THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 12, 1995 TAG: 9506120040
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Music Review
SOURCE: BY MARK MOBLEY, MUSIC CRITIC
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
If there's a trombone in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now - it's just the Symphony with Zeppelin.
Sunday at the Virginia Beach Pavilion, the Virginia Symphony rocked as hard as it ever has. Local rock musicians joined the orchestra for 90 minutes of Led Zeppelin songs, in new arrangements by Virginia Beach film composer and conductor Brent Havens. Despite the grumblings of some Zeppelin fundamentalists, this exuberant show demonstrated the musical values that make classic rock classic.
The gulf between most rock and what orchestras do is tremendous. But Zeppelin's music - much of it older than the youngest Virginia Symphony members - has an unusually sophisticated sound that lends itself well to symphonic treatment.
Havens, whose credits include TV and film work, used the orchestra judiciously to fill out the string, wind and electronic parts of the original songs. As might have been expected, the heavy and orchestral song ``Kashmir'' slammed. And ``Black Dog'' sounded giddy with its fast licks spread out over the big orchestra. Guitarist Tom Jones, bass player Dan Clemons and especially drummer Mike Trimble were solid.
Tony Elliott had the thankless task of singing. Short of time travel or sampling a seagull, Robert Plant's keening, guitarlike voice is virtually impossible to duplicate - especially for an audience with the records memorized. Elliott sounded a bit fried by the time ``Stairway to Heaven'' arrived, and he took some phrases down an octave. But he also had a sense of style and was persuasive in the ballads.
The Pavilion Theater was too small for the sound generated by the amplified band and orchestra. In a larger hall they could have opened up even more.
The mood was festive. The only folks in tuxedos were the FM99 morning team, Tommy and The Bull, who introduced the show. The orchestra wore tie-dye and sunglasses, and performed in front of an old-fashioned psychedelic display of films and plasma-like lights.
Audience members screamed out requests, a game that eventually encouraged the worst in the stupid and mean. A woman down front yelled, ``Bring out Robert Plant.'' Elliott then sang ``I'm Gonna Crawl'' beautifully, and that was the best revenge. by CNB