By David Esteppe
When you pool together talented musicians from some of the area’s most accomplished and loved bands, you can dream of a project with high-end artistry paying homage to two of America’s biggest legacy bands. The bands being shown tribute are Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.
Hence, Pink Zeppelin.
Guitarist Shane Allen of River Town Gypsies came up with the idea and reached out to friends in the industry. Within seconds of the phone call, with only the concern of getting everyone together for rehearsals and the actual concert to take care of, volunteers from other bands Lawless Brown, Kilroy and the Possum Holler Glee Club agreed to become Pink Zeppelin for a night.
Allen says this is not about imitation by dressing up and playing exactly like the Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. This concert is about the musicality. “We are going to play three hours of music, divided into two sets. One set representing each band’s work. We will play some hits, and some deeper album cuts. We really want people to come out and enjoy the music and the spirit of these two bands,” Allen added. “We want to do the music justice.”
In addition to Shane Allen on guitar, there will be Billy Ayres on drums, Brian Carr on keyboards and trombone, Daryl Clemons on bass, Birch Graves on saxophone and Lynda Allen on vocals.
The six musicians have never played together in this line up. As veterans of the local music scene, they have played in different combinations before.
During Wednesday night’s rehearsal for the upcoming show on Saturday, Oct. 10, Allen took a moment out to add that the band is ready to play, and that there will be a party atmosphere at The Lewis Theatre. Room for dancing to the well-planned, under-lock-and-key set list will be plenty.
The show starts after the T.O.O.T. festival at 8 p.m., and tickets are $10 at the venue on Court Street.
