Zeppelin tribute Zoso meets expectations

I would probably sell my own kidneys on the black market in order to see Led Zeppelin live.\nUnfortunately, the opportunity to commit such an act of dedication has not yet arisen. Even though rumors have been circulating for months after their show in London about a possible reunion tour, no word has surfaced yet on whether or not I’m going to have to live the rest of my life kidney-less.\nSo I settled for Zoso.\nZoso, the “ultimate Led Zeppelin experience,” rocked an at-capacity Bluebird on Saturday night, playing to a packed room of adoring fans. And when they say it’s the “ultimate” experience, they aren’t kidding. From the precision of every song played to the flowing, curly locks of “Jimmy Page” to “Robert Plant”’s cocky strut across the stage, watching this band perform was like being thrown back 30 years in time. \n“I thought it was great,” said senior Scott Gellman. “It was incredible how dead-on they were.”\nThe crowd was warmed up by opening band The Buzzkills, which played a mix of their own original music as well as covers of classic-rock favorites from bands like the Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The band definitely knew how to warm up the crowd, and everyone was buzzing with excitement by the time Zoso was ready to take the stage.\nAs I’m a simple Midwestern girl raised on the simple virtues of good, solid classic rock, to me Zeppelin has always stood as the epitome of everything that is good in rock music. Zoso had fairly large shoes to fill with these expectations in mind, and when they came out with a raucous cover of “Rock and Roll,” I was already impressed. \nAnd the songs weren’t the only things covered with precision. Every band member had dressed the part, from the hair to the shoes. I can imagine if someone had enough alcohol in their system they might have thought it was the real Led Zeppelin.\nZoso has had plenty of time to get this act down pat, too. They’ve been touring the country as a Led Zeppelin tribute band since 1995, and have gained a reputation as being one of the best in the business. \n“Tell me a better (band to cover),” said Mike Morgan, aka Jimmy Page, of Zoso’s beginnings. “It wasn’t our idea, but it’s worked.” \nAs the band plowed through their set, it seemed like every song was a crowd favorite. Everyone around me at the foot of the stage seemed to know every word to every song, or at least be familiar enough with them to mumble something along as they swayed with the music. \nA personal high point for me was “Immigrant Song,” the song I blame for my lasting obsession with Zeppelin (perhaps an odd choice considering all of the others in their collection, but a favorite nonetheless). My only qualm with that song from the beginning was that it’s just too short, so when they played an extended version with a guitar solo tacked onto the end I was elated.\nAnd what Zeppelin concert is complete without “Stairway to Heaven.” Becuase it’s the most widely-known song, many might think the band would get sick of playing it after so many years, but Matt Jernigan, aka Robert Plant, disagrees.\n“It’s a great song, and like any great song it’s going to be played a lot,” he said. “We don’t play it every night, but when we do it can be refreshing.”\nZoso came back to give a powerful encore of “Stairway to Heaven” after a few minutes of intense chanting by the audience. You could tell by the crowd’s involvement that it definitely was the song everyone was waiting for – for example, the man standing behind me was yelling “Stairway” after every single song for the last six songs of the set. Never before have I seen so many varying and intense emotions during a live performance of a song. \nPeople standing along the front row were rapt with attention throughout the beginning of the song, singing along to every word. When the song exploded into the bridge, it was like a bomb went off in the crowd as everyone suddenly jumped into movement along with the music.\nJernigan credits the audience as part of what makes the Zoso experience so great.\n“The people are the essence of everything,” he said. \nEven with a possible Zeppelin reunion tour in the works, the band still plans to keep doing what they’ve been doing for the past 13 years.\n“We’ve put too much time into this,” Jernigan said. “When you succeed, why do anything else?”