Jason Bonham’s
Led Zeppelin Evening

Pacific Amphitheatre | Aug. 22

Doors: 6:45 PM | Show: 8:00 PM

When Jason Bonham was a small child, he got called to play his drums for family friends like Jimmy Page and some of the guys from the group Bad Company. That’s what happens when your father is drummer John Bonham, one of the original members of the legendary rock band Led Zeppelin.

At 5, Bonham could play a scaled-down set of drums with skill. When he was 17, he was a member of the band Air Race. The group signed a record contract with Atlantic Records, recorded one album and opened for big names like Queen, Meat Loaf, Ted Nugent and AC/DC. Bonham’s father, John, died in 1980. Since then, Jason has stepped in from time to time to help keep his father’s memory alive.

In 1988, Bonham took his father’s spot in the televised, first-ever Led Zeppelin reunion at the “Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary” concert, which included Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. Later that year, he toured with Page and recorded the album “Outrider” with him.

By 1989, he completed the album “The Disregard of Timekeeping” with his new band Bonham. One of the tracks from this first effort, “Wait for You,” earned him a gold record. By 1992, with partners like Canadian vocalist Daniel MacMaster, guitarist Ian Hatton and bassist and keyboardist John Smithson, Bonham finished another album, “Mad Hatter.”

Bonham represented his father when Led Zeppelin was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, with his sister Zoe by his side. He soon put together another solo project, which culminated in “In the Name of My Father — The Zepset,” featuring the songs of Led Zeppelin. Proceeds from the album went to charity. That was followed by “When You See the Sun.”

On Dec. 10, 2007, Bonham played drums in the most anticipated concert of all time — the Led Zeppelin reunion at London’s O2 Arena with surviving members Page, Jones and Plant.