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WhiteSummer

WhiteSummer

Posted
Posted
Perhaps leave out the song titles, any description of the event itself and if it was any good.

Evening strted at 7.15 with an intro by harvey goldsmith and a short video about ahmet.first act was a combination of ELP yes and bad company peforming fanfare for the common man. Excellent keyboard work by chris squier and a great way to kick off the evening.

Next up is bill wymans rythmn kings with a version of ray charles I got woman.

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Lady Goodman

Lady Goodman

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Posted

NME Excellent Review

Led Zeppelin reunion: the review

The first opinion from NME.COM's critic at the O2 Arena

1 hour ago

You might think it couldn't possibly live up to expectation but, it transpires, the opposite is in fact true of Led Zeppelin's first public appearance in 19 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 plant three songs before he offers a cursory "good evening". By the time they've 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 foot 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.

Launchomh 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 the resonates right back to their first heyday.

'Stairway To Heaven' follows. Ridiculous in many ways yet it is 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 an hour is comprised of songs so omnipresent it's hard to make any sort of tangible judgement.

'Kashmir' finishes the main set sounding incredible 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 know how it goes.

Then Led Zep blast through a second encoure of 'Rock And Roll' - paying tribute to their old mentor and the reason 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 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 Live Editor

Led Zeppelin played:

'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'

'Whole Lotta Love'

'Rock And Roll'

-------- also -------

Uncut Review

LED ZEPPELIN CLOSE HISTORIC SHOW WITH ROCK AND ROLL

The full news report: The rock legends prove they still have soul

Led Zeppelin have just closed their first full concert show since headlining the Knebworth Festival in 1970, with their fourth album classic 'Rock And Roll.'

The band played for just over two hours, to just under 20, 000 fans, the audience including former Beatle Paul McCartney, Oasis' Liam and Noel Gallagher, Arctic Monkeys, Kate Moss, Kevin Shields, Neil Finn, Richard Ashcroft and Marilyn Manson.

The band finished at ten past eleven after going on stage promptly at nine, treating the baying air-guitaring crowd with as many classics as time would allow.

Any previous concerns from Jimmy Page and Robert Plant about whether or not they would they would enjoy playing a full live show together after all these years proved unfounded by the time they were through with the first two tracks of 'Good Times Bad Times' and 'Ramble On'.

Full of calm confidence, Plant, Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham were all beaming grins as they ploughed through their inimmitable and iconic back catalogue.

Hit followed hit, all sounding as great as you would imagine live, if you just squinted slightly, you'd not notice their now advancing years.

Plant paused to talk to the audience briefly about five times throughout the set, giving the fans introductions to tracks like 'Trampled Underfoot' and 'Nobody's Fault But Mine'.

Led Zeppelin played the Presence album track 'For Your Life' for the first time ever in public, calling it an "adventure" and it fitted in seamlessly.

'Kashmir', with it's thunderous riffs, and huge hippy patterned images behind the screen took the concert into it's run of classics' finale.

The track that readers of uncut.co.uk and nme.com today voted song 'most wanted' tonight, turned out to be the most energetic, crunchy ten minutes of the night.

'Whole Lotta Love' in all it's glorious trippy power came next, compounding on the electric buzz in the O2 Arena.

Quite a sight watching colour-washed 50ft tall projections of Led Zeppelin playing out behind the figures clad in black on the stage.

Plant then thanked the audience "for the amazing experience, and for supporting Ahmet Ertegun" before the band left the stage to raptuous applause.

Led Zeppelin closed the show with 'Rock And Roll', the song that prior to the show, was rumoured most likely to be their opening track.

The lyrics from that track were, in the end, the most fitting act of closure to this historic show.

"Rock And Roll Its been a long time since I rock and rolled,

Its been a long time since I did the stroll.

Ooh, let me get it back, let me get it back,

Let me get it back, baby, where I come from.

Its been a long time, been a long time,

Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time.

Yes it has."

Maybe it won't be so long 'till the next time.

