There are but a few musicians who came to define entire genres and eras, and when it comes to rock music, Led Zeppelin surely pop to mind.
And while the British rockers parted ways over four decades ago, their music, which marries face-melting guitar riffs with soulful blues lines and thought-provoking lyrics, continues to captivate audiences of all ages the world over, and in Israel in particular.
Now, Israeli Zeppelin fans can get a taste of the phenomenon that took the world by storm with an orchestral twist to it. Straight out of London’s West End, it's Zeppelin Symphonic - The Music of Led Zeppelin a Rock Celebration.
The November 17 rock extravaganza will see three extremely talented singers take the stage at Tel Aviv's Charles Bronfman Auditorium, backed by a full rock band and Israel's very own Raanana Symphonette Orchestra. And with direction from the great Richard Sidwell, who masterminded the highly successful Queen Symphonic tour, the show is a shoo-in to be a banger.
After its Israel date, Led Zeppelin Symphonic is scheduled to perform at the world-famous London Palladium on November 24.
Singer Peter Eldridge, who previously performed in Israel at Queen Symphonic's 2019 stop in the Holy Land, did not mask his excitement over the chance to reunite with the Israeli crowd.
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Led Zeppelin Symphonic vocalists Peter Eldridge, Mollie Marriott, and Jesse Smith
(Photo: Courtesy of City Light Entertainment)
"I'm psyched. Well and truly excited about it. I've always been a huge Zeppelin fan, so this kind of gigs have been a culmination of a lot of years of hard work and it's so worth it," Eldridge tells Ynet, sporting the rockstar look with a black tee, long locks, and a rugged beard.
"Every second on stage performing that music with an orchestra and a rock band, it's just unbelievable. And to be coming back to Tel Aviv is just phenomenal. I love it over in Israel.
You can tell that music is very heavily ingrained in the culture over there. And the warmth you get from the Israeli crowd is just phenomenal. I didn't know what to expect because I'd never been to Israel before until I did the Queen show over there, and everywhere I went it was just people smiling, people so happy to see you, very helpful and just great. I had this immense time over there."
Tasked with tackling the oeuvre of one of the most iconic vocalists of the 20th century in Zeppelin's Robert Plant, Eldridge describes approaching such undertaking with a sense of awe.
"It's a phenomenal feeling, it really is. To take on vocals, especially like Plant's because Plant was very bluesy and had a lot of screaming notes…, I've always said rock singing, especially with Led Zeppelin, it's more about not making it sound technically perfect but getting that emotion across, and that was what Plant was phenomenal at," he says.
"You take songs like Since I've Been Loving You and Babe I'm Gonna Leave You — the emotion, the angst and just passion you hear in his voice in this kind of songs is just phenomenal. And as a singer, to actually get to sing something like that, to be able to put so much of yourself into it, it's quite a rare thing, because normally singers spend a lot of their time doing happy songs, party fillers… so that's completely different. So to get something that you actually believe in and identify with, that's a whole new level to it. It's like a dream job, and I didn't have to get my hair cut," he chuckles.
The Tel Aviv performance will also mark the 51st anniversary of the release of a song widely regarded as Zeppelin's magnum opus — Stairway to Heaven, which was released on November 8, 1971.
Arguably the most iconic tune in rock history, the eight-minute epic starts off on a plaintive critique on a hyper-materialistic society, and together with Jimmy Page's gentle guitar work, walks the listener through a spiritual journey of soul-searching.
As the song progresses, the arrangement then gradually builds up until it crescendos into its famous bridge section with Page's hard-hitting guitar riffs coupled with John Bonham's ferocious drumming and overlayed by Plant's signature high-pitched singing. By the end of the song, the protagonist finds solace in life, rather than hoping for salvation in death.
The somewhat enigmatic nature of the lyrics has won Stairway to Heaven countless interpretations throughout the years as it allows each person to project their own individual life experiences onto it.
Eldridge also shares about the special place the song holds in his heart, especially after his father's passing.
"My dad passed about six years ago now, and I was lead singer for a Led Zeppelin tribute band at the time, and on the day of his funeral, we had a concert, and I was going to pull out and not do it. But my mom turned around and said 'no, no, no, your dad would like you to do this, go and do it, he wouldn't like you to sit around and be miserable, go and give it your all'," he says.
"I went out and that night, Stairway to Heaven, it just resonated more for me, and it always had ever since because Plant used to reference it as a song of hope which it is. Because it's giving you this kind of 'there is something better out there, let's hope there is something more to this and that we can get on, that everything will be okay'.
And I think it's a very touching message and it is still a very important message even today, which is why I don't think Zeppelin's music is really dated, whereas a lot of other kinds of rock bands from the 60s, 70s, you listen to them, and you know they're from that era. Zeppelin, you can listen to and kind of go 'yeah, that would still work today, that would still sell today'."
Eldridge explains that aside from the usual suspects you might expect to see at a Zeppelin tribute show, it isn't uncommon to see little rugrats at their concerts who know by heart all the lyrics to the songs.
"We've had kids who were six, seven years old come along to concerts and they know all the words because they found the music in their parents' music collection, and they love it," he says.
"My little boy is six years old, and Immigrant Song is one of his favorite songs. You can't stop him."
Discussing the unifying power of music, the conversation drifted to the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II which has brought together the entire British nation in mourning of its longest-reigning monarch.
"It's the breaking down of barriers between people; whether it'd be political or race, creed, whatever, it doesn't matter. Everyone can come together over something like that. When it's the death of a huge head of a nation like that, and especially with the Royal Family, it kind of resonates throughout the whole of the country, and the world even. Even Vladimir Putin sent his condolences," he laughs. "And you would have thought he'd be very busy at the moment. It's been a huge thing globally."