I danced with the devil.
December 10- 2007 will be remembered by many as the day the lights were turned back on. After too long in the black out the Zeppelin could once more be seen, as well as heard.
Reuniting for the concert to honour their benefactor Ahmet Ertegun the grandfathers of heavy metal blues rock took the stage once more.
Obviously older than many thought they would achieve after their constant abuse of drugs and alcohol during the late sixties early seventies they re-created the passion within themselves and the audience with a performance that suggested they had never been away. Having Jason Bonham the son of original departed john on drums did nothing more than enhance the sound as his fathers genes showed through with genuine class.
Page was slightly slower with his solos but who could blame him as he broke his finger three weeks prior to this gig (some said he got it caught between the braking systems on his Zimmer frame)
Plants voice though audibly a couple of octaves lower we still used to great effect regarding the composition of the songs acting as a separate additional instrument as in their heyday.
Paul Jones (for me the most underrated performer) was magnificent with both bass and organ conjuring up evocative thoughts and feelings with his moody back beats and rhythms.
Going through their repertoire for over 130 minutes they managed to turn back the hands of time and revive single handed what many thought was dying: Rock music.
Since the demise of the Beatles there had been many imitators around the world trying to take their title as "The number one group" for innovation and style. From AbbA to the Zoutons each group cornering their own little niche market with clever promotion and structured performances that lay within their limits.
Led zeppelin picked up the baton in 1968 and just kept on running! Refusing to hand over, disregarding all the rules yet proving that class would always shine through. Forming from the ashes of defunct groups these four where to be instrumental in re-writing the history books when it came to being a rock performer.
Drinking to excess, popping any and all pills they could get their hands on chasing the dragon on many a tour they had little respect for authority but total respect for the fans who supported them and put them where they were.
There was never a case of them being unable to perform with at least some degree of excellence, if one member was incoherent or unable to perform 100% then the others would double their efforts to ensure none suspected anything was wrong. There in lay the strength of the group and the reason they would outlast their contemporise of the day such as Sabbath and Hawkwind. Even after the somewhat tragic but not all unexpected death of John Bohnam due to an overdose the group still managed phenomenal sales of their music despite not performing after his death until December 07.
This was not down to anything other than that the music they wrote is timeless in its form, appealing to both young and old alike. The elder ones of us who remember their brilliant performances when they were first starting out. (I danced with the devils themselves back in 1969 when they appeared in a small venue I used to work in, though I doubt very much if they would remember me as it was hard for them to remember what day it was with the amount of stuff they were taking) And the younger ones who are being lead by their parents choice or perhaps by the euphoria generated at the prospect of there being a full comeback tour in the future.
To anyone looking to find out what all the fuss is about I would recommend listening to Kashmir and all of led Zeppelin three before going on to revisit the rest of the masterpieces this band managed to create.
