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Cleveland Pops performs The Music of Led Zeppelin: A Rock Symphony

September 25 , 2006—CLEVELAND, OH—Bridging the gulf between rock 'n' roll and classical music, the renowned Cleveland Pops performs The Music of Led Zeppelin at the beautiful State Theatre at Playhouse Square on Saturday, November 18 at 7:30PM. 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.

A portion of the proceeds from this concert will benefit the A.J. Schroeder Memorial Fund compliments of Live Nation, The Bud Light Series and Cleveland's Classic Rock, 98.5 WNCX.

Exclusive Internet presale begins Wednesday, September 27th at 10:00 a.m.

Tickets for The Music of Led Zeppelin, featuring The Cleveland Pops, will go on sale via a special internet presale exclusively sponsored by 98.5FM WNCX. Fans of Led Zeppelin and WNCX listeners can log on to the station website, www.wncx.com, beginning Wednesday, September 27 at 10 a.m. through Thursday, September 28 at 6 p.m. to purchase the best seats in the house prior to the public sale.

Reserved tickets for the State Theatre performance are $40.50 and $28.50. A limited number of Gold Circle Seats will be available and will include a free Limited Edition CD of Brent Havens Conducts The Music of Led Zeppelin.

Public on-sale will begin on Friday, September 29 at 11:00 a.m. at The Playhouse Square Center Ticket Office, www.livenation.com, all tickets.com locations, www.playhousesquare.org or via charge by phone at (216) 241-6000.

"We are delighted to bring to our audience the pairing of Cleveland Pops and the music of rock icon Led Zeppelin," remarked Carl Topilow, Music Director of The Cleveland Pops. "Having Cleveland Pops joined with the Music of Led Zeppelin will offer a unique and powerful musical experience for both fans of Cleveland Pops, as well as Led Zeppelin. No one should miss this groundbreaking concert!"

"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 the 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," 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 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," said 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," said 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!" laughed Havens.
  

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