Looks like Led Zeppelin will be playing a full set in London and Oh Man do I wish I was there!!! Robert Plant appears to be the skeptical one when reading that article, and I understand his trepidation about not going on a full-on tour. But still, I grew up with them in the 80’s and wished to see them in their prime in the 60’s and 70’s.
I was watching a VHI 100 Greatest rock bands of all time, and when they got to the top 5 you had people like Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, James Hetfield all talking about the one band that brought rock and roll up a notch and they were all talking about Led Zeppelin.
It is safe to say if they show up in the US anytime soon, I’ll pay whatever it costs to see them. May be the last time…
Don’t get me wrong, I like Led Zeppelin, and I’m aware that they really are one of the great bands of rock n’ roll history. But I don’t like them the way it seems almost everyone else into rock n’ roll does. For me they’ve always been somewhere down around #30 or so of bands I’d like to see in concert, hear a song by at a random moment, etc.
If they’re performing in my area, and I’m lucky enough to log on to Ticketmaster at just the right moment as the tix go on sale in order to get a couple of tickets at list price, I’ll certainly go. But barring that, nope.
Their greatest legacy is that they helped pull rock music through the mud and mire of Disco and out the other end, where rock survived. For that alone, they deserve great kudos.
I’d have to disagree, Lib. Zep wasn’t that much of a force in the immediate post-disco world.
Besides, disco was going to fade on its own eventually, and somebody (or a whole lot of somebodies) was going to fill that void. Artists and bands that were big in the wake of disco, such as Springsteen or The Police, deserve credit for being what they were, but it’s doubtful that disco died a minute faster on their account.
I love Zep, but it ain’t Zep to me without Bonham. Hell, I’d go so see Zeppelin without Plant before I’d see Zep without Bonham. Perhaps I’m a bit odd, but to me what made that band extra special was the back line, perhaps the greatest rock rhythm section of all time. It’s like going to see the Police without Stewart Copeland. Those drummers helped define those bands, so this isn’t anything but a glorified Page and Plant tour to me.
I keep imagining 60 year old groupies offering themselves to the security detail to get with the band. The mud shark will be replaced by someone’s muddy adult diaper.
Huh?
**LZ ** released *Presence * in '76 and In through the out door in '79. While both sold well enough (on the name of LZ, IMO) they were critical failures and by this time, the punk bands were refering to them (and acts like the Floyd, Yes, Genesis) as dinosaurs. Zep’s greatest period was arguably between '69 and '71 when *I-IV * was released. While *Houses of the Holy * and *Physical graffiti * were good enough as albums go, the band had lost its impact by then. From *Presence * and on, there was constant buzzing about a break-up. Especialy with a couple of cancelled tours, albeit due to an accident and a family tragedy.
There’s no way LZ helped us survive Disco. That honor goes to Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Clash, Talking Heads, The Police among many others.
I saw them at the Stairway to Heaven tour in Chicago. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was tripping, I probably would have hated the whole show. They are definitely better in the studio than they are live. Just my opinion.
I paid $20 for my ticket (through a scalper!) and it was just the most outrageous price I’d ever paid. Maybe that led to my disappointment in the show.
Well it is a Bonham. I think I’m with you here, *some * bands have some * replacable members, (the Rolling Stones have gone through a number of lead guitarists (and bass players, I presume)) others have none. Are The Who still The Who without Moon and Entwistle, I don’t think so. Pink Floyd without Waters nope.
“Led Zeppelin” might actually be a better live act now than back in the day, I bet a 59yo Page is not going to wander off into rambling ten minute solos in every other song, and they’ll most likely skip Moby Dick.
I would (and would have back in the 70s) liked to see them in a sensible sized venue, in a stadium, no thanks. And this gig is in the Dome.
Zeppelin and ::shudders:: disco, lived in entirely different worlds. And as Charlie points out they’d done their best stuff before the height (if that’s the right word, and it is not) of disco which would have been about the time of ::nearly has a brain hemorrhage typing this:: Saturday Night Fever (Wiki says 1977).
*Some would say without Syd
I would love to go. But I will make do with How the West Was Won - the complied concert-footage DVD set they released about a year ago. Lots of amazing stuff on that and no crowds to battle or fear for geriatric renditions of their more aggressive stuff…
Maybe. Just maybe.
I saw interviews with them that coincided with the release of HTWWW and both Page and Jones looked well. Respectable middle aged Englishmen. Plant looked worn, and from what I understand, his voice is not up to the vocal gymnastics he did 35 years ago.
So if they would re-invent their songs for guys around 60 and played a venue for no more than 2 000 people, it might be very interesting. Seeing them play for 60k and trying to sound as they did in '71 would be… painful.
An aside: I haven’t heard his collaboration with Alison Krauss. Is it good enough to spend money on for an old Zep fan who knows nothing of Krauss?
I’d love to see Zeppelin live. There’s a cover band that comes through once a semester that’s pretty good, their drummer handles Moby Dick very well, I guess I’ll have to settle for them.
The Plant/Krauss CD is good - excellent, in fact - but it sounds nothing like Zep and barely anything like Robert “Percy” Plant - he of the screeching caterwaul that places the power of the outburst ahead of staying in tune (yes, I love Zep, but Percy can get pitchy, to use American Idol jargon).
The CD is all about close harmonies - where you kind of can’t tell where one voice ends and the next begins. There are some songs where a lead vocalist is obviously featured and the other sings harmony/backup, but for many, they sing duel, intertwined leads. Plant has to keep it under full control to lock in with the lovely Ms. Krauss, whose close-harmony singing is her bread and butter.
The good news is that Plant’s voice sounds great with this more controlled delivery - there are brief glimpses of Zep-style tonality in his voice, but not much. The songs are wonderful - just kind of roots Americana with a Gaelic dirge and a couple of other Old Country-type songs. Some of the songs are really recorded “wet” - loaded with reverb on the vocal and instruments, giving it a cool, ethereal feel. Coupled with the locked-in controlled harmonies you get a very quietly emotional, restrained CD - similar to the Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack (or whatever the heck its called) also produced by T-Bone Burnett. He is less-featured star of this CD…
I don’t know how likely it is but I’ve heard rumors they’ll be playing Bonnaroo 2008 in Manchester, Tennessee and John Paul Jones was at this year’s, which I attended, so it’s possible.
I hope they do. I’ll be attending this one too and it’d be great to see them in that environment.
So anyone go see it? The reviews (MSNBC) are coming in. MSNBC loved it and said Zep rocked; on the guitar fanboy sites, everyone is geeking out over the fact that Jimmy played “#1” and “#2” (his two legendary, modded Les Pauls) and the wine-red doubleneck for Stairway. Some folks are saying it was a good show, but not great. Some songs were definitely transposed to a lower key for Plant’s voice - Black Dog was down a full step to G. Jason Bonham supposedly did a fine, powerful job but lacks the finesse of his dad…
I just watched the video on Google of their performance of “Stairway to Heaven” from last night’s show - and it’s the first time I’ve given a hearty round of applause to a video.
Wow - Kashmir (Youtube) rocks pretty damn hard. Very hard to get that plodding beat to groove - Bonzo the Younger does a decent job and Page and JPJ sound great. Plant sounds like he is singing this one in the original key - a good thing, since Page used an open tuning!