Led Zeppelin cover band makes for sweet Valentine’s Day

Elvis impersonators move over, Robert Plant (as played by Paul Sinclair) has you all beat. … Elvis impersonators move over, Robert Plant (as played by Paul Sinclair) has you all beat. This Valentine’s Day, Led Zeppelin cover band Get The Led Out gave a grand performance, spanning a solid decade of Zeppelin’s greatest hits. Which, when you get down to it, seem practically endless. Homestead’s Carnegie Music Hall hosted the event, and the Victorian-style architecture of the regal hall and limited 1,022 seats made for a rather intimate setting. The bright-red velvet curtains reminded the audience that it was a lover’s holiday. When those curtains finally split, Get The Led Out started with Zeppelin’s ‘In the Evening’ and ‘Good Times Bad Times,’ from the 1979 album In Through the Out Door and 1969’s Led Zeppelin, respectively. It was a nice mix of classic and later Zeppelin. The rest of the show was somewhat chronological. The band greeted its audience after the introduction and won the crowd over early with a congratulatory nod to the Steelers’ recent Super Bowl win. I noticed immediately that frontman Sinclair has this gig down. He’s got the tight pants, a white silk shirt unbuttoned three-quarters of the way down and flowing ’70s-rocker hair to match. Beyond the look, it’s not hard to tell that he practices all the classic Plant moves in the mirror. That’s what sells it. There’s the flamboyant palm-up limp wrist. The very sexual hands-up-in-the-air-ballerina-looking-pelvic-thrust. And of course, the classic dip and love-making to the microphone stand. But it’s all tied together and done justice because of his voice. Sinclair really captures that Plant wail and seems to hit every note that Plant did on the studio albums. Toward the beginning of the show, there was an emphasis on earlier Zeppelin tracks, such as ‘Ramble On,’ ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ and ‘Dazed and Confused.’ ‘Confused’ was crafted marvelously, with full fog and lighting effects, as well as an enormous gong utilized for the song’s introduction. The climax brimmed with energy when guitarist Paul Hammond whipped out a glow-in-the-dark violin bow to recreate the song’s epic solo. Hammond played Jimmy Page quite well. His long, flowing hair fell over his face during the bow solo, creating the image of a primal figure in the shadows wielding a light saber, as he pulled distorted, demonic noises from his Les Paul guitar. For this, Get The Led Out received its first standing ovation of the night. About 45 minutes in, the concert mellowed out for a bit, transitioning into an acoustic set. The band members all sat down in chairs, recreating the scene from the legendary 1975 Earls Court performance. The music was performed beautifully, but there was one thing that stood out ‘mdash; too many people on stage. Get The Led Out consists of six band members. Hammond and Sinclair were the backbone of the group, just like their counterparts in the real band, accompanied by Paul Piccari on bass. Similar to Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, Piccari mostly stays in the background. Also, there was drummer Adam Ferraioli, who did a similarly good job of pounding the drums like his Zeppelin equivalent John Bonham. These are the four main characters of the cover band, but then they added guitarists Jimmy Marchiano and Andrew Lipke, who did a little bit of everything ‘mdash; from guitars to piano to some minor vocals and percussion. Marchiano stuck out like a sore thumb, with sleeve tattoos, short spiked hair and modern clothing, while Lipke often looked lost. With the smallest role in the group, when he wasn’t performing or switching instruments, he was wandering around behind the main quintet, patting them on the back and nodding his head like some weird groupie. While the extra musicians on stage certainly added to the musical quality of the songs, they also detracted from recreating the ambience of the greatest quartet of rock. There is this stagger in Get The Led Out when it comes to re-enacting a real Zeppelin concert because of the overflow of stage extras moving around so much. But with that said, all the touches they add to the music do not go unnoticed. The acoustic set was followed by songs from the 1973 album Houses of the Holy, which included ‘The Song Remains the Same,’ ‘Rain Song’ and ‘Dyer Maker.’ True to the way Page played it himself, Hammond surprised the audience with his own cherry-colored double neck guitar, a fabled item in the world of Zeppelin lore. ‘Moby Dick’ followed, with Ferraiolo carefully mimicking Bonham’s performance by using just his hands to drum for a portion of the solo. ‘Kashmir’ and ‘Heartbreaker’ were captured wonderfully, with Hammond carefully picking apart every note of Page’s improvised solo from Zeppelin’s live album How the West Was Won. After a few more songs, ‘Blackdog’ included, Get The Led Out said its goodbyes and dimmed the lights. Some older fans raised their lighters in the air, while younger audience members held up their glowing cell phones to encourage an encore. It was a nice contrast of generations, both of which loved Led Zeppelin. The encore started out with a little-known song called ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ with the glorious cherry double-neck guitar appearing once again. But in a disappointing climax, it was Marchiano who played the famous solo, and not the Page-impersonating Hammond with his iconic guitar. The instrument was specifically designed by Page for ‘Stairway,’ and to not utilize its historic splendor was a bit of an outrage to the whole Zeppelin persona. The evening ended on a loud, triumphant ‘Whole Lotta Love’ rendition that rocked the foundation of the old stone music hall. Sinclair graciously thanked the audience and strongly encouraged anyone and everyone to accompany them at the band’s post-concert meet-and-greet. With a final wish of rock star love, Sinclair declared to the audience that, ‘You’re all my valentine tonight!’