicits a primal explosion from the audience at the end. Nice tribute to John Paul Jones to begin a very different arrangement for All My Love, the gorgeous woodwinds during the verses giving way to a slightly too-easy follow-along during the hook. The difference between the Real Led Zeppelin and this band really shows through on songs like this - it's easy to see how this could have been a really bad pop song if anyone but Zeppelin had done it. Jonesy's keyboard solo is handled solo by Allegra in gorgeous fashion on her sparkly-blue electric violin, but the section thereafter almost sounds like a high-school marching band. I really like this song, and I expected better, I guess, from an arrangement of a song with so much John Paul Jones influence. Still, flashes of brilliance, and there's always Allegra's solo. And the ending is very show-tunes too. Nice nod to Allegra by Randy Jackson at the end. Randy shouts out his friends in a local band called Another Colour, whom I've heard and recommend highly. Then he picks up his 12-string and dedicates The Rain Song to them. This is widely known to be my favorite Robert Plant vocal, and Randy does it justice, staying true to the song both vocally and with his guitar part. What a gorgeous string part - this must be what John Paul was hearing when he conceived the Mellotron part, and this is how this song should be played, with a 60-piece orchestra. The arrangement is immediately back to really impressive, the occasional French horn showing through with a mellow vibe. Gracious shout-out and a lot of love for the Louisville Orchestra, which is turning in quite the impressive performance tonight. Randy introduces the winner of a local radio-station contest winner who gets to conduct the orchestra for the next tune. What is it going to be? Dancing Days! It's a good performance, and the strings are pretty neat - the energy level hasn't wavered a bit from the beginning of the show - remarkable considering the age of some of the orchestra performers, who are decked out in their finest concert t-shirts and jeans, so long as the general effect is black. Poor old Fergie the Contest Winner is doing his best to keep up, and a good time is had by all. Randy Jackson gives a very respectful introduction to my favorite Led Zeppelin song of all time (you can hear me say so on the tape to the guy sitting next to me, who was gracious enough to, having ordered two beers, share one with me after noting that we returned drinkless from intermission,) noting that Led Zeppelin was a blues band, first and always - and George Cintron absolutely produces chills with the opening riff of Since I've Been Loving You, and a haunting string arrangement lends to the dark beauty of this gothic blues. The ascending strings in C-minor soar with the pain and power of this ultimate expression of Led Zeppelin's blues heart, and the audience for once is silent. Randy Jackson's vocals are fucking amazing at this point - totally beyond any reasonable expectation, and the brilliance of George Cintron gives them that Jimmy-Robert dynamic that's needed to pull off this show, especially this song. Spectacular solo, faithful to Jimmy's, and this performance is so much vintage Zeppelin that I'm listening for the squeaky bass pedal. Amazing vocal finish that Robert would have been proud of on his best day, and the crowd is *wrung out*. Jackson states that if you ever saw Led Zeppelin, then you saw the next number, because they played it every single night, being as they had the best drummer in the history of rock, Mr. John Bonham. Moby Dick, of course, with the percussionists working hard and drummer Powell Randolph tossing away the sticks and playing with his hands, even hitting a crash with his forehead at one point. Mr. Powell Randolph on the drums, indeed - a hearty round of applause, and the song finishes. Group introductions. Allegra from Vermont. Dan Clemens from Baltimore on bass. From Virginia Beach, drummer Powell Randolph. George Cintron from Long Island, NY on guitars and backing vocals. Cincinnati's own Brent Havens, Conductor. Randy Jackson, and the Louisville Orchestra. Long round of applause for all. Hey! Hey! Hey hey mama, said the way you move... Black Dog and the orchestra is keeping up with the time changes. Randy's still in the high register and pointing the mic like Robert back in the day for the crowd to finish phrases - the tape captures this really well. The crowd knows every word and they're into it. Cintron nails the closing solo, of course. And I'm running out of ways to praise this show - it really was quite the experience. And the band leaves the stage. But not for long - the orchestra is still seated, and there's business left to attend to. Gallows Pole, for one, and there's an odd skip in the tape during the first verse - I edited the pop out, but a line is marred. No matter, after one verse, Randy switches to Tangerine, still unaccompanied on his 12-string as he has been since he re-took the stage. One verse of Tangerine, and into Thank You - what a lexicon - this guy knows a lot of Zeppelin. And then suddenly, quietly... Stairway to Heaven. The woodwinds exactly as Jonesy must have imagined, pastoral, lilting, just plain gorgeous. During the last few verses of the beginning the mic tilts and you can hear me adjusting it, but it doesn't block the sound, even though my fingers on the mic create a bit of an annoyance for a few seconds. The crowd erupts as the solo begins and Cintron responds, playing the legendary piece note-for-note, the solo ringing through the hall to the stunned audience, at first silenced and then cheering wildly, knowing what they just heard for what it was, and appreciating it as it should be. You guys want one more? We've done four already and now we're steady and then they went... one two three four! The crowd is hooting and boogeying and the orchestra is having a blast, total loss of decorum achieved, Whitney Hall desecrated for a solid two hours. Into the skip time with authority, the orchestra is rocking right along with the band, and a lone clarinet sings along with the la la las... noted by my lovely wife. Smashing performance. Damn nice recording, if I say so myself. Enjoy. Share the groove, TimD, Thanksgiving 08

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