Also performing at tonight's concert were Foreigner and Paul Rodgers, and Paolo Nutini, as well as other guest artists including Dave Emerson and members of Yes and Bad Company.

You can read Uncut's first review of the show by clicking here now for John Mulvey's Wild Mercury Sound blog.

And you can check out some of the fan's immediate reactions here.

A longer more in-depth review will follow in the next issue of UNCUT magazine.

We'll have more pictures, reports and fan reactions from the Ahmet Ertegun tribute concert from the morning (December 11).

If you were at the O2 Arena, email us with your reviews and opinions!

Email your views to Uncutaudiencewith@ipcmedia.com

Led Zeppelin played:

Good Times Bad Times

Ramble On

Black Dog

In My Time Of Dying

For Your Life

Trampled Underfoot

Nobodys 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

*

Whole Lotta Love

*

Rock And Roll

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Lady Goodman

Lady Goodman

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Posted
Lady Goodman, those words you wrote are exceptional. Thank you for taking the time to write them.

:lol: Thank you! However, I can't take the credit. They're reviews from NME and Uncut. I wasn't able to get into the proper forum to post them because the site is so crowded tonight. So I posted them here.

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Lady Goodman

Lady Goodman

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Posted
Lady Goodman, those words you wrote are exceptional. Thank you for taking the time to write them.

:lol: Thank you! However, I can't take the credit. They're reviews from NME and Uncut. I wasn't able to get into the proper forum to post them because the site is so crowded tonight. So I posted them here in this thread.

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chell

chell

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Posted

Link

Led Zeppelin's Live Reunion: Rockin' 'Good Times'

Dec. 10, 2007, 6:53 PM EST

By Alan Light

Special to MSN Music

It may have been a long time since they rock and rolled, but it sure didn't feel that way Monday night in London at Led Zeppelin's long awaited, wildly anticipated reunion concert. Headlining a show paying tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, the late co-founder of Atlantic Records, the three surviving members of one of rock's biggest bands - singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones on bass and keyboards - joined Jason Bonham, the son of their legendary drummer, John Bonham, for their first full-length performance since the elder Bonham's death in 1980.

There were numerous questions hanging over this show: Could Plant still hit those signature high notes? Could Page still pull off his magnificent, complex parts, especially after a finger injury that delayed this appearance by two weeks? Could Bonham possibly fill the chair of his larger-than-life and endlessly inventive father? Over the course of a two hour-and-ten minute set, the 21st Century Zeppelin answered all of those doubts - and then went further.

Following a motley, uninspired hour of music by other British acts on Atlantic (including Foreigner, former Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman, and a prog-rock all-star team with members of Yes, Bad Company, and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer), Zeppelin opened its show with "Good Times Bad Times," the first track on its 1969 debut album. The 15 songs that followed read like the playlist of every classic rock radio station: "Black Dog," "Whole Lotta Love," "Misty Mountain Hop," and, of course, the band's magnum opus, "Stairway to Heaven," which Plant gave a surprisingly intimate and heartfelt treatment.

It took a few songs for Zeppelin to fully find its feet, and to find the right sound mix.

By the fourth number, though, a thunderous version of "In My Time of Dying," the foursome reminded everyone in the O2 Arena (who had reportedly traveled from 50 countries for this night) that no other band ever sounded like this one, merging blues, rock, and folk into a noise that was purely their own. Other than a torridly funky "Trampled Underfoot," the faster songs generally felt like they could have used another week of rehearsal - without the full access to his upper register, Plant sometimes struggled to be heard about the glorious din.

But the heart of the show stayed firmly in a slow-to-medium sweet spot, demonstrating once again that it was Led Zeppelin that truly put the "heavy" in heavy metal. Page was in command of his full arsenal, from swooping slides to slashing, angular flurries, and Bonham more than held his own propelling this mammoth sound, confidently navigating the precise stops-and-starts and shifting tempos that define Zeppelin's attack. It climaxed in a majestic, thrilling version of the Middle Eastern-tinged epic "Kashmir," which closed the main set.

