Letz Zep is recognized as the top Led Zeppelin tribute band in the world. Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant attended one of their gigs in London and told Q Magazine, “I walked in, I saw me” and that “it’s like watching myself on stage.” The band covers the entire Led Zeppelin back catalog, including such classics as “Kashmir,” “Whole Lotta Love” and of course “Stairway to Heaven.” Ticketmaster described the band as “The Most Popular” and “The Most Highly Rated” Led Zeppelin tribute band around.
Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page invited the members of Letz Zep to the official launches of the “Mothership” CD and “The Song Remains the Same” DVD. Kerrang! Magazine described Letz Zep as “Better than a Led Zeppelin reunion.” The band received the “Best Tribute Band” award at the National Tribute Music Awards. They were featured in numerous magazines and television shows, including BBC’s “The Culture Show” and “Classic Rock.” Letz Zep is Billy Kulke on vocals, Andy Gray on guitar, Jack Lonergan on bass and keyboards and Pete Tulloch on drums. The band is to perform in Tel Aviv’s Barby club on February 28, 2023. Tickets cost NIS2199 and are available from Raven Music.
A few months ago, Dream Theater played to 100,000 fans at Rock in Rio. On Saturday night in Tel Aviv they played to fewer than a tenth of that number. But what the fans lacked in quantity they more than made up for in quality. People were wearing t-shirts running the gamut of Dream Theater’s previous four trips to Israel.
When vocalist James LaBrie addressed the crowd, it felt almost like a family reunion. “It is so nice to be back,” he said. “How long has it been? Four years? But now we’re back together. It is so nice to be back together.”
The unspoken message throughout the evening was that we’re all back together, and Dream Theater has a new album, despite COVID-19 (or perhaps because of the pandemic). A year ago, it would have been unthinkable to have thousands of people crammed together into Hangar 11 for a concert. And without the pandemic, Dream Theater would have continued touring their previous album, and would not have written and recorded “A View from the Top of the World.”
The concert kicked off with the band’s Emmy-winning song, “The Alien.” The song as a 17/8 time signature, and guitarist John Petrucci said in his award acceptance speech that it was impossible to dance to, but that did not deter a few young men standing behind me from stomping around (and crashing into quite a few others around them). An almost 10-minute song is an ambitious way to start a show, but that is what this crowd was here for.
Each song was accompanied by an epic video presentation, shown on the giant screen behind the band. This gave the impression that they were playing on alien landscapes, or above a hot air balloon, or in the depths of the sea.
The band launched immediately into “Six O’Clock” accompanied to a backdrop of clocks — most, but not all, going clockwise. Then came the live debut of “Sleeping Giant” off the new album, followed by “Bridges in the Sky.”
They played “Caught in a Web for the first time since 2015, accompanied by images of crawling spiders and webs (not ideal for anyone in the audience suffering from arachnophobia).
They performed four of the seven songs off the new album, including “Answering the Call,” followed by “Solitary Shell,” which they haven’t played live since 2010. Digging even deeper into their back catalog, they brought out two songs that haven’t been on stage since 2006, “About to Crash” and “Losing Time/Grand Finale.”
Finally, they got to a song that everyone knew and could sing along with — “Pull Me Under.” The lyrics seemed very poignant for a band and audience recovering from the trauma of lockdowns:
This world is spinning around me
This world is spinning without me and
Every day sends future to past
Every breath leaves me one less to my last
…
Pull me under
Pull me under
Pull me under, I’m not afraid
All that I feel is honor and spite
All I can do is to set it right
As LaBrie said, “Music is magic because it brings everyone together.”
Finally, they ended the set with the epic, 20-minute “A View From the Top of the World” — the final song on the new album.
After leaving the stage, they then came back for a 20-minute encore with “The Count of Tuscany.”
Almost two and a half hours of show, 12 songs, great show.
Nick Johnston, the Canadian guitar master, gave a masterclass in Tel Aviv on Friday afternoon.
The even was sponsored by Wild Guitars and it was a packed full house.
Johnston came on, asked everyone to first cheer and then boo him which he recorded for a mini-documentary he is making. He asked what we think of his mustache. The answer was not the resounding positivity perhaps he had been hoping for.
He played a couple of songs on a red signature Schecter Nick Johnston Traditional HSS (basically a Strat shape but with a humbucker in the bridge position).
Then he answered questions. He even offered a sweaty, used pick to the person who asked the first question.
Nick Johnston performing “Remarkably Human in Tel Aviv”
We learned about his biggest inspiration — the boy who moved in to the house next door when Johnston was 13 and the neighbor was 14. We learned about the order he creates album titles, song titles and album art (in that order).
The question answer of the day was to the question, “Can I jam with you?” (“No!”).
The longest answer was about chromatics. The tl:dr version is that it is either all about intervals or just chucking in some extra notes to fill up the space between notes.
Who does Johnston consider is the best chromatic guitar player in the world? Brett Garsed (an Australian guitarist I had never heard of before).
What does Johnston like best about Israel? He thinks we have the best beach in the world.
