They may not come from the land of ice and snow, but The Led Zeppelin Experience is the closest you'll get to seeing the world's greatest rock band perform live.
Formerly known as No Quarter, The Led Zeppelin Experience actually come from Tacoma in Washington, US, and have spent over 15 years keeping the original band's live legacy afloat.
“We want to give the fans the closest experience they can possible have to seeing what Zeppelin was all about and the electricity they created,” says vocalist Michael Anderson who portrays Robert Plant.
“And of course the incredible music because you can't see them anymore and we want to carry the torch and bring that experience to all the people that were not able to see the live Led Zeppelin show.”
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The original Led Zeppelin have rarely performed live together since the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980, the most successful being their 2007 show at O2 Arena with Bonham's son John stepping into his father's shoes.
The Led Zeppelin Experience pride themselves on delivering the most authentic representation not just of Led Zeppelin's music, but also the characters and personalities of each of the band members.
With Michael in the role of enigmatic frontman, he is joined by Bryan Christiansen as wildman guitarist Jimmy Page, Nathan Carroll as drummer John Bonham and Chad McMurray as bassist John Paul Jones.
Not convinced they're the real deal? Well, the real John Paul Jones would highly disagree with you having once told Chad McMurray in person that the accurate resemblance between each of the members and their counterparts is 'scary'.
He also added that as long as they're doing it, the real Led Zeppelin doesn't have to. For Michael, the authenticity of their performance comes from a place of deep passion and a commitment to recreating the music not just note-for-note, but with all the nuances and mannerisms of the Mothership itself.
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“One of the big points for me is watching 'The Song Remains The Same' [1976 concert film] and just studying the [Robert Plant] character and becoming that live in our show,” he says.
“Not only can you hear it – when you close your eyes it sounds like the album – but you can also look and actually see the image they put together as well.
"Outside of myself, we've been very fortunate to have our Jimmy Page, John Bonham and John Paul Jones being dead-on in their character as well, which just gives the overall, wonderful experience.”
This November and December The Led Zeppelin Experience bring their 'Hammer Of The Gods' tour Down Under. They'll drive their ships to our land, to fight the horde, sing and cry – Australia, they are coming.
“Probably three-quarters of the show is delivering the songs like they are on the albums but we also give about 25 per cent of the experience from the live versions,” Michael explains.
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“We do the live versions from the movie 'The Song Remains The Same' – 'Dazed And Confused', which is the masterpiece of Led Zeppelin and Jimmy [Page], and then of course 'Whole Lotta Love' we do the live version from the movie. So we give them both the album experience and the live experience for their ears and eyes.”
The Led Zeppelin Experience Shows
Thu 16 Nov - Chardons Corner Hotel (Brisbane)Fri 17 Nov - Southern Cross Club (Canberra)
Sat 18 Nov - Charles Hotel (Perth)
Thu 23 Nov - The Gov (Adelaide)
Fri 24 Nov - Ettalong Diggers Club (Ettalong Beach)
Sat 25 Nov - Dee Why RSL Club
Sun 26 Nov - Wests (Newcastle)
Wed 29 Nov - Capital Theatre (Bendigo)
Thu 30 Nov - Esso BHP Theatre (Sale)
Fri 1 Dec - Mathews Flinders Hotel (Melbourne)
Sat 2 Dec - Shoppington Hotel (Melbourne)
Thu 7 Dec - Southern Cross Club (Canberra)
Fri 8 Dec - SS&A Club (Albury)
Sat 9 Dec - Revesby Workers Club (Sydney)
