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Location: Phoenix AZ | Found this review of last nights show on the web
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After that performance, Led Zeppelin really must go on tour. Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin played Monday night at London's O2 arena.
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." Watch the band tear into "Black Dog" »
After the lights went down at the O2 Arena, newsreel footage of the band arriving in Tampa, Florida, 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.
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.
Reviewers were ecstatic. "With a synergy like this going on, it would be an act of cosmic perversity to stop now," Pete Paphides of The Times of London wrote.
"They sound awesomely tight," Alexis Petridis wrote in Tuesday's The Guardian. David Cheal of The Daily Telegraph said the band's "familiar old sinew and swagger were still there."
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 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 December 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 November 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. |
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Posts: 1225
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | I saw a short clip of "Black Dog" on the news this morning, and the band sounded very good. I never thought that Plant was that great live, and from what I heard, he sounded like he did on the live Zeppelin albums ....just ok.
I must admit, they did sound much better than I thought they would. |
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| Stellar reviews in all the British press. |
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Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | Only review I've ever seen that talks about choking on vomit, much less with a hint of admiration. Those Brits are so refined. I heard a clip on the radio this morning and they did sound good. Couldn't quite hit the high notes, but not bad. |
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| Just a little local colour Mark. When you do you world trip in retirement are you going to come to England after Paris and Jerome? 186mph all the way on the train - centre of Paris to centre of London in just over 2 hours. |
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Location: closely held secret |  |
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| I missed my chance to sneek off with my brother back in 77. I won't make that mistake this time.
These guy's are going to make ten times the money the Stones and the Eagles make combined when they tour. Even if your not a fan it is a chance to see the monster legends before they pass. There will never be another Rock & Roll era like the 70's it was the decade that blew the top off rock & roll's massive potential. These guy's for better or for worse were the undisputed, hard edge, masters of this phenomenon. There will never be another generation who will experience these guy's live!
Now if Gilmour and Waters will conspire on a new album, all will be right with the world.
Randy |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Schroeder, my wife took our daughters to London a few years ago. I stayed home. I had been to the Lake District a few years before, for work. Represented a turbine manufacturer named Gilkes. I loved the area around Kendall and enjoyed the people, but wasn't too impressed with the weather or the food. Merry old England is down on the travel list for now. Germany and Austria are at the top of the list for now. I can't complain if my wife wants to visit car museums and factories.
Of course if we knew when the next Ovation factory tour was, we could start planning that. |
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Location: Scotland | Just a little "aside".... Tonight my band played a show with a superb Brooklyn-based songwriter called Neil Cleary. The show was supposed to be us, plus Neil, plus Laura Cortese, a singer-songwriter and fiddle-player. Turns out that Laura plays in a band called "Uncle Earl" whose latest album was produced by John Paul Jones. JPJ personaly invited Laura to last night's Zep concert and Neil rang me saying "Hey Paul, It's just gonna be me, Laura can't make it back up to Scotland in time, is that ok.....? I let her off the hook, natch. |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Temp,
I've got a close connection with Rayna Gellert, the fiddle player with Uncle Earl...
very talented group o' gals |
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Location: Scotland | Yeah, they're a fabulous band. Check out Laura's Myspace site, and Neil's too, both very talented people. |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | I'd rather see Paul's band and Neil Cleary than Led Zep. But that's just me. |
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Location: big island | i'm in agreement, an4340. |
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Location: Scotland | Hey, I'd rather see my band than Led Zep, and I've seen us way too much. |
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Location: big island | interesting how laura plays her fiddle like an ukulele! |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | 'specially if your sharing the bill with 'Uncle Earl'... |
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Location: big island | paul,
how's about getting your band on youtube for us all to enjoy? |
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Location: Scotland | Working on it, we shot some video tonight. There's a buncha rough demos on myspace. |
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Location: big island | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
'specially if your sharing the bill with 'Uncle Earl'... uncle earl video:
streak o\'lean, streak o\'fat |
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Location: big island | paul,
got a link to your myspace? |
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Location: Scotland | www.myspace.com/acousticrats |
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Location: big island | mahalo! |
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Location: big island | tremendous music, paul. you guys got it goin' on big time. you will enjoy much success, i'm sure. i'd like one of the first one hundred thousand autographed cd's, please! |
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Location: Scotland | Success? A bunch of fat old geezers with acoustic guitars and a lap-steel? I don't think so. We're one step away away from a bar-band. The only success we are likely to have is when we get the pay-check after the gig. |
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Location: big island | well, you probably will not get ranked up there with the led zeps of the world, but your music will be much enjoyed by those who get "blessed" enough to hear your band. that is success, IMO. the paychecks will be the icing, unless you're only in it for the money :rolleyes: |
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LED ZEP CONCERT LAST NIGHT
