Columbus Symphony to Perform THE MUSIC OF LED ZEPPELIN, 7/7

The Columbus Symphony will perform The Music of Led Zeppelin at the Columbus Bicentennial Pavilion on July 7. Amplified by a full rock band and accompanied by singer Randy Jackson’s screaming vocals, creator Brent Havens guest conducts the ensemble as they capture Led Zeppelin’s “sheer blast and power” riff-for-riff while churning out new musical colors.

The 2012 Nationwide Insurance Picnic with the Pops presents The Music of Led Zeppelin at the Columbus Bicentennial Pavilion in the Columbus Commons (160 S. High St.) on Saturday, July 7, at 8pm. Tickets are $23 for adults when purchased in advance by phone at 614.228.8600, online at www.PicnicWithThePops.com, or in person at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office (39 E. State St.). Adult tickets are $25 at the gate on the night of the show. Tickets for children ages 3-14 are always $8 regardless of when or where they are purchased. Children 2 and under are free.

Central Ohio Kroger Ticketmaster locations will offer Picnic with the Pops tickets at a discounted price of $20 for adults. The $8 children’s tickets are also available for purchase at these locations.

“My concept for The Music of Led Zeppelin was to take the music as close to the originals as we could and then add some colors to enhance what Zep had done,” said Havens. “The wonderful thing with an orchestra is that you have an entire palette to call upon. The band is reproducing what Led Zeppelin did on the albums, verbatim, and then having an orchestra behind the band gives the music a richness, a whole different feel, a whole different sense of power.”

Delivering a note-for-note interpretation, vocalist Randy Jackson (lead singer of the rock band Zebra) shrieks brilliantly, acting as a window between the audience and reworked material. “The music itself is one thing, but Jackson more than captures the spirit of legendary Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant,” said Havens.

Why the music of Led Zeppelin? Havens felt the intricate rhythm patterns and unusual progressions contained within their straight-forward rock ‘n’ roll makes them an ideal choice for scoring.

“I was quite impressed with the complexity of the rhythms,” said Havens. “I’ve asked myself if they actually sat down and said, ‘alright we need a three-eight bar here, or we need to go from four-four to seven-eight and back…’ I don’t think so. I think they just banged it out and it worked and it felt good.”

The two-plus hour concert features 18 Zeppelin tunes, including “Stairway to Heaven,” “Heartbreaker,” “Black Dog,” and “Immigrant Song.”

The symphonic rock hybrid has met with approval on both sides of the podium.

“When we first came on stage, the audience gave us polite, almost classical applause,” says Havens. “Then we hit the first note and they realized it was a rock show.”