For a band once known as rock's holiest terrors, this reunion created a full-on case of Zep-mania in London: Newspapers were blanketed with coverage, buskers in tube stations were playing Zeppelin songs. The band members have been carefully noncommittal about whether a tour will follow this show, saying they needed to see how the O2 date went before making any decisions. From the grins on their faces, don't be surprised if we see them again soon. But regardless, fans should rejoice - at least for this one night, Led Zeppelin was truly back. Like the song says, dancing days are here again.

Alan Light is the former editor-in-chief of Spin, Vibe and Tracks magazines and a former senior writer at Rolling Stone. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, GQ and Entertainment Weekly. His book "The Skills to Pay the Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys" was published in 2006. Alan is a two-time winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music writing.

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Honeydripper

Honeydripper

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Posted

This is a great review from a friend (jameskg)at a board I used to be a regular at(RO) whom i really admire and I truly hope he does'nt get pissed that I posted this here, but i feel his review is worth being read by everyone who was'nt there.....considering this guy knows his live Zep!....and is not going to sugarcoat it.

GT/BT

They played the shit out this. Unfortunately, no one bothered to do a soundcheck at all after they set up for Zeppelin and the guitar was almost non-existent. bass wasn't a lot better. I'm sure the people closer to the front could hear fine, from the amps, but the sound guys fucked up the FOH. They basically did Zeppelins levels DURING the first song. - but you could tell they were on it - it fucking rocked. Hopefully the multitrack got the audio the FOH missed.

RAMBLE ON

Same thing. Seemed like a great version, but it was hard to hear the guitars. JPJ's bass riff melody part at the beginning was drown out by the "lite" drum part thundering through the arena. Again, not their fault. The sound guys got their shit together about halfway through this when they figured out they couldn't hear Jimmy's solo. Up came the guitars and it was great the rest of the show The end of the song was great!

BLACK DOG

Wow. HEAVY.. and slow. Oh man.. these guys are going to really tear shit up tonight.. you could just tell.

IMTOD

The slowest, heaviest, most creeping death version I've ever heard. Jimmy has become an real, seasoned, old blues player.. he slid all over the neck like he was actually dying... so MUCH feeling... people in the crowd were subconsciously swooning with him... unbelievable - and when he finished each riff, the descending slide was accompanied by JPJ, ever so lightly, DEEP and low.. sounded like they'd sunk right into the pits of hell itself. And that;s just the opening part. When the drums came in for the first time before "well well well.." it sounded like an explosion. When they got to fast part, it seemed like Jason was right on it.. I couldn't hear well enough to know for sure because Jimmy's was wailing away like a madman... This was a very good version.

FOR YOUR LIFE

YAY! One of them had said they scrapped this at rehearsal - but here it is! I always wanted them to play this live - and here it is! Such a GROOVE this tune has... simple, too - bug powerful chords.. sounds great live. Bonham did a good job recreating the swagger this song has on the album. There was one part I noticed he left off that's a big part of the pattern - but he can't be expected to be a carbon copy. I though this really sounded great. Grooved, even.

TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT

I've never been a huge fan of this song. The album version is ok to me, but not one of my favs and I have never thought much of the live versions. Holy shit. Tonight I understood the attraction. THIS ROCKED.

CUSTARD PIE (Intro)

I didn't hear this and I don't think it happened. It's possible I missed it, but wouldn't it be a train wreck to segue into

NOBODY"S FAULT BUT MINE

can't remember this at all. don't know why - I never left, but it may be due to the "Newfoundland Asshole". More about him later.

NO QUARTER

Oh man. The dry ice (probably fake fog these days), the THICK, heavy tone on Page's riffing... JPJ's signature song was on the money tonight. They played the shit out of this.

