LedZeppelinLives.com: <center>"The Music of Led Zeppelin"

When arranger/conductor Brent Havens first talked to Virginia Symphony Orchestra percussionist Rob Cross in 1994 about a symphonic tribute to legendary rock 'n' roll band Led Zeppelin, they didn't want the performance to come off as an "elevator to heaven" Muzak experience.

Havens and Cross figured some diehard symphony supporters would attend, but the vast majority would be Zeppelin fans.

"So my thought was: Why don't we take a band of studio musicians, get a famous front singer and wrap the orchestra around them?" Havens said. "And that's what we did."
The production was titled "The Music of Led Zeppelin." Havens undertook the duties of scoring and conducting, while Cross became the show's producer.

It debuted in a theater within the old Virginia Beach Pavilion. Tony Elliott, a local singer, opened the show in the role of Robert Plant but was soon replaced by Randy Jackson of the nationally touring hard-rock band Zebra.

The current lineup includes Jackson and guitarist George Cintron as well as local musicians Powell Randolph on drums, bassist Daniel Clemons and electric violinist Allegra, who is married to Havens.

Havens, 51, says he and the core rock band hit the "road" - by plane - nearly every other weekend, performing 30-some shows a year and selling out most venues in the 2,500- to 3,000-seat range.

"It's been touring nationally and doing huge audiences in other markets," said Cross, who also is directing the Virginia Arts Festival. "It's the people who grew up with the music, so there are a lot of 50- and 60-year-olds in the audience. "But what I've found surprising is there's another whole generation of 15- to 40-year-olds that are rediscovering that classic rock music."

While "The Music of Led Zeppelin" has turned out to be quite successful for Havens and Cross, the production was a tough sell at first to host orchestras. "The majority were scared to death of it," Havens said. Of course they were thinking of their classical audiences.

"The Atlanta Symphony did it at their summer home at Chastain Park, and they sold 4,000 tickets, and they went, 'Oh, hello.'" Soon other orchestras were picking up the Zeppelin show, and booking agencies in New York also took notice. "A couple of agencies in New York heard about the show, came out and saw us and said, 'This thing rocks. Let's take this out on the road,' " Havens said. He graduated from high school in 1974 during Zeppelin's heyday, but he was never a fan of the band until he started scoring its music for the orchestra. "What really impressed me about their music are the rhythmic intricacies that they have going on and the multiharmonic structures."

"The Music of Led Zeppelin" has a rotation of 27 songs, with 17 performed at any given concert. These include "Immigrant Song," "Kashmir" and "Black Dog." A more recent addition to the set list is the bluesy "Since I've Been Loving You." "That just works incredibly well with the orchestra," Havens said. "During the first section I have just the cellos and violas playing with the band, and then there is this back-and-forth thing between the singer and the guitar, and then the whole orchestra soars up into the middle of that in the chorus. It really works great."

When "The Music of Led Zeppelin" is performed Saturday at Chrysler Hall, it'll be a homecoming for the production. "We played it here a couple of times in the '90s," Havens said. "It's been a long time coming."
(The above information in this web post was obtained from:
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/04/led-zeppelin-combines-sounds-rock-symphony)

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

CLICK HERE to view the ENTIRE video compilation of the Led Zeppelin reunion show, December, 2007