Film Review - Led Zeppelin Celebration Day

I am in a ‘guys book club.’ Here is the way it works – we rotate months, someone picks a theme and a book to go along with it. We don’t read the book and we gather at some place that matches the theme to have a night out. Great concept, huh? We’ve “read” The Killer Angels (paint ball), Rat Pack Confidential (Portland Supper Club crooner night), and Adult Paparazzi - Nude Bowling Issue (bowling – maybe a few of us looked at this book too).

My night was in October, so of course I suggested we all ‘read’ Hammer of the Gods and attend as our event, the one-night-only theater screening of the Led Zeppelin film “Celebration Day.”

For those of you unaware, this is a two-hour concert film that captures the sights, sounds and smells of Led Zeppelin in 2007 when the band reunited for its first full-length concert since 1980 and its third reunion including the atrocious Live Aid appearance and the slightly less than atrocious Atlantic Records 40th anniversary show.

In those latter mini-gigs, the band was woefully under-rehearsed and mainly Page was the weak link. I’ll never forget them getting totally lost in the middle of Kashmir (the song) in the Atlantic records set.

For this 2007 concert, they were incredibly polished, confident and kick ass. I thought the weak link would be Plant, but he sounded great, despite the fact that the band tuned a handful of songs to a lower key to accommodate his voice.

But from the opening chords of Good Times Bad Times, the 16-song set picks up speed like Felix Baumgartner from 125,000 feet (minus the spinning) and just really never stops.

The set list was perfect – a good mix of songs they “had to play” per Plant, such as Stairway, Dazed and Confused, Whole Lotta Love and Rock and Roll, and deep cuts like For Your Life, In My Time of Dying, Trampled Under Foot and Misty Mountain Hop.

The film was all concert – no backstage or backstory, and showed precious little of the audience. It was all about the band and the interplay between all of the musicians

Thankfully John Paul Jones gets as much screen time as Page and Plant (unlike most of the concert videos of Zeppelin), as he is the true secret weapon of that group. In this concert film, you get to see how much he really does in that band.

Jason Bonham did his homework and was fantastic. Page does not quite have his chops back to 70s level but he was impressive nonetheless. If this band had indeed toured, he would have risen to a sick level of playing. But he is clearly confident and digging playing these tunes with his old band again.

In fact there are a lot of smiles all around, nicely captured by the film crew. It’s a real joy to dig this classic band kick ass one last time.

Celebration Day comes out on November 19 in various DVD, CD and Blu Ray formats will extra goodies like footage from the rehearsals. But I have to say, just the two hour concert is worth it.

I found this official video of Kashmir from the film. All of my book club buddies agreed that this song in particular blew everyone away. See what you think:



Here is the full set list:

1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Ramble On
3. Black Dog
4. In My Time Of Dying
5. For Your Life
6. Trampled Under Foot
7. Nobody’s Fault But Mine
8. No Quarter
9. Since I’ve Been Loving You
10. Dazed And Confused
11. Stairway To Heaven
12. The Song Remains The Same
13. Misty Mountain Hop
14. Kashmir
15. Whole Lotta Love
16. Rock And Roll

Two Rock Films Worth Watching Out For - Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin

Who of my faithful readers doesn't enjoy a good rock and roll documentary or concert film? Well, you'll be happy to know that two doozies are coming our way.

Led Zeppelin just held a press conference this week where they announced the official CD and DVD release of the one-off 2007 reunion concert held in London.

There have been scads of stories about what the band said and didn't say. One of the better ones is this ClassicRock.com article on 10 reasons why Zeppelin won't reunite ever again.

You can go to LedZeppelin.com to check out the various packaging of the CD and DVD of the show. Me? Give me the one with the full concert and backstage extras, if it exists.

But to me the coolest news is that the main film of the concert, called Celebration Day, will be shown on the big screen on Wednesday October 17 (one night only) around the world.

You can find theaters in your area at Zep's website too. And dig the movie trailer:



The other film coming out soon is on the Rolling Stones, and is more of an official documentary of the band, celebrating its 50 year anniversary.

