The kid is now the old man playing with his old man who was a kid.
That is one of the highlights of Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience.
“To play like John Bonham is the hardest thing in the world because you’re not John Bonham,” said Jason Bonham, whose father was the legendary Led Zeppelin drummer. “It’s how you breathe out of your heart. It’s your emotions.”
Where: Fillmore Silver Spring, 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring
When: 8 p.m. Thursday
Info: $35 to $125; fillmoresilverspring.com
| Onstage |
| Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience |
Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience, which comes to the Fillmore in Silver Spring on Thursday, is a tribute to Jason’s father through the music of Led Zeppelin. Bonham and his band perform classic Zeppelin songs accompanied by some storytelling, old pictures and home movies. At a couple of points in the show, the real-life Jason duets with footage of his father, who passed away in 1980 at the age of 32.
Much of the concert footage features a John Bonham in his early-to-mid 20s. Jason is now 45, making him twice as old as his father in the footage.
“It wasn’t strange until somebody pointed it out,” said Jason from a tour stop in Buffalo, N.Y., last week.
“It’s the part of the show where I’m the most freaked out and focused,” he added.
Jason was hesitant when first approached about doing a possible tribute to his father. Then Jason saw RAIN, a Beatles tribute show, and realized what the production could be. He set about putting the show together, including getting images and footage from his mom.
“Luckily for me, my mom actually did the difficult part,” Jason said. “That was really tough for her, because she really hadn’t gone through anything in 25 years.”
What was suppose to be a limited run in 2010 grew in popularity. Now Jason balances work with his Led Zeppelin Experience and his own rock band, Black Country Communion.
Jason Bonham has long established himself as a great drummer in his own right, and has played with the likes of Foreigner, Paul Rodgers, and had his own band Bonham 20 years ago.
In late 2007, Jason joined the surviving members of Led Zeppelin — Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones — for a tribute concert to diseased music executive Ahmet Ertegun in London. Led Zeppelin, with Jason behind the drums, played a 16-song hit-filled set, starting speculation of a possible tour that has yet to come to fruition.
The younger Bonham has always embraced the musical legacy of his father and Led Zeppelin, but he also early on copied his father’s hard-partying ways. It wasn’t until Jimmy Page pulled him aside and suggested Jason focus more on emulating his father’s drumming chops.
“He was my hero, he is my hero, he died my hero,” Jason said of his father. “I just worshiped everything he did.”
