Heaven in Fort Worth

Despite being critically called out for appealing to baser tastes and merely bludgeoning their audiences with volume, orchestration has always been a part of Led Zeppelin's music. The layered guitar parts of Jimmy Page and the lush colorizations from bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones, along with an incredibly diverse range for a "hard rock" act, have continually earned the band an enduring popularity.

Therefore, it's not much of a surprise that the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra offers Stairway to Heaven: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin as part of their Concerts in the Garden series. It must be more difficult to interpret the vocal Robert Plant-isms with a trumpet than it is to duplicate the slop-orific soloing of Page with a violin because the FWSO has chosen singer Randy Jackson of the Zebras (not American Idol) to front the tribute. But still, something may be lost in the translation. It should be interesting, though, to hear how the 60-piece band pulls it off...and enlightening to hear some of the finer points of Zeppelin's music performed by musicians in tuxedos as opposed to dragon-embroidered bell-bottoms. Hear for yourself 8 p.m. Saturday at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens, University Drive and Interstate 30. Tickets range between $10 and $45. Call 817-665-6000 or visit fwsymphony.org
Sat., June 3, 8 p.m.