Jason " 'Time will tell’ if Led Zeppelin keeps playing"

[robertkincaid96]

December 18, 2007

BY GARY GRAFF Billboard

Still buzzing from Led Zeppelin’s reunion show on Dec. 10 in London, drummer Jason Bonham says he’s the wrong guy to ask about any future plans for the group.

‘‘I’m still the new guy, and I wouldn’t know,’’ Bonham — whose late father, John Bonham, was Zep’s original drummer — says. ‘‘There’s been no talks except to Jimmy

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and Robert [Plant] and John Paul [Jones], just to say thanks for the best Christmas present I could ask for. It really meant a lot to me.

‘‘Is it gonna be again? Don’t be greedy,’’ he continues. ‘‘Just take it for what you’ve done and be proud to be part of that. If they do it again, of course I would love to. But that’s up to them. Only time will tell. If you’d have asked me a year ago, ‘Are they gonna do a date next year?,’ I’d have gone, ‘No way!’ So I was proved wrong once before.’’

Bonham says that even a week after the show, the experience ‘‘still ... kinda feels surreal, like it never really happened in some way.’’ But he does feel that the show, part of a tribute to the late Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, provided some vindication after what he felt was a sub-par performance with Zep at the Atlantic Records’ 40th anniversary concert in 1988 in New York.

‘‘I had to work at it, really prove that I could do it and not just say, ‘Hey, I’m John Bonham’s son. I should be doing it,’ ’’ he explains. ‘‘I put a lot of work into it ... listening to all the different live versions I had. You’ve got to earn this, ’cause there’s a million drummers out there that would love to cut your throat right now and take over.

‘‘I’m amazed. I pulled it off,’’ he enthuses. ‘‘So it’s very special for me, just ... everything. If you’d have wanted a moment for everyone to get it right at one point, that was it.’’

Bonham returns to his regular drum chair in Foreigner at the end of the month for a couple of shows in Florida — where he and his family reside — including a New Year’s Eve date with the B-52’s at the Universal Studios Citywalk in Orlando. That show will be broadcast live by Comcast’s CN8 network.

Led Zeppelin tour rumors continue to persist. The latest comes out of the U.K., where the group is reportedly considering a series of stadium shows. But nothing has yet been confirmed, and Plant has already begun scheduling late spring shows with Alison Krauss.

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[Gr3ll]

Thanks for the article, Jason deserves a great Christmas.

Regards,

Grell

[zep4ever]

Thanks for the post

[BonzoEqualsGoodStuff]

That was a really sweet article. Thanks for posting.

[Dirigiblicus Maximus]

thanks for posting that

its a great Christmas for us all

[the fool]

provided some vindication after what he felt was a sub-par performance with Zep at the Atlantic Records’ 40th anniversary concert in 1988 in New York.

I'm sick of people knocking this show... It really wasn't that... This was actually the first live recording of Zeppelin I heard a long time ago... Found a tape in my dad's collection labeled "Led Zep reunion" and I've loved it since then... Sure, it's not Led Zep '73 or even '75, but it's still a decent performance... Definitely better than some other performances that same night...

[mos6507]

I'm sick of people knocking this show... It really wasn't that... This was actually the first live recording of Zeppelin I heard a long time ago... Found a tape in my dad's collection labeled "Led Zep reunion" and I've loved it since then... Sure, it's not Led Zep '73 or even '75, but it's still a decent performance... Definitely better than some other performances that same night...

Everything's relative. You could tell more effort was put into it than Live-Aid. Supposedly the rehearsals were a lot better than the actual show. I can take Jimmy being sloppy but but Robert messing up Stairway's lyrics is just inexcusable to me.