Led Zeppelin reunites for London show

Fans and music writers had speculated about it for over two-and-a-half decades, and now it’s finally happened. Monday night, the British blues-rock band Led Zeppelin reunited in London for what will surely become a legendary performance.

The show, part of a larger commemoration of the life of Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, had been touted as the band’s first full-fledged reunion concert since they split up following drummer John Bonham’s death in 1980, though they did later perform two brief shows, one in 1985 and another in ‘88. In preparation for Monday’s concert, the three remaining members — singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, and bassist John Paul Jones — held long rehearsals with their new drummer, Bonham’s son, Jason. The show was hyped for months in the press, including on the cover of the latest Rolling Stone, and by the music industry, and came shortly after the release of a couple new Zeppelin boxed sets. (I don’t know which was planned first, the reunion concert or the boxed sets, but the former is bound to boost sales of the latter.)

Finally the date arrived, and by all accounts, the resulting spectacle was magnificent. Everyone from The Sun in Britain, to the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and the Wall Street Journal had great things to say. And the event even gave some blogger the chance to theorize on the Huffington Post about how the band has brought the western world and eastern Islam closer together. (Okay…)

Whatever the analysis, I just hope the wishful thinking that a U.S. tour is to follow will be realized. I believe Cream’s recent reunion tour did well, and surely a Zeppelin tour would be one of the biggest sellers of the decade.

Other tidbits related to Monday’s event:

• Check out the set list here. I certainly did not expect to see “In My Time of Dying”, “For Your Life”, “Nobody’s Fault But Mine”, or “No Quarter” on there, but I’m so glad they are. (And apparently this was the first time “For Your Life” has ever been played live.)
• On a similar note, despite the chagrin of this writer (and, I’ll admit, despite my own as well), the band did play “Stairway to Heaven”.
• Another interesting facet to the Zeppelin story is a new one for many fans of the band: cracking down on the uploading of clips from Monday’s concert to YouTube. Read one story on the topic here. For the record, I’ve tried viewing about 10 or so different clips, and none of them work. Dang it. Hopefully they’ll release it on DVD ASAP.

[Special thanks to Barrett for pointing my attention to some of the linked articles.]