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If it’s not a tribute band, or a quartet of groupies pining to peel off Jimmy Page’s pants, or a bunch of rock ‘n’ roll wannabes, or Howard Stern’s favorite band, what then, is Zepparella? Serious. The San Francisco-based quartet of women rockers came together in summer 2005, when jazzy singer Anna Kristina joined guitarist Gretchen Menn, bassist Nila Minnerock and drummer Clementine, who in great rock fashion simply goes by her first name. Separately, each has her own musical interests, which range from prog rock and metal to electronica and jazz, but together, it’s all about Led Zeppelin, baby.
“It’s a tribute to the music,” Clementine said when reached in San Francisco before their current tour, which sees the band at Sam Bond’s Garage on Friday. “We’re a tribute band in that we’re playing one band’s music, but we don’t really care about Jimmy Page’s pants.” Apparently, a lot of other bands do care about his pants. They’re everywhere: Black Dog, Stairway Denied, Led Zepland, Hammer of the Gods, The Immigrants (an Italian Led Zeppelin tribute band) or The Vibe Remains the Same.
But just because other bands play out their fantasies of being part of one of the greatest rock bands ever, if only for a night at a time, doesn’t mean the ladies of Zepparella are going to follow suit. “To me, tribute bands look like the players and sound just like the players – and that’s really fun. I’m not putting it down,” Clementine said. “But for Led Zeppelin, I feel like we wouldn’t be doing the music justice if we did that.”
To do the music justice, Clementine said, the band, which takes its name from Led Zeppelin and the campy Jane Fonda film “Barbarella,” learns the songs exactly as they sound on the album. “But as we play together, things happen and the songs start to breathe and our own music starts coming through.” There are guitar riffs and grooves on the drums the band wants to hit, but they leave a lot of room for the songs to have a life of their own. “These songs are built for different interpretations,” she said, “so it’d be kind of a crime to stick to the record version.”
The band’s album, “Live at 19 Broadway,” gives a taste of the similarities, and differences, between the two Zeps. One difference is the vocals. If anything, Robert Plant is more effeminate than the lustrous Kristina, whose jazz-influenced voice shines through. “She’s a jazz singer more than a rock singer, so it’s tougher for her to do this,” Clementine said. “She’s really gotten into learning the whole rock thing, and Plant is such a great place to start. “She’s not really trying to sound like him. It’s more the phrasing and the delivery.”
But there are times when Kristina definitely conjures up memories of Plant. The beginning of the band’s cover of Zeppelin staple “Whole Lotta Love” sounds as if Kristina ate Plant for breakfast and he’s trying to escape from inside of her. And the wails at the start of “Immigrant Song” are just as haunting and powerful as the original. The rest of the band does Zeppelin justice as well. Menn’s powerful guitar riffs, Minnerock’s steady bass and Clementine’s thundering drums capably carry Zepparella through Zeppelin’s oeuvre.
Even Howard Stern had nothing bad to say about the band’s take on Zeppelin. Zepparella is on a compilation record of all-women tribute bands, and Stern – that champion of feminism everywhere – was talking about the album in less than flattering terms on his show. “They chose one song to play, and it was one of ours,” Clementine said, laughing. “But they were like, ‘Hey, this is pretty good,’ and we were happy they were saying our name on the radio.” The band learned Led Zeppelin has heard of Zepparella, Clementine said. Robert Plant’s question: “Are they any good?” Yes, Mr. Plant, they are.
From: https://www.dailyemerald.com/archives/the-girls-of-zepparella-make-classics-their-own/article_6d019491-f59d-58ee-9283-6bf7eb604d84.html
Zepparella - four women intent on bringing the passion, the beauty, the aggression, and the musicality of Led Zeppelin alive. Zepparella explores their own improvised magic within the framework of Zeppelin’s mighty songs. For five years, the Zeppelin love has washed in waves out of the doors of the venues. Initial skeptics have been quickly converted. From: https://dola.com/artists/zepparella
