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When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St.
Tickets: $30 to $85; call 345-0606
Omaha Symphony musicians may have to trade their black ties for black-leather jackets.
For its final concert of the 2009-10 season, the symphony under conductor Ernest Richardson will present “The Song Remains the Same: The Music of Led Zeppelin.”
Vocalist Michael Shotton of the Canadian group Jeans and Classics will sing many of the famed British band's best-known songs, including “Dazed and Confused,” “Black Dog” and “Stairway to Heaven.”
Jeans and Classics' Peter Brennan has arranged the music for orchestra.
But Led Zeppelin's music, of course, was mostly about Jimmy Page's guitar licks.
“It's guitar-driven music,” said Brennan in a recent phone interview.
Still, there are passages in specific songs that lend themselves to orchestra. The band used a Mellotron keyboard to create its flute sounds for “Stairway to Heaven.”
“It's exciting to hear how that music sounds with real flutes,” said Brennan.
Even more exciting is the orchestral rendition of “Kashmir,” which boasts one of the most famous chord progressions in all of rock.
“The cellos drive the energy in that piece,” Brennan said.
Brennan adds that Shotton does a pretty mean Robert Plant.
“The guy's a madman,” Brennan said.
Contact the writer:
444-1076, john.pitcher@owh.com
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