Lez Zeppelin at Cohoes Music Hall – January 10
Lez Zeppelin played an incredible high-energy two-and-a-half hour set, performing Led Zeppelin’s brilliant zenith album Physical Graffiti in its entirety (commemorating the album’s 50th anniversary) and some choice Led Zep classics Friday night January 10, 2025 at the Cohoes Music Hall in Cohoes, New York.
Of all the Led Zeppelin tribute bands out there, Lez Zeppelin has something unique. I don’t mean the gimmick of an all-female band, which may get some people coming in to see them, I mean the shear talent and musicianship to pull off an incredible show honoring one of the greatest rock bands of all time, which the band has been doing for over the past twenty years since 2004. Band founder and guitarist Steph Paynes not only played with Jimmy Page’s vibe, energy, and swagger, but has somehow discovered the secret to how to replicate Page’s unique aggressive, slapdash, blues rock guitar intensity. She enlisted the same guitars (I counted six), guitar tone, and amp sound Page used. Vocalist Dana Athens hit those crazy high Robert Plant vocal notes with vigor, verve, and vengeance while she sneered, strutted, and struck poses throughout the night’s performance. Keyboard player and bassist Joan Chew played with incredible dexterity on those intricate and groovy John Paul Jones bass lines and keyboard phrasings (when on keyboard she simultaneously played the bass pedals with her feet!). Chew had all the various keyboard sounds zeroed in and played them faithfully to the record, yet added her own flare and style. Replicating John Bonham’s drumming is an impossible feat, yet drummer Hillary Blaze was certainly up to the task, providing a solid foundation. She was fired-up and tuned into her fellow bandmates, especially during Bonzo’s intricate tempo changes, purposeful pauses, and offbeats that appear throughout the album tracks.
The band had the crowd spellbound from Paynes’ first opening guitar riff of “Custard Pie,” as the band came in and Athens sang out “Ewww, yeah!” in classic Robert Plant style. Although the background screen flashed images, it was not necessary, as all eyes were transfixed on the electric energy of these talented musicians on stage pulsating power, precision, and pulchritude. After Paynes blasted in with a spot-on guitar solo channeling Page’s sound and fury, Athens surreptitiously produced a harmonica from her back pocket, blowing out harp parts in between the classic Plant adlib “Drop down!” The stunned crowd erupted at the song’s end, as drummer Blaze thumped in the beginning of “The Rover.” Singer Athens had the audience in the palm of her hand as she nailed the vocals. When she offered up the “If we could just join hands” lines, many patrons in the front row spontaneously reached out to her. After these two high intensity juggernauts, Chew had to hang up her overcoat, while Paynes changed guitars, wielding a black and white axe and playing slide on “In My Time Of Dying,” the band locked in on all the poignant pauses for quite an emotional performance. It was back to the Les Paul for “Houses of the Holy,” which had some audience members dancing in the aisles and those of us still seated shaking and nodding our heads and tapping our feet. Chew moved to the keyboard, plunking out the funky intro to “Trampled Under Foot,” the band crashed in and Athens gave a powerful vocal performance with both charisma and conviction. Afterward came the tour-de-force “Kashmir,” one of Led Zeppelin’s finest songs, which the band played dynamically, as well as slightly slower and murkier. As if mesmerized by the song’s power, Paynes drifted to the other side of the stage, holding her guitar adrift and eventually over her head. The song received such a loud, long round of applause that Athens acknowledged, “You guys are an amazing crowd.”
With half the album performed, side three provided a bit of an interlude. Chew set the haunting tone with the keyboard intro to the sublime “In the Light,” which only intensified when Paynes and Athens sang harmony on the opening verse. The well-rehearsed band replicated all the intricate changes and paces of the song. For the eloquent “Bron-Yr-Aur,” a stool and acoustic guitar were brought out, and Paynes conveyed her guitar playing prowess, a single light shining down on her for the night’s most intimate moment. “Down By The Seaside” followed and the band deftly handled its complex transitions, then Chew returned to her bass on “Ten Years Gone,” for a band performance that not only produced favorable reactions from the crowd but also smiles on the faces of the musicians on stage when they were able to commune and connect so precisely as a unit. It was indeed one of many highlights of the night. The band did not let up, and Athens belted out “Night Flight” as if she still had something to prove. The offbeat, riff-heavy “The Wanton Song” was another highlight, which received a rousing round of applause for how well it was executed. The usually taciturn Paynes, stepped up to the mic and stately wryly, “Now comes the weird part of the album. The songs the band never played live,” before the jangly impromptu band jam tune “Boogie With Stu” (a song loosely based on Ritchie Valen’s “Ooh My Head” from a studio session Led Zeppelin had with Rolling Stone keyboardist Ian Stewart), at the end of which drummer Blaze tossed her sticks. The band seemed to enjoy the final two tracks, “Black Country Woman” (which seemed to produce a smile and a sign from Paynes) and “Sick Again,” albeit maybe because they knew the end was nigh. After finishing the album, the band received an uproarious standing ovation, and Paynes announced, “Here’s a special bonus,” and they launched into the recognizable guitar riff to “Bring it on Home,” which segued into “Black Dog,” (with Athens getting the crowd to sing the “Ah Ah” call and response part) and the up tempo “Rock and Roll.” After official bows, the band waved and left the stage, but the boisterous crowd continued to clap, stomp, yell, and scream, prompting the band to come back for a second encore. They kept things at full throttle with “The Immigrant Song” (the audience joining in on the opening wail) and “Communication Breakdown,” before taking a second band bow and exiting stage left.
Lez Zeppelin is not just some run-of-the-mill tribute act, they are all stellar musicians and performers, a powerhouse quartet that captures the ethereal essence, spirit, and seductiveness as well as the crunch, thump, and punch of Led Zeppelin. If you get a chance to see them, don’t hesitate to check them out.
More band and tour information at: https://lezzeppelin.com/
SETLIST:
Custard Pie
The Rover
In My Time of Dying
Houses of the Holy
Trampled Under Foot
Kashmir
In the Light
Bron-Yr-Aur
Down by the Seaside
Ten Years Gone
Night Flight
The Wanton Song
Boogie With Stu
Black Country Woman
Sick Again
ENCORE1:
Bring in on Home (intro) / Black Dog
Rock and Roll
ENCORE2:
Immigrant Song
Communication Breakdown