Announced in late August, the film is called Crossfire Hurricane. It will also run in theaters but only in London, and then will show on HBO in November.

Here is the trailer, which just posted yesterday:

Happy Birthday John Paul Jones, George Martin

I don't usually do these happy birthday posts but these two guys undoubtedly changed the course of music, with The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.

I have never seen or met Beatles producer George Martin, but was able to ogle JPJ a couple of years ago when Them Crooked Vultures blew our tiny little Portlandia minds at a mid-sized club called The Roseland.

If you want to see what JPJ added to the 'heavy' of Zeppelin's heavy metal, look no further than this from 1999:



And here is a great video of George Martin going over how he and the Beatles recorded A Day In The Life:



John Paul Jones is now 66, and George Martin just hit 86.

Jason Bonham Trots Out the Zep

So let's recap. After the Zeppelin reunion a couple of years ago, there were loads of rumors that the band would get back together and tour. But of course Robert Plant scuttled the idea - he was doing great on his own thank you very much, and despite the fact that they totally pulled off that reunion show, a close examination of the bootlegs reveal some dropped tunings and Plant doing a great job but really JUST pulling it off. No way he could do a whole tour.

So next the rumors were that the other three guys were looking at singers so they could go on without him. Even this year there were confirmations that Page, Jones and Bonham had been chomping at the bit to get out and play but nothing clicked with singers, so it didn't happen. Jones joined the truly excellent Them Crooked Vultures, Page put out a book and Bonham re-joined...ahem...Foreigner.

Until this year. Bonham announced the Jason Bonham Led Zeppelin Experience - basically a Zeppelin tribute band with the son of a founding member. Like if Julian Lennon trotted out a John Lennon Experience Tour or something. A little bogus and kind of obvious.

I thought this was totally skippable until I saw the below video clip from opening night.

From Bonham's Web Site: [10-09-2010] The opening night of the Jason Bonham Led Zeppelin Experience tour was a fantastic show! Jason would like to thank the fans for the well wishes and support.

Setlist of the first show included: Immigrant Song, Celebration Day, I Can't Quit You Baby, Your Time is Gonna Come, Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, Dazed and Confused, Lemon Song, Thank You, Moby Dick, [Intermission] Act 2: Friends, Since I've Been Loving You, Black Dog, The Ocean, The Song Remains the Same, I'm Gonna Crawl, Stairway to Heaven, Kashmir. Encores: Whole Lotta Love, Rock & Roll.

Sounds pretty sweet. What do you think?

Movie Review: It Might Get Loud

When I was about 10 or 11, my brother (who was ten years older) took me to a movie. I remember him being very fired up about this movie and saying I needed to see it because I liked music and guitar so much.

The theater was really far away and the drive took forever. On the way he told me about this new band he thought I would like. It had two kind of cool guys in it, and two sort of nerdy guys – it was Cheap Trick and he was right, I did like them. I also really liked KISS at the time and was getting way into The Beatles. I was still a year or so away from The Stones, Who, Tubes and Police. And puberty.

But he was about to blow my tiny little mind away by taking me to see The Song Remains The Same.

Whoh, mission accomplished, as GWB would have hung in the theater on a big banner. The place was packed. People were smoking dope and being really loud. It was very overwhelming and exciting and my brother turned to me about every three minutes and said, “are you doing OK?”

Of course the main event was on the screen. What a way to be introduced to Zeppelin. Everything about it was huge. The theater sound system was cranked, and I could only imagine why that bearded guy (manager Peter Grant) blew all those card playing dudes (music industry people) away with a machine gun at the beginning of the movie, and that one dude’s head fell off as colored streams of paint fountained out his neck. Huh!?

The music was of course a lot to take in -- 25 minute Dazed and Confused with violin bow solo and Jimmy Page scaling a mountain to meet a wizard-like version of himself, only to be thrown backwards in time back into the womb? Check. Creepy horse-riding highwayman causing general havoc and then returning home to a lovely dinner in his mansion with his family? Check. Insanely long drum solo? Check. Dragon pants? Check. Golden God? Check. Needless to say, I was never the same again.

