A Bloggy Day In Londontown.....

Gare's London Ledblog

12.13.07

I went, I saw, I hailed.

Out of around a million who tried, yours truly was lucky enough to secure a golden ticket to the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute and the reunion—or resumption, as the band prefers to call it—of a lifetime.

I was there: London, the O2 Arena, Section 108, Row P, Seat 252, Monday, December 10^th, 2007.

More than 20,000+ Led loyalists were also in the house, though none more important than the four named Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham.

You may find yourself at the show for the ages, in the capital of Europe, on a frigid winter's night and think, "Well, how did I get here?"

I took the Jubilee Line of the London Underground—the tube—from Bond Street on the west end and rode beneath the Thames to the North Greenwich stop. From there you take the escalators up to arena level (sadly, no bootleg t-shirts) where you get your first glimpse of IT.

IT is the former white elephant once known as the Millennium Dome, which actually does resemble (appropriately enough) some kind of resting mothership. As the O2, it's been converted into a suite-enhanced tour stop not unlike Staples Center, only with a ring of restaurants and clubs lining its enclosed but unheated perimeter.

The sound wasn't bad for a barn. And after sets from ELP/Yes/Bad Co. members Keith Emerson, Chris Squire & Alan White and Simon Kirke, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Paul Rogers and Foreigner, it was 8:30 or so and the music stopped. No Ronnie Wood as advertised on even the t-shirts? Guess not.

9 p.m. was rapidly approaching. I was told the Led Zep set would be from 9 to 11 p.m. What was only a two-thirds-filled hall during most of the Tribute to that point now was packed. A closer inspection of the stage revealed Jimmy Page's custom Marshall stacks, one complete with "Zoso" logo, and Jason Bonham's drum kit, bearing the first album's Hindenburg on the bass cover. Definitely no Ronnie Wood performance now!

At 9:03, the house lights disappeared to a deafening approval.

On the large black video screen behind the drums and wall of amps (a la Knebworth) a sixties-era TV set appeared with news footage of Led Zeppelin arriving in Tampa in 1973. I think the reporter was talking about their record-breaking ticket sales and attendance, but I'm not sure; the 28 year's worth of cheering was drowning it all out beautifully.

For the record, I've never seen a better show—ever. I admit this after having overseen complete control of my faculties. I'm not a druggie, not a pothead and there were no pre-show "bracers" at the pub. We're talking Mitt Romney sober here.

Now, I could give you a couple of reasons why this Led Zeppelin O2 performance goes down as the greatest concert I've ever seen, but there are more than that—in fact, 17. Specifically:

1) GOOD TIMES BAD TIMES

Kind of a surprise opener but one that did jump-start a few Zeppelin concerts in late 1969—including their 10/17/69 show at New York's Carnegie Hall—when it was played in medley form with Communication Breakdown.

It seemed fitting that the band would begin again from album one, side one, cut one. But the sound crew stumbled out of the gate—the mix was horrific. It was all John Paul Jones' bludgeoning bass, Jason's booming drums and, fighting amongst the mike feedback, Robert's voice in a slightly lower register than the LP version. On my notes I wrote "Where's Jimmy's guitar??" As the song progressed to absolutely berserk approval, and with no improvement in the sound, a guy behind me said "Oh no! Don't let this happen! This is HORRIBLE!!" Other than that, it was electric. And beyond surreal to be sitting here, eight time zones away from L.A., watching Led Freaking Zeppelin. Surreal was 10 tube stops ago…

2) RAMBLE ON

"Who—or what—is mixing this?" I wrote. No noticeable mending of the sound from the opening. JPJ's muddy, plodding bass seemed to be the dominant instrument with Jimmy's Les Paul and Robert's voice fighting to be heard.

Everyone reeks of confidence, at least on the surface—especially Mr. Page. They're playing quite well right off.

And no requisite rock threads, either! Instead of, say, his famous embroidered dragon suit from 1975, Jimmy wore a simple black three-piece with long topcoat and aviator sunglasses complementing his side-parted ivory locks. John Paul went with a basic black, long-sleeved shirt and black slacks, as did Robert, who eschewed the wide-open blouses of the seventies for a top that remained buttoned all the way up to his sternum. Sorry, ladies. Jason went for the tight-but-loose black t-shirt and jeans with trainers. Someone tossed a bowler hat onstage in homage to his father late in the show, but we'll get to that later.

3) BLACK DOG

No "Out On The Tiles" intro. Shortly after Ramble On comes to a thunderous conclusion, Robert just launches into "Hey hey momma" without any opening salutations. I note that the mix is now getting better; Jimmy's guitar is coming through clearer. But man, they've got it cranked. Great version, Jimmy's animated and afterwards Robert finally greets the throng with "Good evening!" which we return with a rousing response of our own.

