Jason Bonham Promises A 'Heartfelt Journey' With His Led Zeppelin Evening Australian Tour

Jason Bonham, the son of the legendary Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, has been playing the drums since he was five years old. At 17, he and his band Air Race recorded an album with Atlantic Records and toured alongside Queen, Meat Loaf, and AC/DC. John Bonham died at 32 years old when Jason was just a teenager. 

He has since carried the mantle for his father, performing with the remaining members of Led Zeppelin - Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones, who disbanded after John's passing. Those instances were in 1988, at the band's first-ever televised reunion concert for Atlantic Records' 40th anniversary and the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert, commonly known as Celebration Day, in 2007. In 2009, Jason Bonham founded Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Evening, which he's bringing back to Australia this April. Even being mentioned in the same sentence as his father is bizarre, he shares.

"As you get older and suddenly realise the things he accomplished in the short time he was here, it's a very proud moment as his son," Bonham says. His dad was a down-to-earth kind of guy, "I don't think he ever imagined that he would be so legendary. He was just this regular chap, but the amount of influence he had on the complete rock'n'roll world was enormous. I mean, it's a complete honour to even get mentioned in the same sentence as my dad. It's an accomplishment for any drummer.

"There was jealousy earlier in life," Bonham continues, "it was hard when you read all these articles about him, going 'John Bonham this, John Bonham that,' but he's my dad, get your own heroes. I'm glad I grew out of it - it's mind-shattering to read the lists of top drummers of all time; that list might change, but my dad will always be in the top three, and that's pretty spectacular."

The Jason Bonham Led Zeppelin Evening is returning to Australia, and fans are in for a real treat with the band Jason has amassed. There's vocalist James Dylan, who's an absolute powerhouse; Jimmy Sakurai, who makes you do a double-take when you watch him on stage to make sure it's not Jimmy Page; and Bonham's "main man," bassist Dorian Heartsong. The band has become the premier way to experience Led Zeppelin's music in 2023.

"In the beginning, it took a while to put together. The first time I came to Australia, going back to the beginning of 2010 - 13 years, somebody said to me, 'have you checked out this guy on virtualzeppelin.com?'" Bonham begins, and then he witnessed James Dylan in action. "And then I got his phone number, invited him to my place in Florida, because I didn't believe what I saw, to the voice coming out of him. So he came to Florida, and he sang, and it blew my mind." Then it was time to start rehearsals.

Bonham's bassist at the time, Michael Devin, was offered a position with rockers Whitesnake, which Jason encouraged his bandmate to accept. Bonham was then introduced to Heartsong, who's also a drummer and "understands me a lot more than most people," Bonham admits. And the rest, as they say, was history. 

Once again, on a different tour - while the band were in America, someone asked Bonham, "have you checked out this Japanese guitar player named Jimmy Sakurai?" At the time, the band was called the Jason Bonham Led Zeppelin Experience, which had to be amended as Led Zeppelin wanted to use similar terminology. "So, I was thinking, Jason Bonham with a new name, new guitarist, a new band... it was like a rebirth."

While I've only watched Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Evening perform through YouTube videos, it's mind-blowing watching the band - the energy matches early Led Zeppelin. If you close your eyes, it's easy to feel transported to another time when Led Zeppelin was king.

When Jason Bonham plays Kashmir, one of the most beloved Led Zeppelin songs of all time, he models it after his dad's 1979 performance at Knebworth. "Dad really went for it," Bonham exclaims. The reason why it's one of Jason's favourite songs to play is because he found out that his dad hummed those opening chords to Jimmy Page - you know how it goes - "so when Kashmir started up, that wasn't anyone else's but dad's. He came in and said, 'I've got this.'"

The hardest thing about playing Kashmir, Bonham notes, is keeping it simple. "In 79, when he played it, at the end, he added these amazing fills, so it always stuck with me that the first time the guys heard Kashmir came from dad. That's one of the best things you could ever say. It stands up to him. It's probably the second biggest Led Zeppelin song there is - he was a pretty, pretty good drummer," Jason chuckles.

The Jason Bonham Led Zeppelin Evening provides audiences with "a heartfelt journey," Bonham says. "Not only through the music, but through the emotions. What it was like, growing up and that's your family. That's what your dad does. When you're so close to it, you don't understand it. You don't really get it as much as you do when you walk away from it later on in life."

He adds, "The show is all of those demons I had to go through growing up and realising that everybody I knew understood how great my dad and Led Zeppelin were. To me, he was just dad, and I was more interested in other music. By the time I understood how amazing he was, dad was gone. I couldn't tell him, and that was the sad part. I figured out how great he was, and I never had the chance to tell my dad, 'do you know how good you are?' That's why when I do the show now, it's my way of saying that to him."

JASON BONHAM'S LED ZEPPELIN EVENING

2023 AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES

Wednesday 5th April, PERTH - Astor Theatre
Friday 7th April, MELBOURNE - Palais Theatre
Saturday 8th April, SYDNEY - Enmore Theatre
Sunday 9th April, BRISBANE - Tivoli Theatre
Tuesday 11th April, ADELAIDE - Hindley Street  

Pre-sale tickets available tomorrow at 12 pm. General sale tickets are on sale this Friday at 12 pm local time. Tickets via Metropolis Touring.