Lez Zeppelin at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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by Steven Pisano

20190913-DSC08329(All photos by Steven Pisano.)

Consider, if you will, the following partial description of an object in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which ended this past weekend:

Archtop with F-holes and Venetian cutaway; laminated maple body and neck, rosewood fingerboard; 23½ in. scale; natural finish with white & black double binding, set neck with mother-of-pearl split parallelogram inlays and white binding to fingerboard; mother-of-pearl Gibson headstock logo with crown inlay; two PAF humbucking pickups,…

Sounds pretty fancy, doesn't it? Maybe a rare piece of furniture from a Renaissance craftsman, or a priceless treasure from a European estate?

Hell no! This is how the catalog begins the description of the Gibson ES-350T (ca. 1958) that Chuck Berry strutted on stage with in the late 1950s and early 1960s, playing hits like "Johnny B. Goode."

20190913-DSC09842The exhibition, entitled "Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll," which was produced in collaboration with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, displayed hundreds of instruments, vintage posters, and other objects from rock & roll's past, from the 1950s through today. And not just back to the glory days of Chuck Berry and the like, but through the ensuing decades, including the Beatles, Eric Clapton, Prince, St. Vincent, and many others.

In conjunction with this exhibition, the Met asked the all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band Lez Zeppelin to play a concert in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium.

Like everyone else who was there in the audience that night, I naturally asked myself the same question you're probably wondering right now: A rock & roll show at the Met?

The evening started off slowly, with the kind of discussion you would expect at a world-leading museum. Lead guitarist Steph Paynes discussed an array of electric guitars at the front of the stage, all of them associated with Jimmy Page, as if they were Ming vases or Cellini sculptures. Paynes' respect for the past was palpable, and it was easy to see she was extremely honored to be representing Led Zeppelin at this show. Page himself has seen the group perform and has praised their musicianship.

20190913-DSC08729There were probably some people in the audience, though, who were still a little doubtful. Sure, you can talk about the guitars and the music. But can you play?

Hell yes! Almost immediately, the group showed that they knew Zeppelin's music inside out, and from the first song forward it was a crazy ride for the next couple of hours. I'd even go as far as to say it was the best rock & roll show I have seen so far this year (and there are only a few months still left!). Sure, you can say that they are not playing their own music. And you have to grant that for any tribute band. But what sets Lez Zeppelin apart to me is that they make Jimmy Page's music their own. They play it very faithfully, but they don't play the music pedantically. They play it like it flows right out of them. And at this concert, that meant they kicked ass.

Steph Paynes is a standout guitarist. She knows how to make her instrument wail and moan with real rock and roll power, and she was ably backed up by the rhythm section of Leesa Harrington Squyres on drums and Joan Chew on bass and keys. But the real weight of convincing the audience was clearly on the shoulders of lead singer Marlain Angelides. In the original Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page's guitar (and songwriting, especially during the early years) really set the sound, but it was Robert Plant's screechy vocals that helped establish the origins of heavy metal, even if they were always a league ahead of the hair bands that would follow them in the 1980s. And heavy metal has always been a guys' music, fueled by testosterone, bravado, and lust.

Or at least that's what you may have thought before hearing Angelides belt out songs like "Whole Lotta Love" ("a-way, way deep inside…"), "Kashmir," and "Immigrant Song." The Zepheads sitting near me were on their feet, shouting, with their fists in the air, as if the original band was on stage.

Don't believe me? On December 7, Lez Zeppelin will be playing the entire double-album Physical Graffiti at the Gramercy Theater. Get your tickets here!

20190913-DSC07702More photos can be found here.

24 thoughts on “Lez Zeppelin at the Metropolitan Museum of Art”

  1. Rosemarie Sirois

    Nice! Seen these girls many times! Never disappoint! Great write up and accurate!

  2. Char Halsey

    We were on our feet dancing and singing in celebration of this brilliant group of musicians! Lez Zeppelin has captured not only the flavor of Led Zeppelin’s music, but the ultra sexy vibe that goes hand in hand with the Led Zeppelin Experience! I was fortunate enough to see Led Zeppelin play live in the 70s and I fell in love with them and their music. So, going to hear another group perform the music that is near and dear to my heart took some convincing. As skeptical as others might be I walked into a Lez Zeppelin show in February 2016 to find out for myself what all the busstle in the music industry’s hedgerow was all about. Well, my first reaction was to the electricity that I sensed between the audience and the band. It was palpable! So I settled in to watch and listen. By the end of that first evening I knew that I had stumbled upon great musicianship and incredible energies that was bringing me the sounds of my youth that I loved so well. I have become a Lezhead, and from that first date I have seen this band perform over 70 times and in at least eight different states! I can’t get my fill!! The performance at the MET was as fresh and as exciting for me as was that first show! Bravo Lez Zeppelin! Bravissimo!!

  3. Rosemarie Sirois

    Nice! Seen these girls many times! Never disappoint! Great write up and accurate!

  4. Rosemarie Sirois

    Nice! Seen these girls many times! Never disappoint! Great write up and accurate!

  5. Rosemarie Sirois

    Nice! Seen these girls many times! Never disappoint! Great write up and accurate!

  6. Rosemarie Sirois

    Nice! Seen these girls many times! Never disappoint! Great write up and accurate!