Thanks, Johnny.

In the same spirit, I took my 10 and 12 year old boys to see It Might Get Loud this weekend. Not to freak them out on some 70s pseudo devil soundtrack, but to celebrate what I have loved and played for more than 30 years – the electric guitar.

The movie was billed as Jimmy Page (there is that name again), The Edge and Jack White getting together to pretty much talk shop and share stories and observations about the electric guitar.

And we got that. But we got more. A lot more.

The movie tracked Page, White and Edge and how they got into the guitar, what was going on in their lives at the time (all three have great stories of struggle and how music helped them respond), and how they have approached the instrument.

I learned a lot from all three but the one guy I didn’t know at all was Jack White. He is a very interesting dude. Youngest of 10 kids, raised in Detroit in a shitty neighborhood. Likes to make things hard on himself for a challenge, to keep things real. Such as, “If the keyboard is three feet away from me onstage, move it to four feet so I have to run over to play it.” I like that. Complacency is not his deal.

Edge’s story is a bit better known but the background on what was going on in the music industry and in Dublin (lots of strife) when U2 started was fairly eye opening.

Interspersed between the individual stories was footage of the three hanging out on a soundstage, talking about guitars and playing each other riffs. Some pretty cool little jams between all three as well.

Some of the cool scenes:

--Page touring us through the mansion where LZ 4 was recorded and showing the room the drums for When The Levee Breaks were recorded, and how he miked them (from the upper balcony)
--Edge showing how he uses his various effects and pedals – a gear geek’s wet dream
--White writing and recording a song out of the blue on a reel to reel for the movie
--The look on Edge and White’s faces as Page breaks into the Whole Lotta Love riff
--The three jamming on In My Time of Dying, trading slide solos

Anyway, I highly suggest seeing this film is you are a guitar player. It’s a must see, actually. Not sure it changed my kids’ lives or anything, but they really enjoyed it as well and asked when my next gig was. Gotta love that…

If you haven’t seen it yet, the trailer is pretty representative of the movie:

Jimmy Page Confirms That Former Zep Will Move On With New Singer

I guess this is not big news. There have been rumors flying for a while that Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham have been playing and writing. And pining. For a singer.

Robert Plant has said no pretty firmly a number of times. So the rumored new singers starting emerging. The most serious was that Steven Tyler jammed with the trio. A late October article said that session didn't go so well:

A source tells Britain's The Mail on Sunday newspaper, "Steve was jamming with Zep. They had a great time but Steve kept fluffing (messing up) his lines. He got quite flustered about it."

But now Page's management has confirmed that the singer search is indeed on. He told the BBC News:

"...they decided that if they could find a singer that they thought would fit their bill, whatever their bill was at this stage in their career, that they'd make a record and go on tour."

"I can't comment on any rumours right now," he said, "It's gonna be a long and difficult process. And we're not soliciting people. So don't call me about it!" Similarly, it is not known whether the new outfit would be touring under the banner Led Zeppelin or a new name.

I have said it before and I will say it again. I would love to hear music from these guys. Just don't call it Led Zeppelin!

Jack Bruce Trounces Zeppelin, Steven Tyler Jams with Page and Jones

After picking up an award for Cream's "Disraeli Gears" at the Marshall Classic Rock Roll Of Honour a couple of nights ago, bassist Jack Bruce launched into a pretty crazy anti-Zep tirade.

From the full interview at Classic Rock Magazine:

After the ceremony, Classic Rock magazine's Dave Ling grabbed Bruce for a quickfire interview — and was stunned when the legendary bassist launched into an extraordinary anti-Led Zeppelin tirade.

An excerpt from the chat follows below.

Classic Rock: The million dollar question: Are Cream going to do anything again?

Jack Bruce: Oh yeah, I'm sure we will. But we'll have Todd Rundgren [who's just walked by] in the band by then.

