Wondering what to expect on October 17 when Led Zeppelin hit the cinema for one night only? Well Ritchie Yorke was at the very gig that’ll be on the big screen. Here’s his original review in an exclusive for TOM.
LED ZEPPELIN REUNION CONCERT
Seventies supergroup Led Zeppelin thundered back into action in London last night, setting the stage for what will undoubtedly be the biggest world rock tour of 2008.
Despite earlier attempts to hose down such speculation, the way appears to be cleared for a world tour by the biggest hard rock band in history.
Last night, at the O2 Arena, the three surviving Zep members – singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bass and keyboards whiz John Paul Jones, along with Jason Bonham, the son of the late John Bonham, the band’s original drummer – demonstrated why there is such a huge demand for their services.
In a sizzling two-hour set, they made a mockery of the sceptics who’d doubted that the band would be able to cut it as they did in the soaring ’70s. They were great and then some. They delivered a two-hour barnstorming show that will be long remembered.
The biggest drawing band of that era, Led Zeppelin called it quits on December 4, 1980, after the death of drummer John Bonham.
The 02 performance was the band’s first full set since 1980, almost three decades ago. There have been two brief subsequent appearnces – at Live Aid in 1985 and during the 40th anniversary of Atlantic Records celebrations.
This reunion concert was organised as a tribute to the founder of Atlantic Records, the eminent record industry veteran, Ahmet Ertegun who died last year after stumbling into a coma resulting from a fall at a Rolling Stones concert.
The band opened the show with their first album anthem Good Times Bad Times and then slipped into a bluesy rendition of Ramble On.
The show proceeded with other Zep heavyweights – Black Dog, In My Time of Dying, Trampled Underfoot and Nobody’s Fault But Mine. A surprise inclusion was the tune For Your Life from the Presence album which they had never performed live previously.
The sold out audience – some of whom paid extraordinary amounts to gain admission – were treated to a two-hour set of Zeppelin stalwarts, the very songs that defined the audio environment of a generation.
The tone of the show was set early with the basic stage setup and a powerful – and artistically presented – video screen arrangement.
As has always been the case, this was to be a show about form rather than fashion.
Those who had doubted Robert Plant’s (elderly) ability to climb upon the higher notes were proved inexorably wrong.
Entirely decked out in basic black (except for Jimmy’s white shirt), the lads painted a picture of rock `n’ roll realities. You cut it or you didn’t.
Clearly in command of their musical personas, they whipped up an atmosphere of timelessness. A feeling that nothing had changed since they were the musical gods of the universe riding the high horses of epic adolescent essays such as Dazed and Confused, No Quarter, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Stairway to Heaven and Kashmir (this the most enthusiastically-received tune of the evening’s repertoire).
Serenading the “saviour of the evening” Ahmet Ertegun, the Atlantic Records’ founder, Robert Plant exclaimed at the conclusion of a monumentally-received tour de force, Stairway to Heaven. “We remember the days when Atlantic was the best label on the planet,” Robert shouted.
But the often loquacious Plant was notable for his brevity on the night, saying very little to a passionately-converted audience of mainly elders. The average age of concert attenders would appear to have been about 45.
After delivering the dynamic show closer in Kashmir, the band returned to the stage for an uptempo rock `n’ roll interlude with their one and only hit single, Whole Lotta Love (they wouldn’t allow any other titles to be released) and Rock and Roll, the Led Zeppelin II staple.
Although nothing has been firmed up, it has become increasingly obvious that Led Zeppelin would bow to immense commercial pressures and agree to undertake a 2008 world tour. The announcement of such is considered a fait accomplis, by insiders.
Although keyboards whiz John Paul Jones indicated next to no interest in anything other than a one-off reunion show, dynamics have changed and it would appear that a tour will take place.
As Led Zeppelin members sleep upon their O2 triumph, there seems little doubt that more shows are not an entirely disagreeable prospect.\
Even for multi-millionaries, the agenda to accumulate more is omnipresent.
(Ritchie Yorke is the author of Led Zeppelin: The Definitive Biography (Virgin Publishing). He was the first media person to publicly predict Led Zeppelin’s astonishing North American success.)
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