Short review of the Zep concert

[pledm]

Led Zeppelin lets the 'Good Times' roll By CHRIS LEHOURITES, Associated Press Writer


LONDON - After that performance, Led Zeppelin really must go on tour.

The reunited rock 'n' roll legends were superb Monday in their first full concert in nearly three decades, mixing in classics like "Stairway to Heaven" and "Black Dog" with the thumping "Kashmir" and the hard-rocking "Dazed and Confused."

The band's three surviving members — singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones — were joined by the late John Bonham's son Jason on drums.

And it was the newest member of the band that was given the honor of kicking off the sold-out benefit show, pounding out the beat before the others joined in on a near-perfect "Good Times Bad Times."

After the lights went down at the O2 Arena, newsreel footage of the band arriving in Tampa, Fla., for a 1973 performance was projected onstage. Then Bonham jumped in, soon to be joined by the rest.

They followed that with "Ramble On," and with it destroyed all rumors that the 59-year-old Plant could no longer reproduce his trademark wail.

With his button-down shirt mercifully buttoned up, Plant roamed the stage belting out hit after hit, rarely giving his critics anything to work with.

But Page showed he still has the touch as well. Besides ripping out his patented riffs all night, he put the spotlight on himself when the band played the bluesy "In My Time of Dying."

With his left hand moving freely up and down the neck of his guitar and the metal slide wrapped around one of his fingers, Page effortlessly played a song that's not easy to master.

Page and Plant later combined to open "Nobody's Fault But Mine," a song that starts with another classic Page riff and then gets help from Plant mimicking the same sounds.

Still, it was Bonham who may have been the star of the show. At 41, he is older than his father was — 32 — when he choked to death on his own vomit in 1980.

Bonham's flawless performance and driving beat even made the other members of the band watch in awe at the end of "Black Dog."

After "The Song Remains the Same," Plant screamed: "Jason Bonham, drums! Come on!"

The 16-song set list produced few surprises. They did many of the songs expected, such as "No Quarter" and "Trampled Under Foot," and the entire show lasted a bit more than two hours, mainly because of encores "Whole Lotta Love" and "Rock and Roll."

The band also played "For Your Life" live for the first time.

"It's quite peculiar to imagine ... to think about creating a dynamic evening choosing from 10 different albums. There are certain songs that have to be there, and this is one of them," Plant said in introducing "Dazed and Confused."

When Page's solo started midway through the song, many in the audience were wondering whether the guitar virtuoso would resort to his old tricks.

But after only a few seconds, the 63-year-old Page turned his back to the crowd and walked nonchalantly toward his amp. Once there, he pulled a cello bow off the top, and the fans again went wild.

They followed that with "Stairway to Heaven," the band's staple song, which many hardcore fans were hoping would be dropped from the set.

But the crowd still loved it, with many standing to dance as Page played on his double-necked guitar.

A few lighters even popped up, but they were mostly replaced by digital cameras.

Plant may have struggled a bit on the early verses — his voice a tad raspy — but it was hardly reason to believe the band wasn't ready for anything.

Fans are hoping to get to hear them do it again, and soon.

Though this show is supposed to be one-time event, there have been rumors that if all went well, it would kick off a world tour.

Plant seemed to play down those rumors, saying he plans to tour with bluegrass star Alison Krauss, but Monday's performance will only add to the fervor of the fans to see them play more gigs.

"The whole idea of being on a cavalcade of merciless repetition is not what it's all about," Page told The Sunday Times leading up to the performance.

The show was Led Zeppelin's first full set since 1980. Robbed of "Bonzo's" pulsing drums, the band decided it couldn't go on and split up on Dec. 4, 1980.

Tickets for the show, a benefit for the late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, were won in an Internet lottery. Proceeds are to go to the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund, which provides scholarships to universities in the United States, Britain and Turkey.

"Hey Ahmet, we did it!" Plant screamed after "Stairway."

Monday's concert wasn't the first Led Zeppelin reunion. The band played together in 1985 at Live Aid, and joined forces again three years later — with Jason Bonham on drums — to play at the 40th anniversary concert for Atlantic Records.

At their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1995, they teamed up with other musicians for another short set.

The show was originally scheduled for Nov. 26, but was postponed until Monday because Page injured the little finger on his left hand.

There were several opening acts rotating across the stage, mainly hosted by former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman.

Paul Rodgers, Keith Emerson and Foreigner got the biggest cheers.

Plant said he was told that people from 50 countries made their way to London for the show.

"I can't believe people would come from 50 countries for that," Page said after pointing out a banner in the crowd that read "Hammer of the Gods."

They came, and they saw a show that hopefully won't be the last.

Sounds amazing hope it was taped for a possible DVD.

They just showed a 30 secound clip of the show on ABC news looked and sounded great,they looked like they were having fun.

Songs played;2007.12.10 London, England - O2 Arena
1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Ramble On
3. Black Dog
4. In My Time Of Dying
5. For Your Life
6. Trampled Underfoot
7. Custard Pie
8. Nobody's Fault But Mine
9. No Quarter
10. Since I've Been Loving You 11. Dazed And Confused
12. Stairway To Heaven
13. The Song Remains The Same
14. Misty Mountain Hop
15. Kashmir

ENCORE
16. Whole Lotta Love
17. Rock And Roll

[pledm]

Just another review;

LONDON -- The magic remains the same.

