“THE MUSIC OF LED ZEPPELIN: A ROCK SYMPHONY” PERFORMED BY THE LAS VEGAS PHILHARMONIC AT THE
THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT THE PLANET HOLLYWOOD RESORT & CASINO SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 2008
Las Vegas, NV
(February 25, 2008) -Bridging the gulf between rock n’ roll and classical music, The Las Vegas Philharmonic will perform
The Music of Led Zeppelin at the Theatre for the Performing Arts at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on Saturday,
March 29 at 8:00pm.
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.
“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,” says 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,” says
Havens.
Why the music of Led Zeppelin? Havens felt Led Zeppelin’s intricate rhythm patterns and unusual progressions
contained within straight-forward rock n’ roll makes them an ideal choice for scoring.
“I was quite impressed
with the complexity of the rhythms,” says 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 2-plus hour concert features
18 Zeppelin tunes, including Stairway to Heaven, Heartbreaker, Black Dog and Immigrant Song.
“On Immigrant Song
I have the violins doing that ‘Ah-ah-ah part,’ up an octave from Jackson, and the French Horns are doing it with
him in the same register,” says Havens. “Then we have the brass kickin’ in the back, doing the accents.
It rips.”
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.” Classical musicians also enjoy the change of pace; “In one concert, during
Stairway to Heaven, the entire string section pulled out Bic lighters!” laughs Havens.
TICKETS ON-SALE NOW
Tickets priced at $65.00, $45.00 and $25.00 and a limited number of VIP tickets (includes a complementary CD) priced
at $100.00 are available at www.livenation.com, www.planethollywood.com, Planet Hollywood Box Office, and at all Ticketmaster
outlets.
To charge by phone call Ticketmaster at(702) 474-4000. All dates, acts, and ticket prices are subject to
change without notice. All tickets are subject to applicable taxes, and service and handling charges. For more show information,
check out
www.livenation.com .