I caught the ladies of Lez Zeppelin a few months ago when they were doing an In Store performance at J&R Music World in celebration of their then new release “Lez Zeppelin I” (my review of can be found by clicking that title).

Artist: Lez Zeppelin
Venue: Circle Line Cruises (New York, NY)
Opener: n/a
Date: 7/15/2011
Label: Pie Records

If I had to think back about when I first heard anything about Lez Zeppelin, I will say that I originally thought that it was on some compilation release that featured all female tribute bands. I ended up being incorrect in that assumption but I am sure that it will come to me eventually about when I first heard them at the craft. Despite this momentary lapse of reason, I did know that the band was good and that a number of my friends liked what they were up to and when I was contacted by a publicist that I deal with very often about doing an album review and checking out their appearance at this year’s Record Store Day at J&R Music World I would be a little more up to speed about them myself. For that gig the band performed acoustically as their drummer was dealing with an injury but I had to say that I really enjoyed the presentation and the sound as well as the brief meet that I had with the band members. Of course I knew that I was not getting the full and proper picture because one of the key appeals about Led Zeppelin music is the pounding drum beats that drive the band forward. My chance to correct this would come with tonight’s adventure as the band was set to embark on a NYC “Rocking The River” cruise and this was connected to the Circle Line Music Cruise in some fashion. The residents of the Big Apple are well aware of the Circle Line as it’s a popular tourist attraction and nowadays we are finding that cruises seem to be very chic for some of the heavy musical hitters as bands like KISS, Queensryche and the “70,000 Tons Of Metal” event that all take place on large scale vessels.

The city was enjoying a very nice day of weather and I had been pre-gaming for the event with my new buddy The Muff from the Finnish Rock band Naked. We made it to the boat just before it left the shores of the Big Apple and set on its course. After a few minutes of pleasantries the girls took to the stage and began to deliver a seriously kick ass show. They would open up with the “Immigrant Song” which had an interesting vibe to it tonight as the boat moved further away from the shores on its path. I had to say that it was great to hear them in this fully electric sense but I will admit that the hard part was in not being able to enjoy the visuals of the city. The band was set up on one side of the boat and there was a slight barrier keeping the attending fans at a bit of a distance. Beyond that everyone was packed in about seven or eight rows of people so once you were in place and enjoying the band from a good spot you would not be wise to move. There was a lot of grooving going on with this now rocking boat and it seemed as though everyone here was a long time fan of what they do. It was easy to see why this was the case as they effortlessly delivered the bands greatest numbers like “The Ocean”, “In My Time Of Dying”, “No Quarter” and many more. There were really too many good tunes to note being done and while they closed up the night with “Rock And Roll”, “Kashmir” and “Whole Lotta Love”, I felt some surprise that they didn’t give us the seminal “Stairway To Heaven” in the set. Perhaps next time.

After the show had ended the girls were available at the merchandise table which was positioned just before one would disembark from the boat. It was a good way to get that last minute purchase power from the interested fan. I didn’t recall seeing if this table was set up while the show was going on, but perhaps it was. Closing up I had to admit that even though I had a blast of a time, if I had to toss in any criticisms about the experience. It would be that by enjoying the concert one does not really get to fully appreciate the sightseeing aspect of being on the cruise around the city. This is especially the case if you are rocking right up in the front with the band. This was a pricy ticket for the fans and ran about $40 so you want to get all that you can for the money, especially with how our economy is. There are seats on the boat and many of the people who arrived early to get a good sitting visual of the set were a little miffed at the fans that got right up at the barrier to enjoy the band rather than sitting, oh well, this is to be expected in Rock and Roll. Led Zeppelin isn’t sitting music anyway.

I would do something like this again for sure. I hope that perhaps one of the KISS tributes or something else that I really like decide to do one because I will be there with a lifejacket on. I would say bells but that would likely make me sink to the bottom of the bay much faster.

Set List:
1. Immigrant Song
2. Out On The Tiles/Black Dog
3. Houses Of The Holy
4. The Ocean
5. In My Time Of Dying
6. Bron Y’Aur/Winter Sun
7. Bron Y Stomp/Travelling Riverside Blues
8. No Quarter
9. Trampled Underfoot
10. Heartbreaker
11. Since I’ve Been Loving You
12. Rock and Roll
13. Kashmir
14. Whole Lotta Love

Joining me on the adventure was a recently returned to NYC “The Muff” from the Finnish Glam Rock band Naked, and in keeping with true Finnish spirit we hit a couple of pubs on the way to the cruise to add even more enjoyment to the mix.  Here is Muff outside of a bar called Rudy’s that is right down the street from an oft-visited Smith’s Bar. If you’ve never been to Rudy’s before, they have very accommodating beer prices and they give you free hot dogs too.

Once down at the docks right next to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space museum we saw the signage that led us onto the cruise.  It was time for our three hour tour…….and a musical one at that…..

All aboard Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha…..man am I enjoying all of these pop culture and music references 🙂

The girls had secured a small section in the bow of the ship and I was able to say some hellos with our traveling Finnish companion Muff..  Here are a couple of quick candid for good measure.  It was a nice night to relax, drink some beers and enjoy the sweet Rock and Roll as delivered by the ladies of Lez Zeppelin.

During the show I got up nice and close in order to snare the girls doing “Traveling Riverside Blues”. It was kick ass and one of my favorite tunes from LZ. Check it out.  For this number I stuck to the side that guitarist Steph Paynes was on.

Here are the girls doing a kick ass rendition of “Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You”.  I had moved over to the opposite side and was deep in the mire of fans who were pushing up close.  Pardon one of them who insisted I get a better position.  You hear him a few times saying “go ahead”.  That was very nice of him.

I’ll put some of the touristy cruise photos up on my side blog PiercingKen.com so you can enjoy them when and if you feel like it. Just look under our “New York Sights and Scenes” category or search on “Circle Line Cruise”.

Official Website: http://wwww.lezzeppelin.com