Classic Rock: It's good news that there might be more from Cream.

Jack Bruce: Well, the trouble is that I'm doing so many amazing things on my own. Cream is just a band from many, many years ago, and we did do something [referring to the reunion shows in 2005]… Everybody talks about Led Zeppelin, and they played one fucking gig — one fucking lame gig — while Cream did weeks of gigs; proper gigs, not just a lame gig like Zeppelin did, with all the [vocal] keys lowered and everything. We played everything in the original keys. [Becoming animated]: Fuck off, Zeppelin, you're crap. You've always been crap and you'll never be anything else. The worst thing is that people believe the crap that they're sold. Cream is 10 times the band that Led Zeppelin is.

Classic Rock: That's a bold opinion.

Jack Bruce: What? You're gonna compare Eric Clapton with that fucking Jimmy Page? Would you really compare that?

Classic Rock: To be fair, they're different kinds of player, aren't they?

Jack Bruce: No! Eric 's good and Jimmy 's crap. And with that I rest my case.

I'm sorry but I can't make it through ONE full Cream album. There are certainly some great tunes and they had the hard rock thing going pretty much before anyone else in the 60s, but come on dude!

In other Zeppelin news, the Plant replacement singer rumors keep flying. Chris Cornell, Jack White (from the White Stripes) and of course Myles Kennedy have all countered rumors that they are Zep's new vocalist.

But here is the really weird one. Seems that Aerosmith's Steven Tyler actually jammed with the band a couple of weeks ago.

From various stories, here is some more on this:

Aerosmith guitarist Whitford has confirmed Tyler has been singing with the rockers, but is convinced it is part of a plan to win Plant back. He says, "First of all, they did it for fun. I actually think Jimmy (Page, Led Zeppelin guitarist) wanted Steven to come over and play a little bit because, I think, he was trying to light a fire under Robert (Plant)." And Whitford thinks Page wanted to send Plant a message to persuade him to tour with the band: "Come on! Come on, Robert, let's go!"

Whatever. Just don't call it Led Zeppelin!

UPDATE:

Wednesday morning the JJ & Lynne Morning Show at 94.7 WCSX (a Detroit radio station) called Jack at his home in London, where he clarified his comments:

"I was just having some fun with the press gallery really… being fairly tongue in cheek.

"The thing about Zeppelin is obviously it's a little bit of jealousy on my part, or more than a little bit because the audience was created by Cream and Jimi Hendrix… this sort of very large audience… then Zeppelin came along and had a very easy ride in that way.

"We were the pioneers and pioneers don’t always get the recognition they deserve. On the other hand, let’s face it: Jimmy Page ain’t no Eric Clapton… no matter what anybody thinks.”

Bruce also had this to say (jokingly) about Zeppelin:

“The only decent guy… the one good guy in that band is dead… so what are you gonna do? The trouble is if you say anything about the establishment… In Britain you mustn’t criticise the Queen or Led Zeppelin.”

Zeppelin to Tour with New Singer? Is Myles Kennedy In?

Myles Kennedy. You may remember him from the metal band Alter Bridge. Or maybe not! But if you have seen the movie Rock Star, you will for sure remember him as the singer who takes Mark Wahlberg's place at the end of the movie (see video below).

Kennedy actually has some interesting stats behind him. According to Wikipedia, he possesses a 4-octave vocal range, with his longest held single note timed at 22 seconds; his longest note streak with one breath is 31 seconds.

He may need it. If reports are to be believed, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham are rehearsing with Kennedy with the intent of doing a Led Zeppelin tour without Robert Plant.

As reported today by the NME:

Led Zeppelin have replaced their frontman Robert Plant with American singer Myles Kennedy, according to reports. MuchMoreMusic claims that Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham have been rehearsing with Kennedy recently, after Plant issued a statement quashing rumours of a reunion tour and album.

