Bass/Schuler Entertainment

Well, that's sort of how it all began. It was around the turn of the millennium, Chicago's favorite power-trio "Busker Soundcheck" had just released a new album and was touring the country. Though the band was well-known in the Midwest for its musically diverse rock originals, it also had a knack for puttin' on one heck of an entertaining Christmas show each year. More like Santa meets the Who.

The success of this yearly tradition spurred the idea of what would soon become another tradition- a Halloween show. Heck, if they could dress like elves, then why not one of their favorite predecessors, like say...Black Sabbath? They recruited singer Bruce Lamont (of "Dyslexic Apaches" and now "Yakuza") to be Ozzy Osbourne. Dressing and sounding the part, they "scared” (according to one fan) the Halloween audience with their portrayal.

Demand was high for them to repeat this show on subsequent Halloweens (they even were requested for a book release party thrown by rock critic and former Rolling Stone editor Jim DeRogatis). During one of their rehearsals, the band spontaneously played a handful of Zeppelin tunes and couldn’t believe their ears. So for what would have been another Halloween as Black Sabbath, instead they surprised the crowd with an evening of Led Zeppelin music; soaring vocals, keyboards, drum solos, violin bows and all. It was a huge hit. Soon, the band was getting offers to play other venues, and not just for Halloween.

Chicago music club Martyrs, which is known for presenting premier national recording artists, had invited them to do a special 3 hour performance with no openers. It was a risk for an original music venue to make room for a tribute act with a prime weekend slot, but the reviews from concert-goers were overwhelming. One person claims the band was “channeling the spirit” of the real Zeppelin, others who have seen Led Zeppelin decades ago were taken aback. The band would return on request about twice a year with ever more challenging material. In 2006 Canadian Ian Lee took over on drums, and they now tour regularly under the name Led Zeppelin 2. A little pompous, yes, but then so were their namesakes.

Led Zeppelin 2 differs dramatically from other tributes because of their unique perspective. The band is comprised of musicians who have been there, done that so to speak. Though not being a worldwide phenomenon as their counterparts, they have written, recorded, and released successful albums. They’ve been on the radio, they’ve done the tours, shared stage and studio with many legendary artists and producers, and even won accolades for having best album of the year ("Welcome To Buskerland" in 1999) and guitar player of the year (Paul Kamp of Busker Soundcheck, Ruth Buzzy…). With raw power and conviction that comes from playing thousands of shows in their careers, you can understand how they would be seasoned enough to make a believable tribute.

When they take the stage, they are not simply another band mimicking a rock goliath, rather, they are making real music together in the moment, and you can feel it. As one fan put it, “These guys are coming at this from the other side; it's as if they actually wrote these songs.” Bassist Chris Klein (of Busker Soundcheck, Bondo…) explains their approach; “No matter how closely you listen (to Zeppelin recordings), there are things that aren’t so obvious to figure out, you have to infer them based on what you'd do if it were your own material. So we try to do stylistically what those guys might do... it’s all those little things that count.” And it’s never the same twice.

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