[ Def Leppard UK - Led Zeppelin London 2007 ]
MON 10th Dec 2007: O2 Arena, London, ENGLAND.
[Pic] - Pic by Jon Furniss © Wireimage 2007.
[SETLIST]
Good Times, Bad Times,
Ramble On,
Black Dog,
In My Time Of Dying,
For Your Life,
Trampled Under Foot,
Nobody's Fault But Mine,
No Quarter,
Since I've Been Loving You,
Dazed And Confused,
Stairway To Heaven,
The Song Remains The Same,
Misty Mountain Hop,
Kashmir,
Encore:
Whole Lotta Love,
Rock And Roll.
[Show Notes] - Capacity: 16,000+. A tribute concert for Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records who signed Led Zeppelin. All proceeds going to his charity. The first time the band have performed since 1988. Jason Bonham filling in for his Dad John who died in 1980. The song 'For Your Life' was given it's live debut, the band had not performed this when still touring in the 70s. The venue is inside the formerely named Millenium Dome located on the Greenwich Peninsula in south-east London.
This show was attended by many musicians including Joe Elliott (a rare UK visit...), Dave Grohl, Roger Taylor and many more. Joe was interviewed before going inside the venue and photographed drinking with Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers at the show's afterparty.
Joe was also recently spotted at two nightclubs in Las Vegas, possibly attending events connected to the Ricky Hatton boxing match on Sat 8th.
Media Review - by Hamish MacBain - Link Back
Led Zeppelin reunion: the review ::
You might think it couldn't possibly live up to expectations, but, it transpires, the opposite is in fact true of Led Zeppelin's first public appearance in 17 years.
They seem buoyed by the deafening roars that greet their every twitch tonight - everyone present in the O2 Arena is willing their performance to the realms of greatness. It's almost impossible to be subjective, to not be sucked in.
It takes Robert Plant three songs before he offers a cursory "good evening". By that time they've alreay blasted through an incendiary 'Good Times Bad Times', a dramatic 'Ramble On' and the stop/start rhythms of 'Black Dog'. He needn't say anything.
Next they launch into 'Nobody's Fault But Mine' and Zep are smiling at each other, only occupying about six square feet of the enormous stage. You wouldn't believe this is a band who haven't played together for so long.
They do 'No Quarter and they're locked in as tight as if it were the 1970s. Only the close ups on the screen at the back give away their advanced years.
Next they launch into a version of 'Dazed And Confused' that seems to last forever - but every last second is enthralling.
Jimmy Page is lit up by lasers and at the song's climax Robert Plant yells out "Jimmy Page on electric guitar!" in a moment that resonates right back to their first gigs in the late '60s.
'Stairway To Heaven' follows. Ridiculous in many ways, it's still a song that everyone present thought was fated to only be performed by dodgy pub covers bands and not again by its creators.
Jimmy has the double headed guitar, bassist John Paul Jones is sat at a keyboard and Plant - contrary to the pre-gig rumours - is singing beautifully.
Playing this well-known classic proves a shrewd move, as it gently reminds everyone present just which giant-sized rock band they're dealing with.
The final half-hour is comprised of songs so omnipresent it's hard to make any sort of tangible judgment.
'Kashmir' finishes the main set sounding incredible before the band take a bow and they're gone.
Rapturous applause follows as you might expect, but its nothing compared to the sheer mania that greets the first encore song 'Whole Lotta Love'. Not many bands have one of those, you see.
The middle section veers into space rock territory any young band would be proud of, and when that riff returns its... well you already know how it goes.
Then Led Zep blast through a second encore of 'Rock And Roll' - paying tribute to their old mentor and the reason that this concert is taking place, Ahmet Ertegun, on the way - and, well again... you know how it goes.
If there were sceptics here tonight - there weren't but just for the sake of argument consider it - Led Zeppelin silenced them and banished any rotten memories of their shambolic Live Aid reunion.
More importantly, though, what they have done here tonight is prove that they can still perform to the level that originally earned them their legendary reputation.
We can only hope this isn't the last we see of them.
Hamish MacBain © NME 2007 - (Link contains many rehearsal/show pics by Ross Halfin).