Of course, the source for this rumor is Twisted Sister's Dee Snyder, who recently said in an interview, "They're saying [to Robert], 'We're all rehearsed, we're ready to go. Here's a gazillion dollars on the table. If you don't do it, we're going out with this kid. And he can sing the shit out of Zeppelin.' And they're gonna hope that Robert, at the last minute, will go, 'Okay,' and step in before having the lead singer of Alter Bridge out with John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Jason Bonham."

We'll see! Kennedy certainly has the pipes, but I am sure there will be a fair amount of backlash if this project is called "Led Zeppelin." At least there will no mistaking the new frontman for Robert Plant, even from afar. A lesson KISS could learn as they continue to trick fans into thinking they are touring with the original four.

Robert Plant Says No Way to Zeppelin Reunion

Robert Plant issued an official statement on his Web site yesterday, putting to rest the rumors of a Zeppelin reunion for good:

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are currently touring the USA on the last leg of their 'Raising Sand' tour. They played a benefit concert in Oklahoma City for victims of Hurricane Ike last Friday; Austin, Texas last Saturday and tomorrow they play Portland, Oregon before finishing the tour in Saratoga, California on October 5th.

After those dates, Robert has no intention whatsoever of touring with anyone for at least the next two years. Contrary to a spate of recent reports, Robert Plant will not be touring or recording with Led Zeppelin. Anyone buying tickets online to any such event will be buying bogus tickets.

“It‘s both frustrating and ridiculous for this story to continue to
rear its head when all the musicians that surround the story are keen to get on with their individual projects and move forward,” Robert Plant said.

“I wish Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham nothing but success with any future projects,” he added.

I guess it makes sense. Interviews on Eddie Trunk and other programs have talked about while Plant for sure pulled off the one-off reunion vocally, making a lengthy go at it on the road would have been very challenging. Let's just hope Page, Jones and Jason Bonham don't make some boner decision like hiring David Coverdale for their new project!

Jason Bonham Jamming with Page and Jones

Thanks to the Eddie Trunk site for this nugget:

Blabbermouth.net reports that drummer Jason Bonham spoke with the "JJ & Lynne" morning show in Detroit, Michigan this past Friday, August 22nd. During the interview, Bonham revealed that he is leaving Foreigner at the end of this month and that he has been jamming with Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones.

Bonham, who was born in England and now lives in Florida, said, "I've been over [to England] a couple of times. I've been working with Jimmy and John Paul and trying to do just do some new material and some writing. I don't know what it will be, but it will be something...At the moment, all I know is I have the great pleasure to go and jam with the two guys and start work on some material. When I get there, I never ask any questions. If I get a phone call to go and play, I enjoy every moment of it. Whatever it ends up as, to ever get a chance to jam with two people like that, it is a phenomenal thing for me; it's my life, it's what I've dreamed about doing."

Jason added, "My time with Foreigner is coming to an end. This is the first time I've talked about it. I leave at the end of this month . . . I'm looking forward to taking some time out to be with the family really. Since I moved to America I've been on the road, so my first priority is to go and watch my kids grow up, because they've grown up way to fast in the last four years."

Foo Fighters Jam with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones

What in the ever loving hell?

Is Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins the luckiest guy on earth this year? First he jams with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson on YYZ, and now he kicks out the jams with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones at Wembley Stadium over the weekend.

Apparently set up by rock photographer Ross Halfin (read his June 7 diary entry), Hawkins and Dave Grohl are joined by Page and Jones to do Rock and Roll and Ramble On.

The Telegraph ran a story that said:

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl told the 86,000-strong audience on Saturday that he had something special planned, saying: "Tonight this will be the show we are talking about for the next 20 years."

An emotional Grohl told the crowd after the impromptu appearance: "Welcome to the greatest day of my whole entire life."

This kick ass photo was taken by Ross Halfin.

Are the Foos the luckiest bastards alive or what? What's next? Hawkins joins The Who on Young Man Blues and The Real Me at Save The Planet Fest 2009?

6/9 addendum - as Judakris pointed out in the comments section, Grohl and Hawkins have jammed with Queen as well (I saw them on VH1 Rock Honors last year and it was pretty good). Lucky FREAKS!

