Get the Led Out @ The Electric Factory
WRITTEN BY: ALLISON SALMON
Philadelphia’s own Get the Led Out rocked the Electric Factory on Friday Dec. 9, attracting a huge crowd and covering some of Led Zeppelin’s greatest hits. The cover band burst into “When the Levee Breaks” to start the show, getting the audience going with this crowd pleaser off of the album “Led Zeppelin IV.”
Get the Led Out consists of lead singer Paul Sinclair, drummer Adam Ferraioli, electric guitarists Jimmy Marchiano and Paul Hammond, bass guitarist Billy Childs, and keyboardist Andrew Lipke. Taking a look around at the Zeppelin fans attending the show, I realized I was probably one of 10 people who weren’t over the age of 50. Despite the fact that it was an older crowd, the energy was high throughout the entire show. After playing a couple more intense hits such as “No Quarter” and “Ramble On,” the band pulled out some chairs and acoustic guitars to play the mellow “Going to California,” immediately changing the mood.
After a lengthy intermission, Get the Led Out came back out and Sinclair talked to the crowd for a little. Sinclair poked fun at the band’s celebrity lookalikes, saying, “I bet you’re wondering why Howard Stern is on lead vocals and Robert Plant is on electric guitar.” He went on to say how much he loves coming to Philly because it’s the city where his band got its start. Sinclair also made it clear that they are not trying to impersonate Led Zeppelin. Rather, they are fans that simply love the music. Nonetheless, Sinclair’s vocals are almost identical to Robert Plant’s, which is most likely why this cover band is so successful.
The band then broke into “Moby Dick,” a nearly five-minute-long drum solo. I have attended Get the Led Out for three years now, and this song remains constant on their set list each year. Ferraioli went to town on the drums for what felt like forever, leaving the crowd in awe.
After an intense performance of “Kashmir,” the band thanked the crowd for coming out to the show and subsequently exited the stage. Since I’m not a newcomer to Get the Led Out, I knew they weren’t going to leave the crowd hanging on that note. After about 10 minutes of anticipation, the band ran back out on stage and the crowd went wild. They immediately began to play the mystical “Stairway to Heaven,” the most popular song off of “Led Zeppelin IV.”
Just when we thought this electric eight-minute performance was closing out the show, the band excited the crowd with “Whole Lotta Love” from “Led Zeppelin II.” The audience was noticeably thrilled to have two encores of a couple of the band’s greatest hits.
Overall, Get the Led Out is a phenomenal band to see if you are a Led Zeppelin fan; the only song I wish they had played and was surprised that they did not was “Over the Hills and Far Away” off of Led Zeppelin’s 1973 album “Houses of the Holy.” After the show, band members were available for a meet and greet.
Get the Led Out returns to the Electric Factory every year in the second week of December, and Paul Sinclair performs at Bridgeport Rib House in New Bridgeport the first Sunday of every month, covering Aerosmith along with Led Zeppelin.
