In an interview with The Word magazine(British music mag)a few months ago,in which Plant was asked about his "secrets"for performing well live and asked who excited him these days,Plant singled out Thom Yorke for praise as a compelling live presence.He said he wasn't quite sure how he did it,but he (Yorke)blew him(Plant)away.

"St Tristan's Sword"??!!! I don't think so Steve...

Thanks for your information and insight.I wonder if Jimmy and Jonesy felt it would be inappropriate for them to attend,given the way they rarely socialized outside of recording and touring.They are both famously reticent,and English to boot.They may have genuinely thought that Robert would prefer having just his family and closest friends there,and not the whole of Led Zeppelin and the media circus which that might cause.Additionally,we know that Jimmy was in a mess by this time.Perhaps it felt like too much to deal with.In any event, given that it seems pretty certain that Robert wanted them there,it's very sad that they didn't go,and this matter seems to me to be a rarely mentioned "elephant in the living room" when the frictions that have arisen between them are discussed. It is so heartening that in spite of all of this,on top of the whole "don't forget my phone number next time" episode,thousands of other things I'll never know about and a combined age of about 224 (including Jason),they've managed to stun the world again.

And Steve,another issue...I've always thought that Robert's feelings about the band must have been hit hard when Jimmy and Jonesy didn't attend Karac's funeral(I think John Paul was incommunicado at the time,travelling across the states).Robert supposedly said to Bonzo that perhaps they(Page and jones)weren't as good friends with him as he had thought and that maybe they didn't respect him as much as he respected them.Any thoughts on this?