Video: HEART And JASON BONHAM Kick Off 'Heartbreaker Tour' In West Palm Beach

June 19, 2013

2013 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees HEART are taking their critically acclaimed live show on the road this summer with very special guest JASON BONHAM'S LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE. Ann and Nancy Wilson first met Jason Bonham, son of famed LED ZEPPELIN drummer John Bonham, when they performed "Stairway To Heaven" together at the Kennedy Center Honors tribute to LED ZEPPELIN in December 2012. Over 6 million fans have watched the performance online and purchased the track on iTunes. Now, in addition to a full set of HEART classic hits, including "Crazy On You", "Barracuda", "Alone", "These Dreams", "What About Love" and many more, fans can experience this historical pairing live when HEART and Bonham close each show with a special thirty-minute finale tribute to LED ZEPPELIN.

Fan-filmed video footage of the tour's opening concert, which took place this past Monday night (June 17) at Cruzan Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, Florida can be seen below. Also available is a pre-show video interview with Bonham conducted by Andy Preston of the 98.7 The Gater radio station.

Check out photos of the concert at GaterRocks.com.

In a recent interview with Sun-Sentinel.comBonham was asked about sharing the stage with Ann and Nancy Wilson of HEART to perform "Stairway To Heaven" during the LED ZEPPELIN tribute at the Kennedy Center Honors. "When I was asked to do 'Stairway', I was, like, 'Really? 'Stairway'?'" he said. "There are some songs you just don't touch. But the arrangement with the choir, orchestra and way the whole band played was very special. Both Robert [Plant] and John Paul [Jones] were blown away by the arrangements. It was cool and different. The respect to the original was incredible and Ann and Nancy were fantastic. There were 50 people bobbing up and down wearing top hats. The hairs on the back of your neck stand up when you see something like this.

After the performance was viewed more than five million times on YouTube, "The demand became so great it got released on iTunes," Bonham said. "I later got a call from Live Nation asking how we could put something like this together for a show."

Regarding how the Heartbreaker Tour with HEART came about, Bonham said: "I started talking to the girls from HEART and we came up with an idea of taking my band and doing a shorter version of what I normally do and then they would do a shortened version of their show. Then, we could be together and end with my guitar player and do a 45-minute extravaganza of performing some of the greatest music from LED ZEPPELIN that there is. It's going to be a fantastic summer."

Jason also spoke about his father's enduring influence on the current crop of rock drummers, saying: "Every drummer I've ever spoken to or read an interview with — my dad is always in their top three. I'm honored to share his name and represent him all these years after he's gone. It's been fantastic."

He added: "I don't think he even realized that 33 years after he died, he'd be an icon in the drumming world and the band became what they did — bigger than ever. He's such an icon and yet he was such a simple, regular guy when he was at home."

Interview:

Performance:

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