Still trying to find a video that isn't all choppy and bogus but I'm out of time. You'll get the idea!

Reunion Face Off - Floyd or Zep?

There is little question that two of the most stunning and unexpected reunions of the last few years were Zeppelin at O2 last year and Floyd at Live 8 a couple of years ago.

Stunning in that no one thought these reunions would ever happen, and that both bands performed well.

There is also a bit of mystique about these two one-off shows, because there wasn't a full tour following either reunion (despite promoters offering literally hundreds of millions of dollars to each band). Also, both bands have members who have all but said "That was it - I don't want to do it again." Leaving us all a bit...wanting.

So, which one was your fave? Floyd or Zep?

Here are two YouTubes to refresh your memory.

Pink Floyd doing Comfortably Numb at Live 8:


Led Zeppelin doing Kashmir at O2:

XM Radio Blows it with Zep Channel

So, I have had months to listen off and on the XM Radio's Led Zeppelin channel (it's channel 59, if you really want to know). I blogged about the concept when I first found out about it, here.

What a great idea, on paper. Months of Zeppelin, non-stop. All the album tracks, augmented by live stuff, interviews and even solo outings.

But I have to say that XM did not deliver. We mostly got the studio albums, a scant smattering of already released live stuff and mostly Robert Plant solo. But I'd say 95 percent of what I heard were songs from the studio albums. I could do the same damn thing if I created my own iTunes Zep playlist and set my iPod on shuffle.

I was in the Bay Area this week and stumbled onto a classic rock station's "Get the Led Out" 30 minute segment and they got it right. I heard a version of the Jimmy Page solo piece White Summer, and Bonham (Jason Bonham's band from the late 80s) doing "In The Evening" live. I had never heard THAT before, and it was rockin.

There you go. That is what XM should have done. Bootleg live tracks. Deep solo cuts, like stuff from Jimmy Page Outrider or the DeathWish 2 soundtrack. How about The Firm? What about the Honeydrippers (OK, maybe it was fine to leave that out)? John Paul Jones has done soundtrack work.

They just shot for the lowest common denominator and now I am REALLY sick of D'yer Maker and Traveling Riverside Blues, which seemed to run twice and hour, each.

Satellite radio usually fulfils its mission of going where terrestrial radio can't or won't go. But in this case it was a pale imitation. Opportunity lost, for sure.

Plant Says No to $200 Million for Zep Tour

Get a good look at the video below. It's Zeppelin doing Kashmir last December at the reunion show for Ahmet Ertegün. Look at it closely. See how they rock.

Now come to grips with the fact that this is probably the closest we'll get. Robert Plant has officially out the kibosh on a tour. Read all the details in the LA Times, but Plant would rather keep working with Allison Krauss than his old fishing buddies. Even if it cost him $200 million.

Yep - the standing offer would net he, Page and Jones $200 million - EACH.

In a London Daily Mirror story, a band source said: "Despite the enormous offer, the decision did not come down to money. They always said they would do the one-off show and then see how they felt. Jimmy had enjoyed the concert in December enough to want to tour. He argued they still had something to offer. He likes the idea of another chapter in the band - the grown-up tour. John Paul Jones sided with Jimmy. He loved making music with the others again. But, Robert wanted to leave last year's concert as their legacy. They had proved they could still do it and that was enough."

Whatever. His, and our, loss.

Zep Rumor Mill & Videos

Looks like YouTube is starting to pull the reunion videos so watch that Kashmir one while you still can - it's the best one I have see so far, by far.

A couple of rumors buzzing around today:

1) The O2 show will be released on DVD
2) The band was talking backstage after the gig about doing some nights at Madison Square Garden

More Zep Vids

There are lots of videos of the Zeppelin reunion on YouTube (just Google "Zeppelin O2"), so I won't go posting them all week. However, here are two good ones I found last night. Note they played Good Times Bad Times in D instead of E - an easier key for Plant to sing in. Stairway is tuned down a whole step as well. Page's solo is appropriately sloppy but nowhere near the train wreck of LiveAid.