  7. Rosemarie Sirois

    Nice! Seen these girls many times! Never disappoint! Great write up and accurate!

  8. Char Halsey

    We were on our feet dancing and singing in celebration of this brilliant group of musicians! Lez Zeppelin has captured not only the flavor of Led Zeppelin’s music, but the ultra sexy vibe that goes hand in hand with the Led Zeppelin Experience! I was fortunate enough to see Led Zeppelin play live in the 70s and I fell in love with them and their music. So, going to hear another group perform the music that is near and dear to my heart took some convincing. As skeptical as others might be I walked into a Lez Zeppelin show in February 2016 to find out for myself what all the busstle in the music industry’s hedgerow was all about. Well, my first reaction was to the electricity that I sensed between the audience and the band. It was palpable! So I settled in to watch and listen. By the end of that first evening I knew that I had stumbled upon great musicianship and incredible energies that was bringing me the sounds of my youth that I loved so well. I have become a Lezhead, and from that first date I have seen this band perform over 70 times and in at least eight different states! I can’t get my fill!! The performance at the MET was as fresh and as exciting for me as was that first show! Bravo Lez Zeppelin! Bravissimo!!

  9. Char Halsey

    We were on our feet dancing and singing in celebration of this brilliant group of musicians! Lez Zeppelin has captured not only the flavor of Led Zeppelin’s music, but the ultra sexy vibe that goes hand in hand with the Led Zeppelin Experience! I was fortunate enough to see Led Zeppelin play live in the 70s and I fell in love with them and their music. So, going to hear another group perform the music that is near and dear to my heart took some convincing. As skeptical as others might be I walked into a Lez Zeppelin show in February 2016 to find out for myself what all the busstle in the music industry’s hedgerow was all about. Well, my first reaction was to the electricity that I sensed between the audience and the band. It was palpable! So I settled in to watch and listen. By the end of that first evening I knew that I had stumbled upon great musicianship and incredible energies that was bringing me the sounds of my youth that I loved so well. I have become a Lezhead, and from that first date I have seen this band perform over 70 times and in at least eight different states! I can’t get my fill!! The performance at the MET was as fresh and as exciting for me as was that first show! Bravo Lez Zeppelin! Bravissimo!!

  10. Char Halsey

    We were on our feet dancing and singing in celebration of this brilliant group of musicians! Lez Zeppelin has captured not only the flavor of Led Zeppelin’s music, but the ultra sexy vibe that goes hand in hand with the Led Zeppelin Experience! I was fortunate enough to see Led Zeppelin play live in the 70s and I fell in love with them and their music. So, going to hear another group perform the music that is near and dear to my heart took some convincing. As skeptical as others might be I walked into a Lez Zeppelin show in February 2016 to find out for myself what all the busstle in the music industry’s hedgerow was all about. Well, my first reaction was to the electricity that I sensed between the audience and the band. It was palpable! So I settled in to watch and listen. By the end of that first evening I knew that I had stumbled upon great musicianship and incredible energies that was bringing me the sounds of my youth that I loved so well. I have become a Lezhead, and from that first date I have seen this band perform over 70 times and in at least eight different states! I can’t get my fill!! The performance at the MET was as fresh and as exciting for me as was that first show! Bravo Lez Zeppelin! Bravissimo!!

  11. Char Halsey

    We were on our feet dancing and singing in celebration of this brilliant group of musicians! Lez Zeppelin has captured not only the flavor of Led Zeppelin’s music, but the ultra sexy vibe that goes hand in hand with the Led Zeppelin Experience! I was fortunate enough to see Led Zeppelin play live in the 70s and I fell in love with them and their music. So, going to hear another group perform the music that is near and dear to my heart took some convincing. As skeptical as others might be I walked into a Lez Zeppelin show in February 2016 to find out for myself what all the busstle in the music industry’s hedgerow was all about. Well, my first reaction was to the electricity that I sensed between the audience and the band. It was palpable! So I settled in to watch and listen. By the end of that first evening I knew that I had stumbled upon great musicianship and incredible energies that was bringing me the sounds of my youth that I loved so well. I have become a Lezhead, and from that first date I have seen this band perform over 70 times and in at least eight different states! I can’t get my fill!! The performance at the MET was as fresh and as exciting for me as was that first show! Bravo Lez Zeppelin! Bravissimo!!

  12. Char Halsey

    We were on our feet dancing and singing in celebration of this brilliant group of musicians! Lez Zeppelin has captured not only the flavor of Led Zeppelin’s music, but the ultra sexy vibe that goes hand in hand with the Led Zeppelin Experience! I was fortunate enough to see Led Zeppelin play live in the 70s and I fell in love with them and their music. So, going to hear another group perform the music that is near and dear to my heart took some convincing. As skeptical as others might be I walked into a Lez Zeppelin show in February 2016 to find out for myself what all the busstle in the music industry’s hedgerow was all about. Well, my first reaction was to the electricity that I sensed between the audience and the band. It was palpable! So I settled in to watch and listen. By the end of that first evening I knew that I had stumbled upon great musicianship and incredible energies that was bringing me the sounds of my youth that I loved so well. I have become a Lezhead, and from that first date I have seen this band perform over 70 times and in at least eight different states! I can’t get my fill!! The performance at the MET was as fresh and as exciting for me as was that first show! Bravo Lez Zeppelin! Bravissimo!!

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