Whole Lotta Dad: Jason Bonham Plans Led Zeppelin Tribute Concerts
To the world John Bonham was the formidable rock ?n? roll drummer of Led Zeppelin, who brought an explosive percussion style to songs like ?When the Levee Breaks? and ?Four Sticks.? To Jason Bonham, he was simply Dad ? a father whose musicianship he had not fully learned to appreciate when he died in 1980 at the age of 32, and when Jason was just 14.
?I really wish I had the time to tell him when he was alive how much I loved him as a player, and his music,? Jason Bonham said recently in a telephone interview.
It is in that spirit that the younger Mr. Bonham, now 44, announced on Monday that he would perform a series of concerts in the fall that will pay tribute to his father and the music of Led Zeppelin. While the lineup of musicians and tour dates is still being completed, Mr. Bonham said that the tour, called ?Jason Bonham?s Led Zeppelin Experience,? would perform 30 shows in North America to mark the 30th anniversary of John Bonham?s death.
?I?ve always been a huge fan of the band, but I appreciated it a lot more as I got older,? Mr. Bonham said. ?From living in America now for the last five years, you really do get a picture of how big Led Zeppelin is here.?
After appearing alongside his father in the Led Zeppelin documentary ?The Song Remains the Same,? Mr. Bonham played drums in several bands in the 1980s and 90s, and performed with the Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page on Mr. Page?s 1988 solo album ?Outrider.?
In 1997, Mr. Bonham released the charity album ?In the Name of My Father ? The Zepset,? featuring his covers of songs like ?The Ocean? and ?Communication Breakdown.? Ten years later he performed with the band?s surviving members ? Mr. Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones ? at the O2 Arena in London as part of a concert paying tribute to the Atlantic Records chief Ahmet Ertegun. Mr. Bonham said after that 2007 performance it was difficult to walk away from his musical heritage.
He recalled: ?One thing my mom was worried about, she said, ?Will you be able to handle it if it?s only one show?? At the time, I was like, ?Yeah, yeah, it?d just be great, just doing it once with them.? But obviously, in hindsight, she kind of saw it.?
Mr. Bonham said his ?Led Zeppelin Experience? concerts would take their inspiration from shows like ?Rain,? a long-running tribute to the Beatles that mixes multimedia and historical films with live performances of the band?s music.
?The last thing I want to do is go on stage wearing wigs and replicating the past,? he said. ?I?d rather go on there and perform the music to our best ability, and set the mood by using images from then of Dad and me. Fingers crossed that by the time people see it, I will have definitely ironed out any problems.?
Mr. Bonham said he had not yet approached the surviving members of Led Zeppelin about their possible participation.
?I really wasn?t going to speak to them until I figured out, down to every detail and how I want this to be seen,? he said.
?Of course, I would love to have them involved,? Mr. Bonham added. ?I had the time of my life working with them in that six weeks up to the O2 show, and to have been part of that, just for that moment.?
Asked which of his father?s songs he was most looking forward to playing again ? because how can you not ask about this? ? Mr. Bonham cited ?Kashmir? from ?Physical Graffiti.?
?The simplistic part of it,? he said, ?just to even try to get it somewhat close or right, it?s not what you do, it?s what you don?t do. A lot of the things with dad were like that. It was the simplicity. Think of ?When the Levee Breaks,? when it starts. It?s such a simple pattern, but try playing that beat ? half the time, it never sounds anything like the way he did it.?
?He really was a phenomenal player,? Mr. Bonham said. ?He really was the man.?