SIBLY

It just keeps getting better. The older they get, the better they play this. Page and Plant both knocked this one out of the park - except - Plant jumped the gun at one point and cause the band to skip an entire section to catch up with him. I think this may keep it off the DVD unless they can do some editing magic... but they covered it VERY well - right back together in about 3-4 beats - only lost a single measure, best I could tell. The song was so damn good, you'd hardly remember the screwup, afterward, unless you were trying to for a review.

DAZED & CONFUSED

Fantastic. Nice to have the correct bass player playing this... they didn't pull any punches with this.. we got everything you'd want from them, in a 1973ish Dazed version. When they got to the fast part, Bonham was really keeping up well - but (I think) they ran off the tracks when they went to bring it all back down to the verse again. I can't be sure about it, because they covered very well and they were FRANTIC - I mean NAILING that shit all the way through. Bonham was thrashing like a madman here, too... this was Led Zeppelin, on stage, at 60 years old absolutely NAILING this shit. Whatever that little bit was that happened, it glossed right over. I hope it doesn't keep it off the DVD because this was a great version.

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

They played it. What else is there? I thought the guitar had too much drive on it from the beginning - was very brash and abrupt - and made it lose some of the effect the song has, but Robert sang it like he really meant it. this is one of the FEW places I saw Page use his busted pinky finger. More on that later. I need to hear the tape before I can comment on the solo. It was about what it's always been live, as I remember.

But they played it. "and the crowd went wild". When done, Robert stood with both arms outstretched and bowed, staying bowed halfway for a good 20-30 seconds, like "I did it for you, finally". And had plenty applause to soak up.

THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME

why not? He had the doubleneck out... good version. Played very passionately, but I don't remember anything special about it. I was REALLY hoping they'd drop into Rain Song afterward, but no dice.

MISTY MOUNTAIN HOP

This was a crowd pleaser. Funny to hear people trying to sing along, then realize they don't know the words. The crowd was in a great mood, and this really was like a bit of lighthearted fuel to the fire. Went over very well.

KASHMIR

Holy fuck oh wow man this RIPPED. R I P P E D. I've hardly ever liked the live versions of this song because they sound so thin - usually. To me. Anyway - NOBODY would say this sounded thin. This was FUCKING INCREDIBLE. Plant was Plantationing about how he'd been told there were people from 50 countries in the audience for the show... and that this song was about the 51st country... then BOOM! it starts. Lush, thick, TIGHT. This should be a very good version on tape. Page's chords were really clear and tight and JPJ's sound wasn't that thin bullshit from some of the bootlegs, it was RIGHT.

Then they left! Thunderous applause, cheers, seat banging, rhythmic clapping, etc.... for several minutes. I didn't time how long it took, but it didn't die down at all until right as they started walking back out and got kind of deafening! Jimmy has hi transperformance, so I know what this is gonna be..

<encore>

WHOLE LOTTA LOVE

Groove. This was really good, but I found the tone from his transperformance to be inferior to what his LP had sounded like all night - other than that, they was great. We got the solo about like it was with P/P plant tours where the guitar is tuned down slowly while he holds his arms out.... just making a SHIT LOAD of noise, Page was.. I mean it was great.. all that sound coming from this one guy. Robert was really spending the rest of his voice here... giving it all he had since it was the end.

Did a big bow, got EVEN louder applause and left again. At this point, some dumbasses start leaving... I'm sure they felt REALLY stupid later.

So the crowd isn't having any of this one encore shit and begins raising enough hell to make the first encore call back seem like a Yanni concert. I mean there was no mercy. For SEVERAL minutes, it just got louder and more frantic and then whole-crowd rhythmic clapping starts, just like the beginning of the old TSRTS soundtrack... but a lot longer.. gradually getting faster.. and louder and more people join in... then... with the clapping..

"ROCK - AND - ROLL! ROCK - AND - ROLL!" over and over...

Out they come again.. I think this is point where Jimmy said something in the mic, but he's always so soft I can never understand him... hopefully the 276 boots will have picked it up better.

