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Zoso Brings Down The Hammer of the Gods

by Meg Moynihan

A good cover band is a hard thing to find: for every satisfied American English fan, there are ten unhappy people who bought Radiohead Goes Reggae. Indeed, most modern renditions of classic songs do little more than make listeners inquire why music that was successful the first time around should ever be re-tooled in such a way as to potentially corrupt it.

In the case of premier Led Zeppelin tribute band Zoso, listeners can identify numerous possible answers to this question. Their show allows those who saw the real thing to relive the band's glory days; it gives a new, younger generation of fans something besides the albums to fuel their appreciation; and - perhaps most important - it provides four trained musicians with the perfect vehicle for their own love of all that is Led Zeppelin. Each of these elements should be well-represented when the band brings its self-proclaimed "Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience" Thursday, September 16 to Sidetracks.

With more than fourteen-hundred shows under their belts, Zoso - named for a symbol on the cover of Zeppelin's untitled fourth album - actually has a more extensive touring history than Led Zeppelin themselves. Originally formed in Los Angeles in 1995, Zoso spent the last nine years crisscrossing the United States with occasional stops in Canada. The size and scope of their tours has steadily increased since they began playing small clubs throughout the Southwest - a permanence that can be attributed to their emphasis on accuracy and their attention to detail.

Each member (Matt Jernigan as singer Robert Plant, John McDaniel as guitarist Jimmy Page, Adam Sandling as bassist John Paul Jones, and Greg Thompson as drummer John Bonham) reputedly studied what limited footage exists of Led Zeppelin's own concerts - particularly The Song Remains the Same, a film of the band's famous 1976 Madison Square Garden show - in an effort to mimic individual mannerisms as closely as possible. Consequently, their transformation on stage is complete, extending beyond the musical to encompass the physical and the stylistic. In addition to their 1974-era costumes, which make no attempt to downplay the absurdity of the group's original clothing, Jernigan has perfected the Robert Plant strut, and Thompson's facial hair is as obfuscating as that of his alter ego ever was.

Furthermore, Zoso retains the same ostentatious onstage flourishes that originally led to widespread critical dismissal of Led Zeppelin as puerile and derivative: McDaniel uses a violin bow to play the strings of his double-necked guitar, while Thompson indulges in that ubiquitous hallmark of 1970s hard rock, the drum solo. Such a refusal to omit even those elements of an original Zeppelin show that may seem silly to a 2004 audience is further proof of their devotion to authenticity.

This is not the only manner in which their show is customized specifically for diehard fans. Though set lists always contain a host of Led Zeppelin standards - "Immigrant Song," "Rock 'n' Roll," "Over the Hills and Far Away," and, of course, "Stairway to Heaven" - the band also makes it a point to include more obscure material, like the box set-only "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do," and alternate versions of well-known songs.

That the members of Zoso are able to alternate between Zeppelin's hard rock songs and their softer, more folk- and blues-influenced material confirms that straight passion is only one factor in their success. Everyone in Zoso is professionally trained, and, prior to involvement in the tribute band, two of the members were in an original group that rose to minor prominence within the L.A. music scene. It is ostensibly this fusion of enthusiasm with perfectionism that led the L.A.-based Rock City News to dub them "the best tribute act in California."

In spite of this, the fact that Zoso's entire act consists of imitating someone else's music makes it easy to ignore the technical side, in much the same way that the open-necked velour shirts and golden, flowing manes often distracted from the musical virtuosity of rock's original hair band. This tension between talent and showmanship alludes to a paradox that helped define Led Zeppelin's career: their ability to achieve commercial success in spite of the condemnation of the popular music press (Rolling Stone destroyed each of the nine studio albums they released prior to John Bonham's death in 1980) and the apathy of top-forty radio (despite their enduring popularity on modern hard-rock stations, only "Whole Lotta Love" ever made the Top Ten).

Historical details aside, what comes through more than anything else is that Zoso's show is the product of a genuine and deep-seated love for rock and for Led Zeppelin, whom Jernigan routinely identifies as "the best hard-rock group ever." The enduring relevance of this message is undeniable, as the band estimates that most audiences are divided nearly equally between baby boomers and college students, who flock from across the country to see their heroes impersonated down to the last pelvic thrust. In the end, imitation is indeed the highest form of flattery.