The public’s voracious and seemingly insatiable appetite for all things Zeppelin means that there is a fertile market for the Whole Lotta Love concerts that are being staged around the country in April and May. For the last ten years this successful celebration of Zeppelin’s timeless classics has brought a myriad of performers together to pay homage to one of the world’s greatest and most influential rock acts. This year’s show will incorporate bona fide classics such as Stairway To Heaven, Black Dog, Kashmir, Battle Of Evermore and Immigrant Song plus other hits and intriguing rarities from Zeppelin’s colourful and legendary career.
Joseph Calderazzo, the Creative Director of the Whole Lotta Love concerts, spoke passionately about his admiration for Led Zeppelin and pointed out that “their music is really powerful. I like their lyrics and the diversity of the band. I like the blues element, the folk element and even the country element and of course the rock element. They go into all these different styles but they’ve still got their stamp on it and it sounds really cool [and] their songs are good. Being from the ’70s they’re organic as everything was recorded as a band and there’s been no trickery used so every note was played with heart and soul which hits you.”
Despite Joseph’s deep appreciation for Zeppelin, he has steered away from creating a copycat act. “There’s definitely room for reinterpreting,” he explained. “We definitely don’t want to be a copy act by any means. We avoid that. We like there to be a certain amount of reverence of course so we don’t go too wild with changing the groove of things but when Led Zeppelin played live they always went off onto whatever tangents felt good to them. They were very open with what they did. We try to get the essence of what they do live.”
The artists involved in the concert are given the opportunity to inject their own creativity into the magical mix. According to Joseph, “One of the reasons we use various singers that have all got original careers is so they can bring their own stamp into what we are doing. A lot of the musicians have got their own original careers too. We do like to have a certain amount of freedom with it while maintaining reverence to what Zeppelin initially had. Most of the people that play with us were either brought up on Zeppelin or brought up on bands that were brought up on Zeppelin so they get what Zeppelin was all about. It just flows quite easily. ”
This year the show’s dazzling lineup includes powerhouse vocalists such as Dallas Frasca and Simon Meli. If you have ever had the good fortune to catch Meli fronting his roots-rock band The Widowbirds you will know that he is blessed with the type of classic rock vocal prowess and hip-shaking cool charisma that enables him to blow the roof off the joint. If you require a shivers-down-the-spine introduction to his golden vocal chords in action, invest a few minutes in viewing his blind audition for The Voice which is garnering a lot of interest on YouTube. His incredibly soulful rendition of Zeppelin’s Ramble On is pure class. The gobsmacked and jubilant response from each of the judges is entirely understandable. Meli inspired similar responses when The Widowbirds played at the Queenscliff Music Festival in 2011and when the rocked the convivial and cosy Thornbury Local in 2012.
With this type of talent involved in the Whole Lotta Love concerts, fans of Zeppelin are certainly in for a treat. To further whet your appetite, Joseph provided a glimpse of what the audience can expect from the evening. “It’s pretty much a rock‘n’roll show,” he explained. “We cover the various elements that make up Zeppelin. We only have two-and-a-half hours of playing time but we manage to get most of the elements in – the folk element, the blues element, the rock element. [There’s also] the atmospheric element with The Rain Song and Kashmir (which both feature strings). It does tend to be a bit of a musical journey where you can get involved and let the music permeate your soul and go on a little trip. The second half of the show starts to get a little bit hypnotic. We do Going To California which is part of the acoustic element of the show. It’s a sit-down concert. Expect some really great music played with a lot of passion and soul!”
BY GRAHAM BLACKLEY