A generation after they last performed a full concert together, the surviving members of the legendary Led Zeppelin made what can only be called a triumphant return to the stage at London's O2 Arena last night.

Playing for a sold-out crowd of devotees, VIPs and media from around the world, the band -- 59-year-old singer Robert Plant, 61-year-old bassist John Paul Jones and 63-year-old guitarist Jimmy Page, joined by late drummer John Bonham's 41-year-old son Jason -- proved beyond doubt that despite their age, they still wield the hammer of the gods.

Sure, Zep may have been your daddy's rock band, but make no mistake: The British blues-metal icons brought enough swagger, sweat and sheer walloping power to blow most of today's young turks out of the water.

They were greeted like the heroes they are by the wildly enthusiastic crowd of nearly 20,000, who had paid L125 each (about $250 Cdn) for tickets to the concert after beating out millions of fans in an online lottery.

From the opening moments, it was clear they were going to get their money's worth -- and that they were bearing witness to the biggest comeback in rock history.

Kicking off the evening with Good Times Bad Times -- the first song from their debut '69 album -- the band burned through a high-energy 130-minute set that drew from nearly every album in their decade-long career.

Detractors and naysayers who suggested the band might not be able to deliver the same show they did decades ago were quickly proven wrong. Though his hair is now a silver tangle of mad-scientist curls instead of black locks, Page was still every inch the ultimate guitar god, peeling off blistering solos and showing no ill effects from the broken left pinky that delayed the show by two weeks.

A goateed Plant was in equally stellar form -- even if he sang the odd note in a slightly lower register than the banshee wail of his youth. Jones and Bonham held down the bottom end as if they had been playing together for years, with the latter doing a magnificent job of echoing the sound and style of his great father.

The production itself was no slouch, either, with the group backed by a stage-wide video screen and bathed under washes of light from a giant spider-like rig.

You could quibble that it didn't equal the sprawling three-hour shows they used to put on, but as someone who saw them back in the day, let me tell you they were never this tight. And the sound and lights were never this good. And this time, we didn't have to sit through a half-hour drum solo.

By the time it wrapped up after a smoking version of Rock and Roll, the fans most certainly had not had enough.

We can only hope the band feels the same way.

A song-by-song review of last night's Zep show:

- Good Times Bad Times: Could there be a more perfect opener? We think not. Even better: They totally nail it -- especially Page, whose solo is nothing short of firebreathing.

- Ramble On: Plant seems to be singing a little lower than he used to. Otherwise, it sounded every bit as good as the original.

- Black Dog: Ten minutes in and they've started bringing out the big guns. And hitting the mark. Bonham handles the offbeat rhythm without a hitch. And Page reels off another searing solo. Plant doesn't have to work too hard to get the crowd singing along on the, "Ah, ah, ah, ahhhhhhhhh" refrains.

- In My Time of Dying: Page switches to a hollow-body electric and pulls out the slide for this serpentine epic workout from Physical Graffiti.

- For Your Life: Before the gig, Page told interviewers the band had rehearsed this buried treasure from Presence, which they never performed live before. You'd never know it from this version.

- Trampled Underfoot: Jones puts down his bass and moves to the keyboard for this funky number, which Plant explains was inspired by Delta bluesman Robert Johnson's Terraplane Blues.

- Nobody's Fault But Mine: Another slow-burning epic, this time from Presence. Plant tells the crowd this one came from the Staples Singers and the Blind Boys of Alabama. More to the point, he plays a pretty wicked harmonica solo.

- No Quarter: Jones' trademark keyboard spotlight lasts 10 minutes -- which is about half the length of the epic versions they used to play back in the day. Come to think of it, at eight songs an hour, they're playing about 50% more material than before. Good value for that L125 ($250)!

- Since I've Been Loving You: Apparently, they're sticking with the slower groove for a while. No complaints here -- though we are gonna be ready to hear another rocker pretty soon.

- Dazed and Confused: "I don't know how many songs we recorded together," says Plant, adding that when they put together their set list, there were some songs that "had to be" included. "This is one of them." damn right. Midway through, the violin bow has been unsheathed! Page launches into his solo while standing in the middle of a spinning laser pyramid -- exactly as he did on the band's '77 tour.

- Stairway to Heaven: It's Stairway. What more is there to say? Except that they pulled it off like champs. "Hey, Ahmet," says Plant at the end. "We did it." Indeed they did.

- The Song Remains the Same: Page has pulled out the doubleneck SG. This one seems a little slower than the studio version. But hey, they have been on for 90 minutes. And they are senior citizens.

- Misty Mountain Hop: Again, the energy on this one seems to be flagging just a bit. Plant even sounds a little winded. Maybe they should have kept it to 90 minutes.

