Hundreds of community members and students packed into the Doudna Fine Arts Center for a performance by Kashmir, a cover band for the 1970s rock group Led Zeppelin, on Friday evening.
The concert took place in the Dvorak Concert Hall and started shortly after 7:30 p.m. The event lasted for approximately two hours.
In addition to the performance, the group took extra time after the show to sign merchandise and take pictures with fans.
The event was sold out almost a week in advance. The audience was filled with passionate fans of the original group, both older and younger. There was also a segment of newer fans who were being introduced to music of a different era.
Kashmir was established in New York City in 2000 by lead vocalist Jean Violet. He is accompanied by Kevin Slover, who plays guitar, Paul Cooper, their drummer and Felix Hanemann, who is the group’s bass and keys player.
All of the musicians have lengthy resumes when it comes to music, according to their band website.
Violet has performed in multiple bands, forming two of them in the 1990’s. He has been performing since he was 18 years old. Slover has 40 years of experience playing guitar. Cooper has played drums since he was 9 years old and has performed with various bands while in college.
Hanemann is also a member of another band named Zebra, which continues to perform several times a year. He formed his first band when he was 14 years old. All of the band members have toured across the country. Violet has performed in international locations, such as Japan, prior to the formation of Kashmir.
The group has become one of the most well-known classic rock tribute bands. Kashmir aims to recreate the experience of attending a Led Zeppelin concert, calling the energy at their performances “The Zone.”
They incorporated elements into their performances from when Led Zeppelin was popular, such as 1970s fashion and flashing lights.
The band performed a total of 18 songs with a brief intermission in between the two sets. The group aimed to have a deeper and more intimate experience with the audience for the second set.
During the intermission, Violet took a few moments to establish the connection by assessing the audience’s mood and sharing personal stories and memories.
The sets included commercially successful songs such as “Black Dog” and “Stairway to Heaven.”
The group used the latter song to pay tribute to one of their first talent agents who recently passed away. The concert also included a drum solo performed by Cooper towards the end of the show.
Violet described his preparation process for each show. He often takes at least 30 minutes to practice various vocal exercises prior to performing. He uses various vocal scales during his warmups.
“You ever hear of vocal fry? I make all of these weird noises,” Violet said.
His current favorite song to perform while touring is “Since I’ve Been Loving You.”
Dalton Todd, a community member, attended the concert as a fan of classic rock. The group’s rendition of “Stairway to Heaven” is his personal favorite.
“I feel like Led Zeppelin is one of those bands where everyone knows two or three songs,” Todd said.
Kashmir is currently touring across the U.S., with upcoming shows in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania from now through the end of March.
Tickets can be purchased on the band’s website.
Jacob Hamm can be reached at 581-2812 or at jahamm@eiu.edu.
