Zeppelin Reunion Biggest Concert in Years
There’s life in the legend yet as Led Zeppelin hit new high
JULIA KUTTNER
AT THE O2 IN LONDON
ALMOST 20 years since they last took to the stage together, Led Zeppelin drowned out the commotion accompanying the most hyped concert in a generation with a blistering two-hour set.
More than 20 million people had applied for 18,000 seats for the charity gig at London’s O2 arena and one Scottish fan was rumoured to have paid £83,000 for two tickets.
The legendary band’s 12-year reign of guitar blues and rock earned them worldwide worship in the shape of 300 million record sales.
And last night Led Zeppelin landed their mothership and fulfilled their promise.
Before the event, guitarist Jimmy Page had implored fans not to compare the charity show to others in the past and had insisted the concert would be a one-off.
Surviving members Page, singer Robert Plant, and bassist and keyboard player John Paul Jones were joined by the late John Bonham’s son, Jason, on drums.
The fundraising event was for an education project in memory of Ahmet Ertegun, the Atlantic Records boss who signed the band in 1968.
After the lights went down, newsreel footage of a 1975 performance in Tampa, Florida, was projected onstage.
With thousands of fans worked into a frenzy, Bonham began thumping the skittering beat before the surviving founders joined in on Good Times, Bad Times.
In jeans not quite as famously tight as they were 27 years ago, Plant still had the energy to strut his 59-year-old body across the stage. However, he mercifully kept his shirt buttoned up.
The 20-minute long Dazed and Confused raised stadium rock to a new level.
With tickets featuring a face value of £125, if you thought the audience had dug into their pension funds for a big night out you may be right.
But there was plenty of punching the air by fans who wouldn’t have been walking in 1980, the year John Bonham died.
Since then, Led Zeppelin have performed only a handful of gigs, including Live Aid in 1985 and an Atlantic Records anniversary show three years later.
By their own admission, each reunion was a shambles, so anticipation ahead of last night’s set at was high.
It was chance to revisit a time when rock was king, the record industry was at its peak and Led Zeppelin were its all conquering leaders.
After more than an hour the bulk of the fans got what they seemed to want most – a rendition of Stairway To Heaven.
Plant seemed to shake away the years and get livelier as the show went on. And two hours in the band were still running on full engines as they launched into the shuddering opening of Kashmir.
Whole Lotta Love had the crowd screaming out every word along with a passionate Plant. And the furiously fast finale of Rock n’ Roll had the arena whipped into a frenzy.
An emotional Plant thanked the fans, but had Led Zeppelin enjoyed the experience as much as their 18,000 lucky followers?
This morning millions of rock fans will be crossing their fingers and hoping for a positive answer to that question.
THE SET LIST
Good Times Bad Times
Ramble On
Black Dog
In My Time Of Dying
For Your Life
Trampled Underfoot
Nobody’s Fault
No Quarter
Since I’ve Been Loving You
Dazed And Confused
Stairway To Heaven
The Song Remains The Same
Misty Mountain Hop
Kashmir
Whole Lotta Love
Rock’n’Roll
From everything that I have heard about this, it sounded like an amazing evening.