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Led Zeppelin returns to stage


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Not sure if this was posted already, but the Plant quote is one of interest.

Led Zeppelin returns to stage

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

By CHRIS LEHOURITES

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON -- The newest member of Led Zeppelin was given the honor of kicking off the band's reunion Monday night, pounding out the beat before the surviving founders joined in on a near-perfect "Good Times Bad Times."

After the lights went down at London's O2 Arena, newsreel footage of the band arriving in Tampa, Fla., for a 1973 performance was projected onstage.

With thousands of fans worked into a frenzy, drummer Jason Bonham, son of the late John Bonham, began thumping the skittering beat, soon to be joined by guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones and singer Robert Plant.

Monday's concert wasn't the first Led Zeppelin reunion, but it was surely the biggest. The band last played together in 19858.

The song, rarely played live in the band's heyday, proved a perfect starting point for this performance:

"In days of my youth, I was told what it means to be a man," sang Plant, showing no trouble reproducing his trademark wail at 59. "Now I've reached that age, I've tried to do all those things the best I can. ... No matter how I try, I find my way to the same old jam."

While Page and Bonham both sported sunglasses, Plant mercifully kept his button-down shirt buttoned up.

Zeppelin returned for the benefit show to play its first full set since 1980, the year John Bonham died after choking on his own vomit. Robbed of "Bonzo's" pulsing drums, the band decided it couldn't go on and split up on Dec. 4, 1980.

Now, with an estimated 20 million fans vying for tickets pared down to a lucky 18,000 or so -- including one who paid more than $168,000 for his pair -- most of the rest are hoping for more tour dates.

But Plant -- with his screeching, often unintelligible lyrics leading the way during the band's 12 years and eight studio albums -- may be toughest of the three to be convinced that it's a good idea to go on tour.

"The whole idea of being on a cavalcade of merciless repetition is not what it's all about," the 59-year-old Page told The Sunday Times leading up to the performance.

That certainly won't be music to the ears of millions of fans who are hoping hear "Stairway to Heaven," "Whole Lotta Love" and "Kashmir" in concert again. Plant, who recently released a successful album with bluegrass star Alison Krauss, did give an indication that this may not be the last of Led Zeppelin, however.

"It wouldn't be such a bad idea to play together from time to time," Plant added.

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"The whole idea of being on a cavalcade of merciless repetition is not what it's all about," the 59-year-old Page told The Sunday Times leading up to the performance.

I think that quote is more relevant... That's pretty much why he doesn't want to tour...

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"The whole idea of being on a cavalcade of merciless repetition is not what it's all about," the 59-year-old Page told The Sunday Times leading up to the performance.

^ (The Assoc. Press was wrong, Plant said this.)

That certainly won't be music to the ears of millions of fans who are hoping hear "Stairway to Heaven," "Whole Lotta Love" and "Kashmir" in concert again. Plant, who recently released a successful album with bluegrass star Alison Krauss, did give an indication that this may not be the last of Led Zeppelin, however.

"It wouldn't be such a bad idea to play together from time to time," Plant added.

In context, both quotes are attributed to Robert in The Sun Times article as follows:

The musical marriage of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

The internet is already alive with rumours that the one-off gig will turn into a tour – Ian Astbury of the Cult has even been quoted as saying that they will be the support act – but Plant sounds wary of any further commitment. “Having to live up to something is terribly serious,” he says with a sigh, adding that he has not always been happy with the way their legacy has been perceived, thanks to legions of lesser imitators. “What we thought was really quite original – the hammer of the gods and all that stuff – we didn’t realise the spores would fall in such a way. The whole idea of being on a cavalcade of merciless repetition is not what it’s all about,” Plant concludes, before adding wistfully: “It wouldn’t be such a bad idea to play together from time to time.”

So, here’s the real scoop: the most reluctant Zep member finally says that he’d like to play together from time to time. “I don’t think I said that,” Plant says, looking affronted. I point out that not only did he say it, he said it only a few seconds ago, and it’s on tape. “No, no, no. Somebody else inside me was saying that. Not the bloke from Wolverhampton, the bloke from the land of the ice and snow, the bloke with his shirt unbuttoned down to his waist – and he can shut up. We’re not having any more of that. It was great, but I’ve got to go down the highway now.”

Plant explains the sheer effort involved in escaping the shadow of what was indisputably the biggest group in the world. “I have pushed that rock up a hill since 1980. Every other record I’ve ever made – all of which I’m very proud of – it’s been impossible to get radio. I’ve always been the wrong flavour. Because Gone Gone Gone got elevated to the [radio airplay] Blist, people now know about this record. Sometimes I’m walking along, and I open my nostrils, take a deep breath and I think, ‘I got away, I did it.’ I’m amazed I had the energy to keep it going.

“My second mind, as the old blues guys used to say, tells me: stick with Alison. We’ve both got our other bands. She’s got Union Station; I’ve got Strange Sensation. And, because the vocal input came after I’d been working with Alison, there’s not a shriek in sight. All gone.”

The last shriek is tomorrow.

===========================

I'm just taking a 'wait and see' attitude about it. Whatever transpires is fine with me. :)

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In context, both quotes are attributed to Robert in The Sun Times article as follows:

The musical marriage of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

The internet is already alive with rumours that the one-off gig will turn into a tour – Ian Astbury of the Cult has even been quoted as saying that they will be the support act – but Plant sounds wary of any further commitment. “Having to live up to something is terribly serious,” he says with a sigh, adding that he has not always been happy with the way their legacy has been perceived, thanks to legions of lesser imitators. “What we thought was really quite original – the hammer of the gods and all that stuff – we didn’t realise the spores would fall in such a way. The whole idea of being on a cavalcade of merciless repetition is not what it’s all about,” Plant concludes, before adding wistfully: “It wouldn’t be such a bad idea to play together from time to time.”

So, here’s the real scoop: the most reluctant Zep member finally says that he’d like to play together from time to time. “I don’t think I said that,” Plant says, looking affronted. I point out that not only did he say it, he said it only a few seconds ago, and it’s on tape. “No, no, no. Somebody else inside me was saying that. Not the bloke from Wolverhampton, the bloke from the land of the ice and snow, the bloke with his shirt unbuttoned down to his waist – and he can shut up. We’re not having any more of that. It was great, but I’ve got to go down the highway now.”

Plant explains the sheer effort involved in escaping the shadow of what was indisputably the biggest group in the world. “I have pushed that rock up a hill since 1980. Every other record I’ve ever made – all of which I’m very proud of – it’s been impossible to get radio. I’ve always been the wrong flavour. Because Gone Gone Gone got elevated to the [radio airplay] Blist, people now know about this record. Sometimes I’m walking along, and I open my nostrils, take a deep breath and I think, ‘I got away, I did it.’ I’m amazed I had the energy to keep it going.

“My second mind, as the old blues guys used to say, tells me: stick with Alison. We’ve both got our other bands. She’s got Union Station; I’ve got Strange Sensation. And, because the vocal input came after I’d been working with Alison, there’s not a shriek in sight. All gone.”

The last shriek is tomorrow.

===========================

I'm just taking a 'wait and see' attitude about it. Whatever transpires is fine with me. :)

Thank you for the clarification Lady Goodman. My opinion, they will do some type of dates, in 2008.

I also think that could lead to the studio. Again, just a hunch/hope. Yes, we wait.

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