Jason Bonham


Jason Bonham, son of the late John "Bonzo" Bonham, does not take lightly the responsibility of carrying on his father's legacy. Having made a head start at drumming while he was a child, Jason is now passing on the same lessons to a third generation of Bonham drummers.

John Bonham's death in 1980 left such an impact on the surviving members of Led Zeppelin that they knew immediately they could not continue as they were. Yet Jason Bonham's familiarity with the band made him a shoe-in to join his father's bandmates on the few occasions reunion concerts have taken place.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of Bonham's most successful album release to date, the Platinum-certified disc The Disregard of Timekeeping released by his band, Bonham. To mark the milestone, he recently toured with a new band and played under the banner of "An Evening with Jason Bonham."

In the past, Bonham has also toured and/or recorded with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Foreigner, UFO, Paul Rodgers, Joe Bonamassa, Virginia Wolf, Airrace, Healing Sixes and Motherland. He also acted in the movie Rock Star and appeared on the reality TV show "SuperGroup."

- What's the latest on Jason Bonham?

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Tickets on sale Friday for L.A. premiere of 'It Might Get Loud'; Australian debut set for June 3

Music and movie buffs around the world are preparing for some more early screenings of "It Might Get Loud" beginning next week.

The guitar documentary starring Jimmy Page, Jack White and The Edge is destined for theatrical distribution in North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Distributor Sony Pictures Classic indicates the film will open in New York and Los Angeles beginning Aug. 14 with other cities to follow shortly thereafter.

For now, Hollywood types will be gearing up to witness the flick's early showings at the Los Angeles Film Festival in mid June.

  • The L.A. premiere is to take place on Friday, June 19, at 7 p.m., at the Mann Festival Theatre.
  • An additional L.A. screening is scheduled for Monday, June 22, at 2 p.m., at the Landmark 8.
  • Tickets for these two Los Angeles Film Festival showings go on sale this Friday, May 29.
  • Ticket queries can be e-mailed here, or call toll-free: (866) 345-6337.
  • Festival passes are already on sale; click here for pricing.
  • "It Might Get Loud" is eligible to receive an audience award for Best Documentary Feature. It will compete against 10 other entrants in the Summer Showcase section for the honor.
By then, "It Might Get Loud" will have already made its Australian debut courtesy of the Sydney Film Festival.
  • Tickets to June 3 and 6 presentations of the guitar documentary with Jimmy Page, Jack White and The Edge are already on sale.
  • The first showing down under is slated for next Wednesday, June 3, at 8 p.m. at Sydney's Greater Union George Street.
  • A second showing at the same location is to follow on Saturday, June 6, also at 8 p.m.
Past screenings of this film since last year have taken place in Toronto and Berlin as well as at Sundance. All three guitarists featured in the movie attended the world premiere in Toronto last September, answering press questions.

The film's segments profiling each guitarist center on his unique approach to the guitar throughout his career. In the case of Jimmy Page, the film presents his first-ever TV appearance, at age 14, and some new music as it is created out of thin air. Two new pieces written and performed by Page -- "Embryo No. 1" and "Embryo No. 2" were created as the filming unfolded.

"Jimmy played us previews of two new tracks he was writing -- both of which actually ended up in the movie," director Davis Guggenheim says on the film's official Web site.

The "Embryo" tracks turn out to be the first new music offered commercially by Page in longer than a decade, despite studio recording sessions that took place 10 years ago this month that he could not persuade Robert Plant to take part in. (Listen to the May 29 episode of "Get the Led Out" for more on these abandoned recording sessions of May 1999, involving Page and the late Michael Lee.)

Another of Guggenheim's favorite "It Might Get Loud" moments involves Page:
We were filming in Jimmy Page’s home outside of London -- which he has never allowed before -- and he starts pulling out his favorite albums and playing them for us. These are the records that he listened to and learned from as a young musician. Just watching him listen to the records was incredible -- and then he started playing air guitar!
In writing for the Toronto Film Festival, Thom Powers also mentioned this moment:
Contrary to the stereotype that rock 'n' rollers are sullen and guarded, these three display an infectious joy when discussing their craft. Anyone who has ever played air guitar along with a Zeppelin song will be thrilled watching Page mimic the licks of one of his own favourites, Link Wray's "Rumble."
A member of Internet discussion group Royal Orleans, ajoso, wrote the following upon seeing the film in Toronto:
The film had a lot of humor and made me laugh with delight on more than one occasion. ... When Jimmy shows the riff to "Whole Lotta Love" to Jack & the Edge, the latter two are grinning like: "I can't believe I'm two feet away from Jimmy Page playing 'Whole Lotta Love'!"

1 comment:

  1. It was screened at the Danish filmfestival Cph Pix early this year - great movie, but would have liked more footage of the interplay between the musicians.

    Best,
    A Danish fan

    ReplyDelete

Users agree to refrain from posting obscenities and defamatory statements.

About the author

Other Led Zeppelin information from Lemon Squeezings

Lemon Squeezings archive

Like what you see?


John Paul Jones is now in one of the hottest and hardest rock bands, Them Crooked Vultures. The frontman, handling lead guitar and vocals, is Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters is on drums. As for Jones, he offers not only bass and keyboard but also mandolin, keytar, lap steel and whatever else is needed.

One album was released in November, and another is forthcoming. A tour of North America completed in November, and the band now heads to Europe in December and Australia in January.

- What's the latest on Them Crooked Vultures, the group featuring John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme?

- What else is John Paul Jones up to?