While editing tons of pictures on the computer last night, I caught the CNN midnight news which made my ears prick up: Led Zeppelin was reuniting. That was the good news. The bad news was that it was only for one night. In
It's been a long time since they rocked and rolled
Well, with the press release just 5 minutes old, I immediately checked the Web for tickets but there wasn’t anything that I could find. As if I was going! I got no more leave time and am currently broke. All these recent trips have sent my credit card to the ICU. But it was good to think what if……..
Led Zep was my all-time favorite hard rock band. Back in the ‘70s when I was in high school, I saved my school allowance just so I could buy all their albums from Led Zeppelin I till IV and the rest when I was in college. I remember watching their concert movie, “The Song Remains the Same” a dozen times in various theaters to the point of once cutting class just to catch the screening time in Miramar along Recto. This was long before the advent of Dolby and Surround Sound inside cinemas. MTV had yet to be invented. But who cared? There were Plant, Page, Jones and Bonham prancing right in front of my eyes and that raw energy was more than enough to hold me in rapt attention.
Until now, 35 years on, “Black Dog” still gives me goose bumps. Okay, “Stairway to Heaven” is a classic but, like the Eagles’ “Hotel California”, it’s overplayed thus becoming too pop for comfort. Despite it’s great guitar work which has been hailed as the best in rock. What I dug more were those not-so-famous classics like “Livin’ Lovin’ Maid”, “The Lemon Song”, “Kashmir” and “Communications Breakdown”, to name a few.
A solid blues-based band, the hard rocking Zep outdid and outsold their contemporaries during their prime to become the unofficial best rock band in the world and vaunted Jimmy Page to the top of the heap of rock guitar heroes alongside Clapton and Hendrix. And who could better wail than Robert Plant? Or pound those skins harder than John Bonham? Testament to their enduring legacy were eight albums that all went to No. 1 both in the
Bonham died after one drunken night of debauchery and the band became no more. The three remaining members decided not to go on without him and ended a brilliant career. Each one went his own way releasing solo efforts but none could match the original intensity that they brewed. There were talks of reuniting but these were all put off due to incessant wrangling and internal dissent among themselves.
So now after 20 years, it’s official: they’ll be playing together once more for one night and try to capture those glory days. Subbing for Bonham will be his son, Jason, who has become a fine drummer in his own right. All this will be for charity – proceeds will be donated to the Charity Trust Fund of their respected producer, Ahmet Ertegun (Atlantic Records founder) who passed away a year ago. Definitely, they don’t need the money but if only these guys can be persuaded to go on a tour, definitely, I will make plans to watch their show.
Now lemme see how much I owe Visa so I can start saving up for it…..