ROCK AND ROLL

Bonham nails the opening. I've heard so many people try to play this and fuck up the accents. He was on it. Plant did the best he could do to scream this out the right way, and it was really good. Just a killer rock song... a perfect way to end the show since, after all, it HAD been a long time since they'd rock'n'rolled.

They finished and left again.. this time for good, we were sure. Much more applause, but by now, after calling for two encores, the audience was completely beat. The house lights came up after 2 mins or so and every one finally relented and began to leave.

notes:

Bow - awesome. Jimmy really did a great justice to this signature part of Zeppelin's live show. Green laser pyramid and everything.

"The Newfoundland Asshole" was this monumentally obnoxious guy in a red short and a leather jacket that read "Republic of Newfoundland" on the back - he was standing in the row in front of us, about 3 seats to the right. He was completely drunk at 6pm, before the show even began and it just got worse from there. During the show he did EVERY fucking inappropriate thing you could imagine, verbally and physically, other than show us his ass. I really thought that was coming, too. I'm glad I didn't bother to tape this, as this guy would have made the recording COMPLETELY useless, especially considering how many sources we're going to get this week. I can't tell you how pissed the people right behind him were.

There was hardly ANYTHING wrong with this show, other than the few things I mentioned above. You could really tell JPJ was concentrating SUPER hard and feeling the burden of driving the band this time around.

Jason Bonham did better than ANYONE would have thought, even with the positive remarks about the rehearsals, he really played the best gig he's ever played. I've never been impressed with his playing until to night. He did a VERY, very good job and would have made his old man proud. There were a few places, like solo at the end of RocknRoll - end of the show - where nearly WAS John Bonham - wailing away in the strobe lights to close the show.

I couldn't ever see Jimmy use his broken pinky. All the screen-close-ups I noticed, he had it curled back under was playing with only the three fingers - which is AMAZING considering how well he played. The only time I saw him use it was during the Stairway solo and it seemed like it failed him... it'll be interesting to watch the video once it gets out. Without having seen it, though, you'd never know he was fretting with 3 fingers - or least I cuoldn't tell. He was ON IT tonight.

Robert did a really good job. You could tell he was pushing himself all the time... he didn't half-ass anything, and there were plenty Plantations here and there.

JPJ was JPJ. I think his new role is the one Bonzo used to play.. he was the glue. Where JPJ used to watch Bonzo more than Bonzo watched him, Jason kept a close watch on JPJ and Page all night... you could really see the burden on JPJs face most of the show as he was in deep concentration to be sure he was spot on while Jimmy did his thing. He was JPJ - the rock. So nice to hear this music played with the correct bass player.

John Bonham's son is a fine stand in for his Dad, - the best man for this job, easily. You'll have NO DOUBT once you see the show over the next few days / weeks.

Tonight, Led Zeppelin flew again. If it was the last time, they've left no doubt about what Led Zeppelin was.

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ZepKeith

ZepKeith

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Posted

Well guy's here is my review of the night -- "Simply the best concert I have been to in years"

I was at Knebworth in 79 and this was much better ... the band was tight and loose - in the same breath. I left after Whole lotta Love and didn't know they came back for a second encore - bit of a bummer that but hey - I can't hear anything today anyway.

I was near the front standing and what an amazing amount of energy.

:D

Hello this thread is for those who went to the concert and would like to give a review of the show. please be honest about the show a lot of fans who could not attend are intrested in your comments. thankyou. rock on.

B)

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tyedye

tyedye

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Posted
This is a great review from a friend (jameskg)at a board I used to be a regular at(RO) whom i really admire and I truly hope he does'nt get pissed that I posted this here, but i feel his review is worth being read by everyone who was'nt there.....considering this guy knows his live Zep!....and is not going to sugarcoat it.

Nice, thanks! :)

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dan_death

dan_death

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Posted

The DVD is not going to be out for a while, the the least, next month. There has to be a lot of mixing and adding DVD extras too. Unless someone has a bootleg version. But I want a professional version, with high quality sound.

And yes, I pray for the DVD too. Most likely there's going to be one next year...but hopefully not next December...too long.

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