I think the show was fantastic for what it was and in fact only serves to remind people of just how great Zep were. A lot of comparisons are made with other bands who have kept touring over the years (The Stones) or reformed (Eagles) etc. But Zeppelin were never that type of band. They played to a much higher level of difficulty, intensity, dexterity, improvisation, exploration, stretching, pushing, searching all the time. To be frank, most of the music of the Stones and the Eagles is very easy to play, no matter how old you are. At the 02 you had men in their 60's replicating what they did in their 20's. It was never going to be the same experience. But it was wonderful in other ways. They looked cool. They reminded us of the power of live human music. They demonstrated what an art form it was to create that power and composition. And many of the songs are fantastic on the 02 DVD. There were times when each of them reminded the world that they were otherworldly. A freakish alignment of the stars brought them together. I was nervous about how they would perform especially based on their post 80 performances.
But on the point about further shows. I also feel it is a tremendous pity that they didn't get to do one last journey together. For a number of reasons. 1. They would have probably have gotten even better with more shows, loosed up, lost the nerves, felt the freedom to be who they once were. 2. They would have probably added one or two or several other songs to the set as they went adding to the library of live interpretations. We all have favourites that they didn't get to play. 3. They might even have completed one or two of the epic tracks that emerged over the years from vaults that sound like they could have been amazing if they had finished them. Or bring to life one or two of the tracks that didn't quite work on the later albums but just needed a couple of live run outs to get there. They may even have been inspired to do another album.
Of course they owe us nothing. But an opportunity was lost. They're standing has been restored. Many of the critical media over the years, with the benefit of hindsight and time have finally got what Led Zeppelin were. And how it's never been replaced or surpassed in it's genre. The whole punk virus dinosaur thing now looks like what it was, a complete load of nonsense. Nobody ever criticised Miles Davis for his thirty minute improvisations. The world finally understood that they were at the core, musicians stretching the boundaries of music, not politics or social issues. Just music. Creativity. And a final tour would have just amplified that and nailed it on the head once and for all, Page is without question the greatest rock guitarist of all time. Plant an extraordinary musical vocalist. JPJ as is often said, totally underestimated as a bass player - the guy is sensational and Jason did a great job replicating his fathers ingenuity but neither he nor anyone would claim he's the same thing. Doesn't mean he's not brilliant at what he does. And we've lived through decades of some huge pyrotechnic audio visual extravaganzas at concerts that all came after Zeppelin. It would have been amazing to see them in that modern setting with all the technical capability to bring their vision to life as it never had been before. Pity. But still epic.