JASON BONHAM – "I’m Not Big Into Rehearsing"

Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience will kick off their US tour tomorrow night, December 4th, in San Jose, CA. Prior to hitting the road, Bonham spoke with Matt Wardlaw of clevescene.com; an excerpt follows:

“We have the same connection when it comes to Led Zeppelin music,” says Bonham, regarding his bandmates. “You know, each one of them is as passionate about it [as I am]. I always said that the rule to be in the band, you’ve got to love it as much as me if not more. And because I’m not big into rehearsing, I like the fact that if they know the catalog like I know the catalog, then it’s great, because we’ll go in for one day, pick the songs, play them once or twice and then be ready to tour. So I like to keep it as fresh as possible. It really is a celebration of the music and why I do this is for the love.

Every [Led Zeppelin] album will be represented on these shows. I’m not going to steer clear of [anything], you know, I want to make sure that at least Coda is represented, In Through The Out Door, ‘Fool In The Rain’ and things like that, tracks like ‘Wearing And Tearing’ from Coda, Presence, things like ‘Hots On for Nowhere,’ to me, that is the main thing.”

The remaining Zeppelin band members haven’t seen Bonham’s band yet, but he has an idea that they’ve taken a few peeks — and he’s done his part to try to get them to come out and be part of the experience.

“I’m sure they’ve seen a clip or so,” he says. “I’d love to have them come out to a show. It’s something that I do, and I’m trying to keep doing it on a regular basis. Like at the Greek in L.A. around dad’s birthday, we did it on dad’s birthday this year and it was amazing and Robert [Plant] was playing two days later at the Greek. I rang him to see if he would come down, but he had a gig at Santa Barbara on that day. But that would be something for me, just to get one of them to come out and get up and have a play.”

To read the article in it’s entirety, visit this location. Catch Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience live at the following shows:

December
4 – San Jose, CA – City National Civic
5 – Lake Tahoe, NV – Montbleu Casino
7 – Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
9 – Tulsa, OK – Brady Theatre
10 – Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre
12 – Detroit, MI – Fillmore
13 – Cleveland, OH – Hard Rock Live
15 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
17 – Huntington, NY – Paramount Theatre
18 – Reading, PA – Santander Events Center
19 – Boston, MA – House Of Blues