THE yardstick for Led Zeppelin tribute acts is how good they do Stairway To Heaven.

So beloved is the song that to many fans it would be a form of blasphemy to come on stage and annihilate the 1971 classic.

Whole Lotta Led claim to be the country's best Led Zep tribute act and judging by their Stairway To Heaven, they pass the test.

For the first hour or so the band were good but did not seem to truly connect with the audience although there were outstanding versions of No Quarter and Since I've Been Loving You Then they closed the show with Stairway To Heaven and the mood in the packed Windsor Suite of King George's Hall changed.

It was as if the band members, who aim to replicate the Led Zep sound rather than their image, fed off the audience's enthusiasm for their fantastic and authentic version of the song and let themselves go.

As a result the encore, which lasted for around half an hour, was the highlight of the show.

The band began to smile, strut and appeared to put more into their performance as they ran through songs including Whole Lotta Love.

Members of the audience which was an odd mix of all ages responded by cheering and bouncing along with ever-increasing gusto.

The response seemed to move the band who were so impressed that they vowed to come back next year to give Blackburn a whole lot more of Led.

Ian Singleton