Jason Bonham pleased as Led Zeppelin Experience tour kicks off in Canada

Photo by Glenn Francis,
www.PacificProDigital.com

Concertgoers at the Encana Events Centre in Dawson Creek, B.C., Canada, last night witnessed the first showing from the multimedia tour Jason Bonham has spent the last few months publicizing.

So far, the few firsthand accounts from inside the concert venue could not be more positive. Most of what's been said, however, comes from the band members themselves!

About six hours before his second show, Bonham took to the Internet to post his thoughts on the Friday night debut: "This was the opening night of the tour and all I can say is , Thank you for making it one of the best gigs of my life !!!!!!! xoxo."

Update: In another message, Bonham gives away much of the set list. Be forewarned of a possible spoiler alert before clicking here.

Some of his bandmates were also communicating online after the show thanks to the complimentary Wi-Fi on their tour bus. Their bass player, who shall remain nameless unless you click here, granted an e-mail interview to Lemon Squeezings.

"Jason was in heaven from where I was standing," the bass player writes. "It's safe to say he loved every minute of the first show and it was really fantastic to be a part of it with him and the rest of the boys."

Clips of "Since I've Been Loving You" and "When the Levee Breaks" from the opening show in Dawson Creek have made it online.

Over e-mail, I reminded Bonham's bass player that John Paul Jones, following the Led Zeppelin reunion concert in 2007, has said he thought to himself that he would play certain things differently at the next show -- if only there had been a next show.

Asked if he could commiserate, Bonham's bass player responded, "There were moments where I thought, 'I'll experience that differently next time.' By that I mean it was the first show, the first response from an audience, the first time seeing the movie footage in entirety, the lights, the full whack.

"I was completely in the moment, just soaking it up, because I knew it was the first... and there's only one first.

"But the band played great, we were tight, we took chances."

"The high point of the show," writes the bass player, was "Moby Dick," which as expected Bonham performed as a duet with his father shown on a massive video screen on the stage.

Bonham is accompanied on this tour by the following musicians:

• Lead guitar - http://mysp.ac/JBLZEax
• Vocals - http://bit.ly/JBLZEvox
• Keyboards, lap steel, 2nd guitar - http://bit.ly/JBLZEkeys
• Bass - http://bit.ly/JBLZEbass

The keyboard player writes: "Jason Bonham's LZ Experience, first show down, on cloud 9, no words."

The singer writes: "Kicked off the Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience tour last night. It was an amazing evening!"

One concert attendee, Jeff Charles posted the following review to Lemon Squeezings on Facebook:

Hey everybody...saw the first show of JBLZE last night Oct 8 in Dawson Creek BC...and considering it was opening night, the production of the show seemed to come off perfectly...I loved the whole experience...it had everything that a Jason Bonham or Led Zeppelin fan could want...the music lacked nothing, the vocals,guitar leads and the drumming was perfect, if you closed yours eyes it sounded like Led Zeppelin was really there...and in some magical way they were..the show comes with some very touching moments as Jason speaks so fondly of his father...the clips of close Bonham family moments actually brought tears to my eyes...and Jason seemed to be genuinely grateful to be able to share these times with us...they played all the best LZ songs...if you love Led Zeppelin go to the show..it is an absolute must see

Updates: Asked whether Bonham became emotional during the concert, Charles replied: "the emotional moment that really got me was when Jason was talking about his father and his voice started to crack...it really got me..."

Additional comments posted by Bettina Sollbock to Lemon Squeezings on Facebook say:

• "there are no words for the energy in that room!!! have to see it to believe it ;)"
• "I have been to a few concerts(ZZTop incl) where the centre was packed,but I have NEVER seen this DC lameass crowd SO motivated,after the 2nd song we were on a roll, [thank you] for [posting] the vid!!!"
• "would have been great though to have a some sort of keepsake,besides the ticket stub;) the whole thing was surreal..."

In the minutes immediately following the concert, the only reactions that could be located online were well short of Twitter's 140-character allocation:

• "in dawson, and its amazinggggggg :)" (posted by Jessie Olsen to Enzepplopedia on Facebook)
• "Ridiculous," "Sioooo good b," "Unbelievable" and "Well I don't know who was in the band but it was an amazing celebration of Led Zeppelin's music" (posted by Ryan Hennessey to Twitter)

Hennessey posted further feedback to Lemon Squeezings on Facebook today: "From the minute the lights went down, the gig was amazing, professional, emotional, tight, everything one would hope a celebration of John Bonham and Led Zeppelin! I'd hit the show again in a second! Truly honored."

Olsen also posted further feedback to Lemon Squeezings on Facebook: "totally agree with the other reviews from last night, such an amazing show. absolutely loved every minute of it. i feel very privileged to have been at the opening show. every member of the band gave unreal performances, so glad i got to experience it. definitely defintely go if you get the chance! :)"

All feedback seems to be positive, so far, except for one remark about the attendance:

• "There is practically nobody here at jason bonham O.O my dad can't stop laughing" (posted by Connor Brooks to Twitter)

After tonight, the remaining tour dates are:

• Oct. 12: Edmonton, AB - Northern Alberta Jubilee
• Oct. 13: Red Deer, AB - Enmax Centre CANCELED
• Oct. 14: Calgary, AB - Southern Alberta Jubilee
• Oct. 16: Regina, SK - Brandt Centre
• Oct. 17: Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre
• Oct. 19: Minneapolis, Minn. - State Theatre
• Oct. 20: Milwaukee, Wis. - Riverside Theatre
• Oct. 21: Merrilville, Ind. - Star Plaza
• Oct. 23: Montreal, QC - Metropolis
• Oct. 24: Ville de Saguenay, QC - Theatre du Palaise Municipale
• Oct. 25: Quebec City, QC - Grand Theatre
• Oct. 27: Hamilton, ON - Hamilton Place/Great Hall
• Oct. 28: Kitchener, ON - Centre in the Square
• Oct. 29: Toronto, ON - Sony Centre
• Oct. 30: Detroit, Mich. - Fox Theatre (switched from Rochester, N.Y.)
• Nov. 2: Boston, Mass. - The Orpheum
• Nov. 3: Red Bank, N.J. - Count Basie Theater
• Nov. 4: Englewood, N.J. - Bergen PAC
• Nov. 5: Poughkeepsie, N.Y. - Mid Hudson Civic Center
• Nov. 6: Philadelphia, Pa. - Merriam Theater
• Nov. 8: New York, N.Y. - Nokia Theatre
• Nov. 10: Stamford, Conn. - Palace Theatre
• Nov. 13: Jacksonville, Fla. - Florida Theater
• Nov. 14: Clearwater, Fla. - Ruth Eckerd Hall
• Nov. 16: Houston, Texas - Verizon Theatre
• Nov. 17: Tulsa, Okla. - Spirit Bank Event Center
• Nov. 18: Dallas, Texas - Fairpark Music Hall
• Nov. 21: Riverside, Calif. - Fox PAC
• Nov. 23: Los Angeles, Calif. - Pantages Theater
• Nov. 24: San Francisco, Calif. - The Warfield
• Nov. 26: Portland, Ore. - Schnitzer Concert Hall
• Nov. 27: Seattle, Wash. - WaMu Theater
• Nov. 28: Bellingham, Wash. - Mount Baker Theatre
• Nov. 29: Vancouver, BC - The Centre PAC