Nick Johnston in Tel Aviv, 2022
Nick grew up on all the Shrapnel bands I heard back in the 80s, but he was listening to them in the 90s (because he is only 35). This allowed him to develop his “orchestral” style with beautiful sonic lines interspersed with lightning fast runs.
How does he compose music? It all starts at the piano. He locks the guitar up in a cage until the melodic outline of the song is composed. Because if he would compose on the guitar, it would be all shred and no music.
Why did he stop using the whammy bar a few years ago? Because he became too reliant on it (also because he beat up his hands on it a lot). Why did he start using it again recently? Because it is so much fun. Also, the Schechter non-locking tremolo that stays in tune is just amazing.
How does he do the legato runs but make them sound so percussive? Partly because he is left-handed. Partly because he practiced eight hours a day for 20 years. Also, by resting the fleshy part of his right hand lightly on the strings.
It was a great afternoon of music and conversation from Nick Johnston. And the main comment I heard afterwards was, “He is such a nice guy.”
If you ever get the chance to join him in a master class you totally should.
Swedish prog-rockers end Imperial European Tour 2022 with phenomenal Israel gig
Soen, the Swedish supergroup, ended the first leg of their 2022 European tour on May 29 at the Havana Club in Tel Aviv. The band ended in style with a phenomenal show playing to a packed crowd who were clearly hungry for music after a two-year covid drought.
As the lights dimmed, the band walked onstage. Lead guitarist Cody Lee Ford looked like everything Russel Brand dreamed of being; rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Lars Åhlund looked like Thor wielding a Gibson Firebird (except when he switched it for a Flying V); bassist Oleksii Kobel is new to the band, but he fit right in, trading jokes and licks with the others while whipping his incredible dreadlocks. Drummer (and founding member) Martín López began beating out his polyrhythms and the band kicked off with “Monarch.” Vocalist Joel Ekelöf then came onstage looking not unlike Rob Halford (though later he switched the leather jacket for his more traditional dark blazer).
In terms of musical ability there is no question that the five band members are all at the top of their game. The musicians all come from extreme metal backgrounds but their sound is far from being merely fast riffs and growls. Lopez once described their heavy prog-rock sound as, “melodic, heavy, intricate and very different than everything else” and it is difficult to come up with a better description. They appear to have outgrown and evolved from their earlier days when they were dismissed as clones of Tool (in the past, Soen said that, they consider Tool, “not only a band, but a genre.”
This tour is in support of Soen’s latest album, “Imperial” which was released way back in January, 2021. The songs move effortlessly from heavy riffs to hammond keyboard block chords, to shimmering, echo-laden arpeggios to a sound verging on Southern blues rock. There is no screaming from Ekelöf, but rather his vocal style is controlled, versatile, and his range is quite impressive.
“Israel is a land of mystery,” Ekelöf said. “And the biggest mystery is how do you make that hummus so f&@#ing great.”
The hundreds of fans who ventured out on a hot and steamy Tel Aviv night joined in with every line of every song. Almost every song title is a single word, but the lyrics are complex, long and meaningful.
For me, one of the highlights was the opening of “Savia” when Kobel’s bass took the lead. The band as a whole were incredibly tight, the harmonies were perfect, and Åhlund moved seamlessly from the front of the stage to the back as he switched from guitar to keyboards (with a little bit of bongos for good measure).
Even after the encores of Lascivious, Sectarian and Lotus, and even though it was well past midnight, the crowd did not want to leave.
“This is such a wonderful end to our tour,” Ekelöf told the crowd. “There’s going to be more visits in the future. I promise you that.”
And it was clear that Tel Aviv looks forward to seeing the band on their next time through the city.
Before Soen took to the stage, Israeli band Artland kicked things off with their multimedia, melodic shredfest. The three guitarists, bassist and drummer, all originally from the former Soviet Union, showed off their phenomenal technical skills which were the equal of any international band. I look forward to one day seeing them share their melodies and textures, over complex rhythmic structures as a headline act.
The concert was put on by Progstage Productions. Since 2012, Progstage have brought over 120 international artists to Israel. Over the next few months, Progstage will also bring Alestorm, Arch Enemy and Three Days Grace to the Holy Land.
Adam Levine considers himself Jewish. According to Wikipedia, ” Levine’s father and maternal grandfather were Jewish, while his maternal grandmother was a Protestant.”
From 2011 to 2019, Levine was a judge on the TV Show, The Voice.
Coral Bismuth, an Israeli street performer, will open for the band after Adam spotted her from his hotel.
Levine and the band toured Jerusalem on May 8th and were photographed at the Western Wall.
Band vocalist Mikko Kotamäki said band members were struck by the vibrancy of the Israeli heavy metal scene when they first performed in the country 12 years ago.
“We had never been in that part of the world before. It was amazing,” said Kotamäki. “We didn’t know that the metal scene was so good. I remember the first show – we were really blown away by what a great experience that was.”
The band are touring to promote their latest album, “Moonflowers.”
Click here to see the setlist from the European leg of their tour.
Tickets cost NIS 215 and are available from Raven Metal