- Kashmir: That thing we said about keeping it to 90 minutes? Never mind. They redeem themselves with this slowly thundering version. "There are people here from 50 countries," Plant says. "This is the 51st country." Jones is on keyboards, but Page does a pretty fair job of bringing the guitar army to life.

- Whole Lotta Love (Encore): This one is also a little slower than the studio version -- but in this case, it only makes it sound heavier and more aggressive. Plant tops it off with one last scream that's probably still echoing over the Thames.

- Rock and Roll (2nd Encore): They couldn't have closed with anything else. And they couldn't have played it any better than this. Like racers heading for the finish line, they saved one last burst of speed for the end of the race.

- The final bow. Or is it?

[pledm]

One more from the New York Times;

Led Zeppelin Finds Its Old Power By BEN RATLIFF
LONDON, Dec. 10 — Some rock bands accelerate their tempos when they play their old songs decades after the fact. Playing fast is a kind of armor: a refutation of the plain fact of aging, all that unregainable enthusiasm and lost muscle mass, and a hard block against an old band’s lessened cultural importance.

But Led Zeppelin slowed its down a little. At the O2 arena here on Monday night, in its first full concert since 1980 — without John Bonham, who died that year, but with Bonham’s son Jason as a natural substitute — the band found much of its old power in tempos that were more graceful than those on the old live recordings. The speed of the songs ran closer to those on the group’s old studio records, or slower yet. “Good Times Bad Times,” “Misty Mountain Hop,” and “Whole Lotta Love” were confident, easy cruises; “Dazed and Confused” was a glorious doom-crawl.

It all goes back to the blues, in which oozing gracefully is a virtue, and from which Led Zeppelin initially got half its ideas. Its singer, Robert Plant, doesn’t want you to forget that fact: he introduced “Trampled Underfoot” by explaining its connection to Robert Johnson’s “Terraplane Blues,” and mentioned Blind Willie Johnson as the inspiration for “Nobody’s Fault But Mine.” (Beyond that, the band spent 10 luxuriant minutes each in two other blues songs from its back catalog — “Since I Been Loving You” and “In My Time of Dying”).

Ahmet Ertegun, the dedicatee of the concert, would have been satisfied, sure as he was of the centrality of southern black music to American culture. Ertegun, who died last year, signed Led Zeppelin to Atlantic Records; the show was a one-off benefit for the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund, which will offer music students scholarships to universities in the United States, England, and Turkey, his homeland.

By the end of Zeppelin’s two-hour-plus show, it was already hard to remember that anyone else had been on the bill. But the band was preceded by Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings—a good-timey rhythm-and-blues show with revolving singers including Paolo Nutini and Albert Lee, as well as a few songs each by Paul Rodgers (of Free and Bad Company) and Foreigner — all of whom had recorded for Atlantic under Ertegun.

There was a kind of loud serenity about Led Zeppelin’s set. It was well-rehearsed, for one thing: planning and rehearsals have been underway since May. The band wore mostly black clothes, instead of its old candy-colored wardrobe. Unlike Mick Jagger, Mr. Plant — the youngest of the original members, at 59 — doesn’t walk and gesture like an excited woman anymore. Some of the top of his voice has gone, but except for one attempted and failed high note in “Stairway to Heaven” (“there walks a la-dy we all know{hellip}”), he found other melodic routes to suit him. He was authoritative; he was dignified.

As for Mr. Page, his guitar solos weren’t as frenetic and articulated as they used to be, but that only drove home the point that they were always secondary to the riffs, which on Monday were enormous, nasty, glorious. (He did produce a violin bow for his solo on “Dazed and Confused,” during that song’s great, spooky middle section.)

John Paul Jones’s bass lines got a little lost in the hall’s acoustics — like all such places, the 22,000-seat O2 Arena is rough on low frequencies — but he was thoroughly in the pocket with Mr. Bonham; when he sat down to play keyboards on “Kashmir” and “No Quarter” and a few others, he simultaneously operated bass pedals with his feet, keeping to that same far-behind-the-beat groove.

And what of Jason Bonham, the big question mark of what has been — there’s no way to prove this scientifically, but let’s just round it off — the most anticipated rock reunion in an era full of them? He is an expert in his father’s beats, an encyclopedia of all their variations on all the existing recordings. And apart from a few small places where he added a few strokes, he stuck to the sound and feel of the original. The smacks of the snare drum didn’t have exactly the same timbre, that barbarous, reverberant sound. But as the show got into its second hour and a few of the sound problems were gradually corrected, you found yourself not worrying about it anymore. It was all working.

Led Zeppelin has semi-reunited a few times in the past, with not much success: short, problematic sets at Live Aid in 1985, and at Atlantic Records’ 40th Anniversary concert in 1988. But this was a reunion that the band had invested in, despite the fact that there are no plans yet for a future tour; among its 16 songs was one the band had never played live before: “For Your Life,” from the album “Presence.”

The excitement in the hall felt extreme, and genuine; the crowd roars between encores were ravenous. At the end of it all, as the three original members took a bow, Mr. Bonham knelt before them and genuflected.

[Bob]

Thank you for posting the reviews Pledm. I wish I had gotten to see this!
THEY HAVE TO TOUR NOW!!!!!!!