Knoxville Symphony Orchestra plays Led Zeppelin

Not too long ago, I tuned in to WUOT, the local public radio station, to get my classical music fix.  The piece featured on that day was a classical version of "Stairway to Heaven."  I thought that was ingenious.

Then I heard the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra was going play the hits of Led Zeppelin.  I just had to go and get a night of this.

With the orchestra was Windborne Music, a rock band, with Randy Jackson, former lead singer of Zebra .  The stage had rock band-style lighting, making it a stimulating, electrifyin rock-classical atmosphere.

I had never heard of Zebra.  Therefore, I looked them up on YouTube, and listened to a few of their songs, none of which I recognized.

Randy Jackson

These two bands played note-for-note many of the hits by Led Zeppelin.  And they did so in ways that surprised me.  One of the ways was with "Black Dog."  Not having gone to an actual Zep show, myself, I'm not sure if it was common for Plant to invite the audience to join him in singing the iconic staccato vocals of "Ah, ah, ah, ah".  But it was fun to join Jackson on this part, the beginning one-liners, and that ever-famous, "I don't know what I've been told/A big-legged woman ain't got no soul."  A great call-and-response/sing-along scheme to an audience of several hundred.

Even greater was the start of "The Ocean"...Yes, you guessed it: "We've done four already, and now we're steady, and then they went 1, 2, 3, 4."

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the rich talent in guitarist George Cintron .  Though he and Jackson have a palpable stage chemistry, when it comes to guitar solos, especially for "Heartbreaker", it is, to say the least, captivating.  The icing on the cake for Zeppaholics like me was the transition into "Misty Mountain Hop"-a melodious melody, sweet to the ears.

Jackson stated that Led Zeppelin didn't have a show where they didn't play "Moby Dick".  Therefore, Windborne, themselves did likewise, with Andrew Payne on drums.  This was the first symphonic bands concert I had been to where a soloist gets a standing ovation during their performance.  That happened at least once, during the climax of the drum solo.

In addition to these timeless rock anthems, in all its rock band/strings/woodwind/brass glory, they also played "Going to California" and "Tangerine", with "Stairway to Heaven" to put a bow on an incredible night.


With all of the delectable eye and ear candy I got, this only made me want to get the Lead out even more this way!