In through the out door

I was walking last summer with my friend Steve when we fell into a conversation about Led Zeppelin. He had been involved in the music industry for most of his working career and he confessed to me that he only really "got" Led Zeppelin fairly recently. That got me thinking and If I'm honest that's the same for me.

I think the reason for that is that I never saw them live. By the time that I was fully appreciative of their music, John Bonham had passed away, and in effect the band was over. While the albums were great, similar to many bands today such as U2 and Muse, it was the live experience that took them to another level. it wasn't until last year that I had the chance to experience some of what that felt like.

Last year they released "Celebration day" a film and live album of a concert they performed in 2008 at the O2 area in London. As part of the launch it had a cinema release and I went to see it with another friend. It was wonderful! The three surviving members all looked fit, healthy and younger then their years. Jimmy Page in particular defined cool, starting the gig in frock coat, shades and with his grey/white hair styled to look like he could have been an 18th Century highwayman!

The concert rocks! Pure and simple it shows a band (that hasn't played together for nearly 30 years) at the height of it's powers. They play all the songs that fans would have demanded, but the power and downright size of the performance is breathtaking. Robert Plant's voice is exactly as it should be for music on this scale, but bearing in mind that he's a man in his 60's, it puts to shame contemporaries such as Knights of the realm, Elton John and Paul McCartney. Besides looking as cool as, Jimmy Page's guitar playing reminds everyone why every spotty teenage guitarist growing up in the 70's wanted to be him.

The real revelation, however, is John Paul Jones. Having thought of him as "the bass player", it was a real surprise to see and hear exactly how much of the "sound" of Led Zep actually emanates from his performance. The keyboard parts to "Trampled Underfoot" & "Kashmir" are the centrepieces around which the vocals and guitar parts build the monuments they become.

Underpinning all of this are the drums, played by John Bonham's son, Jason. His dad would be very proud! Much of my favourite moments on Led Zep songs have been the drums (the intro to "When the Levee breaks for example) and Jason Bonham replicates the sound and power as if it was his father sat on the drum stool.

As a record of that one night, this is as good as it could have been. As a demonstration of why the band were so revered, this is as good a testimony as you could find. As a line drawn under the Led Zep story then this is the perfect ending.

The trouble is that it is so good, the management must have seen the ability to tour and wipe out all top grossing records. Plant says that he's not interested but then hints that he's not up to much in 2014! This story may not yet be over.....