Live Gig Report by Chris Martin (Writer/Contributor) Myglobalmind Webzine
Obviously the current incarnation of KISS would be the first…duh! I’ve decided to go ahead and knock this review out tonight. Tomorrow I will be busy getting my girlfriend moved in and likely won’t have time. Got a call from my best friend Roger a couple days ago asking me if I would be interested in seeing a Led Zeppelin tribute for free in a few days. As not only a fan of Zeppelin, I’m a connoisseur of free things as well. There’s not a whole helluva lot I’m gonna turn down that’s free. We just weren’t sure how many tickets we’d wind up with or if Roger would even be able to go. Not to mention the fact that yet again your faithful friend is laid up with another work related injury so I wasn’t sure if I would even be up to going. Ever the trooper I decided why not?
Joining us was my Sister. She’s really turning into quite the concert goer these days. I’m glad she was able to make it, and not just because she was driving enabling me to rest my knee and take my meds. We had a great time making our way to The Fillmore Charlotte jamming to some Iron Maiden, getting ourselves pumped up for the show later next week. Since Roger had the tickets, we had to wait outside until he got there (oh, and for a change he actually wasn’t all that late.) I decided to go to the box office and see how much Steve Vai tickets were as I had just heard he was coming around shortly. Pleased with the price, and there not being a service charge for a change, I grabbed one up. Roger got there and we got in line to get inside. I was pretty shocked at how many people were there. Sure, I’d actually heard of Get The Led Out, The American Led Zeppelin as they are referred to, but never taken the plunge to see them. I’ve seen one other Led Zep tribute band before (the name escapes me right now.) That one was good, going for trying to look and represent them as a whole whereas GTLO simply played the songs. They easily walked away the winner of the battle of Led Zep tribute bands. They may not have looked, dressed, or acted like the members, but they had the music spot on perfect.
Get The Led Out Live at The Fillmore Charlotte Gig Review
We missed the first few minutes of the setlist, but as soon as we got to our spot we were instantly drawn in by how damn good they were. Singer Paul Sinclair sounds exactly like Robert Plant. Even more so than Jack Russell of Great White fame who did an astounding cover of “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.” Depending on what song GTLO was playing there were at times three guitarists playing, which makes sense for a lot of the songs they played as Page was known to layer guitar tracks making it virtually impossible to replicate some songs live note for note. As for the musicianship, good Lord the band was super tight and really did a magnificent job playing the songs exactly the way they should be played. Then the song choice was incredible to boot! With the exception of “Achille’s Last Stand” and “The Rain Song” they played all the songs I wanted to hear, and in fact busted out with “In My Time Of Dying,” and despite the fact that my leg was hurting so bad it was burning by this point I was really tickled! This song is, without a doubt, my all-time favorite Led Zeppelin track ever. I have fond memories (or do I) of dropping acid with a bunch of friends back in college, turning off the lights, cranking this song up, and just tripped our balls off. I don’t think I’ve ever heard any band play this song live, and it brought me much happiness. They also busted out “Fool In The Rain” and did a fantastic job! Other than that, the other highlight song wise was when they played “Battle Of Evermore.” Simply brilliant! For it they brought special guest vocalist Diana DeSantis to do Sandy Denny’s original part. Close your eyes, you may as well have been listening to the original song.
So I mentioned my knee was hurting. It really was hurting bad despite the med’s I took prior to going inside. I’ve gotta give major prop’s to one of the Fillmore’s security staff for hooking me up. They don’t allow you to sit on the rails at the club, so when he came over to tell me to get up I asked him if there was any way he could get me a chair as I had a bad knee and the standing was really getting to me. He said he’d see what he could do. I figured I wouldn’t see him again, but he returned promptly with a chair, and the relief of being able to sit down was incredible. I thanked him again on the way out of the venue. Thankfully the closest shows I’ve got coming up have seats, so I’ll be able to sit through most of the show if I need to.
Get The Led Out Live at The Fillmore Charlotte Gig Review
Photo Credit: Jerry Watson
Disclaimer: This Pic is not a live shot from the same venue.
My only complaint has nothing to do with the band or the club, but the simple lack of civility. I’ve seen a lot of concerts over my 40 years of life. A lot. I’ve noticed in recent times that people at shows are becoming more and ruder, and this pisses me off greatly. Virtually gone are the times when someone bumps into you they immediately turn around and apologize. Or people want to get a better look at the stage they don’t say excuse me they just push their way through with little regard for the people around them. Or they throw their beverage in a trash can without regard for people around them, sloshing folks with the remnants of their beer. I used to drink quite a bit, so I understand chemically induced assholery, but never to the levels that I have seen lately. It’s sad really. Why would people want to ruin someone else’s time at a concert? Have we as a society gotten so wrapped up in ourselves that you can’t simply say, “Sorry I bumped in to you, man!” “Is there a chance I could scoot up in front of you to get a better view of the stage?” And simply put your trash in the can without throwing it splashing folks around you. And if you do it, apologize instead of walking off laughing about it. I already have a great disdain for people, and stuff like this just makes my disdain even greater. Just stop being a douche okay? Thanks!
All of that aside, if Get The Led Out comes to your area you’ve got to check them out. Since Bonham is dead and Plant can no longer hit those notes, this is as close as we’re going to get to hearing these wonderful songs live. As for the crack I made earlier about KISS, you can probably disregard that. I’d say nowadays GTLO is a much better tribute band as their Paul can still hit the notes. We’ll confirm that next month though for sure. Until next time my peep’s always remember: Squeeze me baby until the juice runs down my leg.
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