![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/zep2c.jpg\")
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Recently, I traveled to Charlotte NC to take in a concert that I considered a double bill: tribute bands Led Zeppelin 2<\/strong> and The Australian Pink Floyd Show<\/strong>. Both put on superb shows that brought the amphitheater crowd to its feet. Before the show started, I enjoyed a few minutes backstage in conversation with Led Zeppelin 2’s guitarist, Paul Kamp<\/strong>. We talked about the group’s approach to material, how they do it, why they do it, and how it all fits into the bigger picture.<\/p>\n Chicago-based tribute band Led Zeppelin 2 grew out of a power trio called Busker Soundcheck<\/strong>; the band actually got started over ten years ago. But at that stage, \u201cIt was only a Halloween thing,\u201d says Kamp. \u201cWe would play once a year, maybe. And one time we didn’t even play at all for two years. It was a very loose thing; we didn’t even have a name. We were just ‘those guys that play those Led Zeppelin songs.’\u201d<\/p>\n A local club owner in Chicago wanted to book them, but he told the group, \u201cI don’t want it to be on Halloween.\u201d So they booked a Saturday night, and it was a rousing success.<\/p>\n Those who heard the unnamed group liked what they heard, and encouraged the band to take things more seriously. So Kamp and his bandmates did just that. \u201cThe very first time that we went on the road to Houston, it was a real eye opener,\u201d Kamp recalls. \u201cIt was an 1800-seat venue \u2013 we had never<\/em> played in Houston before \u2013 and the place sold out! We don’t even know how people heard about us, because there are other Led Zeppelin tribute bands, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Drummer Ian Lee<\/strong> and bassist\/keyboardist Matthew Longbons<\/strong> are relatively new to the group, but vocalist Bruce Lamont<\/strong> is, along with Kamp, a founding member of Led Zeppelin 2. And in addition to getting the sound right, the group pays attention to the gear they use onstage. \u201cVisually, a Gibson Les Paul works the best,\u201d admits Kamp. “Sonically, it works the best, too. And you need to have that double neck guitar to play ‘Thank You.’ And then you need it for \u201cStairway to Heaven.’ And then<\/em> you realize you need it for ‘The Song Remains the Same,’ and ‘The Rain Song,’ and so on. Sometimes,\u201d he laughs, \u201cI’ll just pick up that guitar and play it, because it’s pretty cool.\u201d Kamp uses vintage 1970s-era Marshall amplifiers \u201cbecause I think they sound the best. Not necessarily just because Jimmy Page<\/strong> used them.\u201d<\/p>\n The group draws upon all available resources to inform their performances of the classic Led Zeppelin catalog. \u201cWe listen to every recording of a song that we can get our hands on,\u201d Kamp says. \u201cWe do some of the songs close to the studio recordings. But even when we’re playing the notes close to the recordings, I think that you’ll find that the dynamics are more like a live rock’n’roll band.\u201d He notes that their version of \u201cThank You\u201d is \u201csimilar to the version that was on the BBC recordings. We do our own thing with sections of it, but we try to capture the tones and the highlights of all the riffs.\u201d<\/p>\n That approach keeps them connected to their audience. \u201cSometimes we think, ‘We’ve been flying by the seat of our pant for five minutes,’\u201d Kamp says, \u201c’And we’d better pull it back together so that the audience can feel pulled back together.’ And then you can see it on their faces: ‘Wow, I wasn’t expecting this!’\u201d<\/p>\n Not every Led Zeppelin song is right for a show. \u201cThe only Zeppelin song that we just don’t like playing is ‘Fool in the Rain.’ Great drum part, okay vocal part. The guitar riff is \u2013 meh \u2013 it’s okay. The solo is cool. People like it. But it’s just one that we played four or five times.\u201d The Song Remains the Same<\/em>‘s \u201cD’yer Maker\u201d is another iffy one for the band. \u201cIt’s super popular, and it goes over really well,\u201d Kamp concedes. \u201cBut we personally just don’t like playing it.\u201d On the other hand, deep cuts like \u201cHats Off (To Roy Harper)\u201d is a band favorite. \u201cWe’ve played every song on Presence<\/em> except ‘Tea for One,’ but we cop little licks from that, and throw them into other songs.\u201d All in all, the foursome balances their set with hits and a few less well-known numbers, and in the process they please concertgoers who want an experience that feels like a 1970s-era Led Zeppelin concert.<\/p>\n Even though Led Zeppelin 2 is a popular draw on the concert circuit \u2013 the band stays busy \u2013 it’s not an all-consuming endeavor for Kamp and his bandmates. \u201cMy wife and I have four companies, and we have three kids,\u201d he says. When he has spare time at home, Kamp still comes up with riffs and original songs that might \u2013 at some undefined point in the future \u2013 find their way onto a recording.<\/p>\n Kamp is driven to do what he does by a simple and straightforward motivation. \u201cRobert Plant<\/strong> once said that music is supposed to be about people having a good time and celebrating. There’s some kind of magical appeal that Led Zeppelin has. But I think that it goes through Led Zeppelin, Muddy Waters<\/strong>, John Lee Hooker<\/strong>, Willie Dixon<\/strong>, Howlin’ Wolf<\/strong>, Buddy Guy<\/strong> and Junior Wells<\/strong>. Right down south to the old acoustic Delta blues. And that music came from another continent where drums and music were about celebration. They represented memories of things and people, and rejuvenation.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have said this to me many times: ‘I’ve worked all week, and my friend dragged me along to this show. I thought it was gonna suck! But you were really good! I’ve got to admit, I had a really good time!’ And,\u201d Paul Kamp smiles as he picks up his guitar to take the stage, \u201cthat’s the best possible kind of reaction we can get.\u201d<\/p>\n Follow \u201cthe_musoscribe\u201d on <\/a> Recently, I traveled to Charlotte NC to take in a concert that I considered a double bill: tribute bands Led Zeppelin 2 and The Australian Pink Floyd Show. Both put […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,44,62],"tags":[1299,1300,1661],"class_list":["post-8509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-live-shows","category-rawk","tag-led-zeppelin","tag-led-zeppelin-2","tag-paul-kamp","cat-41-id","cat-44-id","cat-62-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8509"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8956,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8509\/revisions\/8956"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/zep2a.jpg\")
<\/center>As soon as they went national, Led Zeppelin 2 was drawing big numbers for their shows. \u201cThere still are some towns where the crowds are pretty small,\u201d Kamp says with a sly grin, but those are becoming fewer and farther apart these days.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/zep2b.jpg\")
<\/center>As needed, the band makes some practical compromises to fit the music into a shorter set, such as the hour-long opening set they delivered this night in Charlotte before headliners The Australian Pink Floyd Show took the stage. \u201c’Dazed and Confused’ is twenty-eight minutes long in The Song Remains the Same<\/em> version,\u201d Kamp laughs. \u201cAnd there are many other [recorded] versions where it’s thirty-three or more. People may have been willing to sit through the real Led Zeppelin doing that, but honestly, I’m not sure even I<\/em> want to hear a thirty-three minute version!\u201d Onstage, Led Zeppelin 2 manages to distill the essence of Zep’s songs into more compact readings; their version of \u201cMoby Dick\u201d \u2013 complete with obligatory drum solo \u2013 is quite satisfying even in a six-minute arrangement.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/icon_twitter_small.jpg\"){kind=icon}
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