4) IN MY TIME OF DYING

Jimmy loses the topcoat and straps on a larger, cream-colored Gibson and a slide for his left ring finger. He then proceeds to helm the heaviest, nastiest, most diabolical version of IMTOD I've ever heard. John Paul has switched over to a vintage Fender bass and Robert's voice is now sufficiently warmed and up for the challenge of this Graffiti classic. When the song breaks down nicely and he begins to sing "Oh my Jesus", he starts softly then works up to a frenzied "Oh my JE-JE-JE-JE," standing next to and singing right at Jimmy. The entire piece is a goose bump moment, so good my eyes pool up. My favorite of the show—5 stars out of 5.

5) FOR YOUR LIFE

After the tour de force that had just assaulted our senses, Robert took a moment to say thanks and mention the "thousands and thousands of emotions that we've been going through for the last 6 weeks together and finally came to this point….for Ahmet….for bringing Jason in.." Huge cheers for the mentioning of both men, as the emotions away from the stage were just as significant. Robert then added that "this is one we've, uh, this is the first adventure with this song in public." Jason counts off the beat on his hi-hat then the band gives an explosive debut of the song from Presence. Jimmy's switched to his black Les Paul and Robert even does a mild Daltrey-esque mike swing before Jimmy's fine solo.

The video screen turns red with intersecting white lines, a slightly geometric play on the song's powdery references.

About Robert's voice on one my Led favorites, I wrote "AOK!" And it only gets better…

6) TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT

Robert Plant cited another Robert—Johnson—introducing this song, saying RJ wrote Terraplane Blues in 1936 and "it's appeared in a thousand different guises….but this is kind of Led Zeppelin's Terraplane Blues." A very tight, high-octane version with Jimmy returning to his show-opening Les Paul Sunburst and giving us an incendiary solo. During JPJ's clavinet solo, Robert drapes the microphone over his shoulder and casually strolls around back near Jason.

7) NOBODY'S FAULT BUT MINE

"This next song that's been immortalized by The Staples Singers, more recently by the Blind Boys of Alabama…and I think we must've heard this...we were in a church somewhere in Mississippi, in about 1932 when Blind Willie Johnson was just—just before he had his first shot." Jimmy's Les Paul sounds like a tank army recreating the Battle of the Bulge; like IMTOD, it's the heaviest version I've ever heard. The band is obviously well-rehearsed, very crisp and tight with Robert's harp work first-rate. The fog machine, however, is a tad trigger-happy; it kicks on near the song's beginning in advance of…..

8) NO QUARTER

NOW cue the fog the machine! As a light fixture resembling spider legs and illuminating blue lights descended from above the band, JPJ began the eerie opening. They didn't go overboard with the vocal effects, such as when Robert sang the lines "The winds of Thor are blowing cold…cold…cold…." As you'd expect, the solos from John Paul and Jimmy were as masterful as they were the last time you saw them. "On piano, John Paul Jones!" Robert said at its conclusion to a well-deserved ovation.

9) SINCE I'VE BEEN LOVING YOU

After three comparatively brisk openers, we're now gallows pole-deep into some sonically extended pieces. As has always been the case with SIBLY, it's mesmeric yet intense. There were some nice close-ups of Jimmy on the big screen as well as close-ups of John Paul's feet on the bass pedals while his hands worked the organ ivories. "Will they let us up for air after this?" I wondered.

10)DAZED AND CONFUSED

Uh, no—just breathe deeper.

You know it's not any garden variety rock show when a violin bow gets a rousing ovation. The second Jimmy whipped it out the crowd hooped it up. D&C began as deliberately and as menacingly as a fan could want. It felt like decades of pent-up ferocity were set to be released upon us, which thankfully they were. During Jimmy's foray with the bow, and after the green lasers had fired up, Robert began singing along with melody while John Paul stood near Jason's kit watching intently and awaiting Jimmy's command to release hell. When JPJ and Jason kicked into the nitro-fueled portion of the song, Jimmy unleashed a solo by which all other D&C solos should probably be judged. Robert began the song by saying "It's quite peculiar to imagine, trying to make a dynamic entity from 10 different albums….but there are certain songs that have to be included." Amen.

11) STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Speaking of certain songs that HAD to be included….

It was the first time these four had performed the song since the 1988 Atlantic Records 40^th Anniversary Show in New York. And even then Robert didn't want to do it. This time, everyone was apparently on the same, uh, page (sorry) and it was splendid. Robert refrained from any introduction and the inclusion of asking "Does anyone remember laughter?" after "the forests will echo with laughter." I think he was just glad to get it over and done with, finally. During "The Solo" on Jimmy's double-neck Gibson, I caught Robert and Jason smiling at each other. The vibes were like that throughout. Even Jimmy was smiling at the three by end. By far the most popular song captured via a ticketholder's cell phone.

