Review Summary: A tribute band that neither plays Zeppelin note for note nor does it distort the originals beyond recognition.
Even for professionals, good professionals, that has to be a daunting task. And then, there is the main question - why? If you got the originals, why re-record that stuff unless you are doing some kind of a variation and/or re-interpretation? You either have to be really good or crazy to embark on such a project.
So here come In the Light of Led Zeppelin, giving instantly the sign where they are coming from with their “Pompeii Sessions”, recorded live in Pompano Florida, the closest they could get to Pompeii, Italy, I guess, and the first thing that comes up is simple skepticism.
Initially, it is not much alleviated with the fact that it is led by a true professional, Antonio Bolet, who actually has two Grammy nominations under his belt. The rest of the musicians’ names might not be familiar to most - we get two physicians, a lawyer, a UX architect, and a financial advisor. Oh, and with here women in the band, they certainly do not look like the original Zeppelin on stage.
So, after all, what do we get? A strange experience, for sure. The moment “Dancing Days” open, you realize the band not only knows their Zeppelin but know how to play Zeppelin material. Of course, they themselves immediately knew that it is almost impossible to replicate Robert Plant’s voice, so they abandoned the idea of the singer Scott Board trying to be Plant (although him and Bolet wit the way they look could pass as Plant and Page), although he has a good voice and a good vocal range.
What is also immediately clear is that In the Light, go for the middle approach - neither trying to do exact note for note replicas nor trying to distort originals almost beyond recognition. What they do is try to infuse the originals with varying musical elements that would possibly shed a new light on the Zeppelin material, just as picking up a pair of old glasses and clearing them with some special newly invented fluids. In that respect, their rendition of “Battle of Evermore” truly shines. They themselves say that their inspiration comes from the manner in which Page and Plant themselves re-invented their material during the Nineties, particularly with the MTV Unplugged sessions.
In the end, we get Zeppelin renditions that serve as a reminder of the great music that band made, but that also does not degrade but do justice to that material. What In the Light made me fro is dig out all the Zeppelin albums I have, including Page & Plant “No Quarter” project and go through them in succession. In the end, that is probably the key point with projects like these, and this one made its point.
