A NIGHT IN THE KEY OF ROCK
Civic Hotel, Perth
22 July 2011
Presented by Lady Evil

Lady Zeppelin
With Diamond Eye, Babyjane and Blackjack

By Shane Pinnegar

I’ve been wanting to see Blackjack for an age now, and their meat-n-two-veg hard rock certainly didn’t disappoint, with chunky riffs, a rock solid rhythm section, classy vocals and tasty soloing. ‘Rock until You Drop’ and ‘Set Me Free’, among others, are pure, old school hard rock – no bullshit, strong hooks and… well, what’s not to like?!

Babyjane are late to hit the stage due to Blackjack running over time, and they rushed through their set to compensate. ‘Quicksand’, ‘Tell Me (What I Need To Know)’, a blistering cover of ‘Pretty Vacant’ and ‘Are You Listening’ were all balls out and in yer face, and showed that even when not at their best (due to the time pressures), they can still rock a room damned hard.

Diamond Eye start brazenly with their philosophical ponderance on the metaphysicall nature of existence – ‘FUCK!’ – before slipping in ‘No Entry’, the crushing ‘Machine’ and an epic and bombastic ‘Been Away Too Long’, in another very solid and confident set.

Headliners Lady Zeppelin, featuring guitar wizard Graham Greene and vocalist wife Donna Greene, rode the stage hard and left it gasping for more from openers ‘Immigrant Song’ and a sublime ‘Misty Mountain Hop’, through a set of Led Zeppelin killers, culminating in the debut of the band’s “Lady Zeppelin Rock Show” with an explosive riff on Heart’s wonderful ‘Barracuda’.

Graham Greene has found the room in these songs to make his style evident and his guitar work sings, breathing even more life into this music that can never die.

Donna Greene, meanwhile, wields her microphone like a wand, assertive and self-assured, she too inhabits these classics like she’s wearing a favourite outfit, living and breathing inside them utterly convincingly.

But don’t make the mistake in thinking that the magic being woven onstage emanates only from this husband and wife team – drummer Shane Brady, bassist Jim Awram and keyboardist Jason Dohrmann are all at the top of their game and none of the players on stage tonight miss a trick. Fantastic, once again, Lady Zeppelin!