12)THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME

Since he already had the majestic 1971 EDS-1275 red double-neck out (double red neck?), why not this one? Tight as usual, scorching as always, soaring like the heavens. The interplay and cohesion between Jimmy, JPJ and Jason here is further evidence they'd worked their arses off in rehearsal. Robert got more animated here, now freed—forever?—from the Stairway burden. But alas, no Rain Song to follow.

13)MISTY MOUNTAIN HOP

Just before ripping into MMH, Robert mentioned that Jason would begin the next number or something to that effect.

"We've been practicing this," he said. Jason then sang the opening a cappella line of "I Can't Quit You" much to the crowd's—and the band's—delight. Hop isn't one of my favorite Zeptunes, but it was done quite well with a precise, abrupt close and some retro, psychedelic images on the big screen. Jimmy was back to his Sunburst Les Paul, until….

14)KASHMIR

"Someone held up a sign that said 'Hammer of the Gods.' I can't imagine people coming out to see that so late in life," Robert said. Yeah, well, imagine going on tour—you'll really see the peeps queue up for a deified whacking, Percy. Other than Stairway, this is the one so many had been waiting for and, like all the rest, they nailed it. Jimmy, with smiles all around, switched to his candy apple red Les Paul. Robert hit all the stratospheric notes, those oooooos he himself blueprinted into the song. It wasn't a surprise, either; just days earlier, he'd told a reporter that in rehearsal he'd never sung Kashmir better. Somewhere during the song a bowler hat—the kind John Bonham wore on the '75 tour—was tossed onstage behind Jimmy. It remained there for a few minutes before Robert kicked it off to the side, oddly enough. This ended the initial set and the boys exited stage left to a cataclysmic roar not unlike that of F-16s scrambling for three minutes.

15) WHOLE LOTTA LOVE

After a few minutes' worth of cheering and stomping over what we'd just been blessed to witness, the reinvigorated and resuscitated Led Zeppelin returned for an encore. Most have heard that Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters fame has lobbied (ever)long and hard to somehow, some way, some day play drums for Page, Plant and Jones. Dave was at the show; I was walking by the "brew queue" and saw him with Chad Smith of the Chili Peppers holding court. Before kicking into WLL, Robert casually approached the mike and said "Whattya think, Dave?" Like, ouch.

Whole Lotta was its usual force of nature, with Jimmy's solid gold Les Paul his weapon of choice. Between the hellacious riffs, green lasers sent forth from the stage and special effects ranging from the visual onscreen to the aural via Jimmy's pedals and feedback toys, it felt like a music therapy session from Dante's Inferno.

It was apparently more than enough Led for some, as a few hundred or so began heading for the exits after it was over and the guys left the stage again. The tubes won't stop running for another hour, folks! It's been 28 years since they performed here in England—what's the rush? Sure enough, almost as many that booked after WLL, came streaming back in for the grand finale of…..

16) ROCK & ROLL

Some nice vintage footage of the band from the 60s and 70s was mixed with live shots on the big screen during R&R. Robert stretched out the "lonely-lonely-lonelys" and Jason finished the song just as his dad had both on record in countless times live. I wrote that somewhere up there Bonzo was looking down saying "That's my boy!" And I'm sure he was joined by a beaming Ahmet Ertegun as well as and equally proud Peter Grant, the Zep's original manager.

On their final bows, Jason jumped away from the three and fell to his knees before them in Wayne and Garth "we're not worthy" fashion. That lasted about a second as Robert motioned for him to cease that nonsense and get back to his rightful place. It has been official for some time: He is one of them. And he's more than worthy; he's family.

A white-hot LED ZEPPELIN in the band's trademark font glowed on the black screen as the band departed the stage for the final time that night, perhaps forever. No member of the band yelled "See ya next year" or "For more tour information go to ledzeppelin.com and sign up." That was that. My feet haven't quite rejoined the pavement and my mind keeps asking "Did it really happen?"

17) Oh yeah, that 17^th reason this

was the top concert in the history of Me? The stakes. They could not have been higher. Has any band of such myth and stature ever faced a greater challenge, a more courageous attempt at its glory days, even for one night? Everything was on the table. And for once, both the house and the players all won.

Final thoughts: The Zeppelin was as hot as my dollar was a 98 lb. weakling against the dollar. Will they do it again?

So don't be surprised if they do…or be terribly disappointed if they don't. Personally, I think they've got a few more shows in them for 2008. I mean, why restore a 1970 Hemi 'Cuda to mint condition then drive it only once? After all, Robert Plant did pen the words "Then, as it was, then again it will be."