Lez Zeppelin Rock and Rolls at the Blender Theater

The girls-only tribute to the music of Led Zeppelin filled the Blender Theater last night, as Lez Zeppelin blasted through the legendary songs with the finesse of a surgeon, yet the bombast of a freight train.

Despite dire forecasts of blizzard conditions, New Yorkers jammed into the venue formerly known as the Gramercy Theater, filling both the seats and floor almost to capacity, even with the eventually unfounded fear that they would re-emerge into sheets of snow.

After a brief, irreverent silent video about the Hindenburg disaster, the four-woman band hit the stage and launched right into Good Times, Bad Times, the first track from the first Led Zeppelin album. Announcing that they were going to play Led Zeppelin 1 in its entirely, they then followed with an impassioned Babe, I’m Gonna Leave you and You Shook Me.

But the band really began hitting its stride on an epic Dazed and Confused, as guitarist Steph Paynes (watch a pre-show interview with Steph here) grabbed a violin bow and deftly reproduced Jimmy Page’s searing, scratching, distorted tones on the solo, with a less-than-subtle emphasis as she stroked the bow up and down against her low slung guitar for the wildly cheering crowd.

New vocalist Shannon Conley, a sensual, swaggering blonde, made Robert Plant’s vocals her own, strutting about the stage as she sang, wailed, and breathlessly performed the rest of Led Zeppelin 1. Drummer Leesa Harrington-Squyres drove the songs with a fierce bass kick, and the multi-instrumental Megan Thomas rocked both a keyboard and mandolin in between holding down the low end on bass. The fantastic chemistry between bandmates was especially apparent as Conley repeatedly fell to her knees, threw her hair back, and danced right up against the fiercely shredding Paynes, no doubt a pleasant surprise to any man or woman who might have been mislead about the nature of the show by the “Lez Zeppelin” marquee outside the theater.

Wasting no time, the band moved on to other classic Zeppelin fare such as Ramble On and The Ocean, playing songs primarily from the first five Led Zeppelin records, and took a well-applauded break for acoustic gems with Going to California and Bron Y Aur Stomp. The band’s attention to detail did not go unnoticed by the crowd, who fanatically cheered and shouted out song titles while dancing to their favorite tracks.  Watch video of The Ocean from last night below:

The group especially shined on an electrifying Black Dog, as Paynes tore through the riff and lick-heavy song like a buzzsaw through wood, and Conley crawled about the stage as she panted and moaned through Plant’s sexually charged lyrics, her voice oozing with sensuality.

After a solid two hours of playing, the band returned to encore with Rock and Roll, and a mind-blowing performance of Whole Lotta Love, with Paynes masterfully operating the hands-free, almost magical Theremin to create the eerie squeals and feedback that define the track’s signature interlude, the effects swirling around the theater as she waved her hands about the device.  In a surprise bonus, nervous fans exiting the theater were also pleasantly surpised to discover that the heavily threatened blanket of snow had failed to materialize as well

While a number of quality Zeppelin acts play New York City on a regular basis, such as Black Dog and the ultra-professional Get The Led Out, Lez Zeppelin takes the works of Page, Plant, Bonham, and Jones to the next level. Rather than merely recreating the songs, the girls truly make the music and lyrics their own, fusing their energy, personalities, and talent into already fantastic songs, and producing something familiar, yet captivatingly original, and above all else, sonically epic. Any true Zeppelin fan would be well advised to check out this class act the next time they are in town.