As he showed us on the stellar Black Crowes tour, Page can get his chops up when he plays these songs night after night. I have no doubt he'd be blazing on an actual Zep tour as opposed to a one off gig.

Pretty glowing review here by Rolling Stone. There is mention that members of Yes and ELP also performed. Weird. I thought Pete Townshend was involved but have not seen anything about him...

Good Times Bad Times


Stairway

Zeppelin Reunion - First Video

Thanks to Voxmoose for this clip. They sound flipping awesome. Wow.

Led Zeppelin Reunion Song by Song

So, we are hours away from the Zep reunion and the folks at NME are going to blog song-by-song postings right from the show floor. God bless hi tech!

When my buddy Al gets back from the show next week I will try and get a review from him.

12:48 update: NME just posted rehearsal photos here.
1:35 update - the whole world is trying to access the flipping NME blog.
1:40 update - first song - Good Times Bad Times - great choice IMO.
3:40 - final set list:

--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

Encores:
--Whole Lotta Love
--Rock n’ Roll

One of the first reviews is here and it's pretty glowing. I want to hunt out some skepticism or at least objectivity. Was it really this killer? Maybe there will be some YouTube stuff up. If I see any, I will post it.

Disclaimer - the photo is from Getty Images and if they get pissed at me, I will take it down.

Zeppelin Changing Keys?

From Eddie Trunk's site: The Sun reports that Led Zeppelin are rearranging classic tracks for the upcoming reunion gig after Robert Plant found he could no longer hit the high notes (told ya).

The band have been rehearsing songs in a lower key because 59-year-old Plant's voice is deeper. The Sun's source revealed yesterday: "He and guitarist Jimmy Page have had a few heated discussions about the upcoming gig. Jimmy is a bit rusty and Robert has been struggling with the high notes. To avoid any embarrassing vocal wobbles with the world watching, they decided it would be best to transpose the songs in a lower key."

This is the first of anything negative I have heard about the reunion (except for Page forcing thousands of people to change flight/hotel reservations due to his injured finger).

Of course, people are bound to be critical and/or negative ahead of the show. I am sure it will rock, but moving songs into a lower key is a drag. As we've seen with live key-lowerings by The Police, ELP and even when Rush did "Circumstances" on their last tour in a lower key, lowering the key affects the mood of the song, and usually in a subliminally negative way.

Just like with drastically slowing down tempo, lowering the key more often than not drags the song down and makes it feel like 'something is not quite right.' I am sure there are loads of Zep songs Plant could sing, but they'd likely have to skip many of the 'hits.' So they lower the key. Ugh.

I guess we'll see what happens! (Note that to my knowledge Yes has never changed the key on any of their songs live and Jon Anderson can still belt the shit out of them? Just had to throw that in there)

XM Update and the Worst Zep Song Ever

Been checking out this XM Zep channel on XM Radio. They have played some solo stuff - I heard a few Plant solo songs as well as a pretty sweet live cut from the Black Crowes with Jimmy Page, something I posted about a while ago.

The inclusion of solo material makes this a bit more legit and reasonable. So now this begs the question - will they play anything off of Jimmy Page's soundtrack to the movie Deathwish 2?

Also, I've heard some nice nuggets they'd never play on the "real" radio, like "Tea for One," "Carouselambra" and "Hots on for Nowhere." But I also just heard the worst Zep tune ever, called "Hats Off to Roy Harper." It's the last cut off of Led Zeppelin III and is a total novelty that is fun for the first minute you hear it and forevermore it's the worst Zep song ever.

It reminded me of a funny take off Voxmoose and I did in high school called "Hats Off to Charles Obscure." I dialed in an obnoxious guitar tone, broke out my first all-slide song ever on tape (meaning, it was bad, and by 'bad' I mean 'not good'), and Voxmoose ran a vocal mic through a number of effects, screechingly emoting lines such as "Little fishy got no brother...!"

It was as classic as the original! If I can figure out a way to post audio here maybe you'll get that soon.