Reviewed by Rosemary Knight
I have been a huge fan of rock superstars Led Zeppelin for years, but unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to see them when they performed live, so I was very pleased to have the chance to watch Mothership perform a tribute to Led Zeppelin at The Lowry Theatre in Salford, Manchester.
The band came onto the stage and immediately belted out ‘Good Times, Bad Times’ to rapturous applause from the appreciative audience. There were film clips featuring the original Led Zeppelin projected onto the stage, with glimpses of a very young Jimmy Page and Robert Plant looking like a young Adonis, and then showing them as they have grown older. Smoke and flashing lights added to the atmosphere.
It has to be said that Mothership look absolutely nothing like Led Zeppelin and do not make any effort to do so, but they certainly made up for this in their music. Classics including ‘Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You’, ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’ and ‘Stairway to Heaven’ were belted out during the first part of the show.
Vocalist Matthew Vaggers has the most amazing vocal range and sounds uncannily similar to Robert Plant. David Crilly is a superb lead guitarist, demonstrating an incredible talent using a variety of different guitars. Martin Byrne on bass guitar and mandolin, Andy Perfect on drums and Toni Hughes on keyboards all combined together so well that with my eyes closed I could actually believe that I was listening to the original Led Zeppelin, instead of a tribute band. There were so many highlights of this evening, it is difficult to pick just one, but when Mothership performed ‘Kashmir’ I had goosebumps because the band were just perfect.
The band have a tremendous rapport with each other, smiling and laughing and it was obvious that they absolutely love performing together.
The entire audience absolutely loved this performance, singing along and dancing in the aisles. At the end of the show Mothership came back onto the stage to perform ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and everybody went wild.
This was a brilliant night, recommended to all rock lovers, and I would love to watch Mothership perform again.
Rating: 5/5
Mothership are currently on tour around the UK, for more information visit www.zepmothership.com.
For other shows at The Lowry in Manchester visit www.thelowry.com.
The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays, Manchester, M50 3AZ | 0843 208 6000
