Led Zeppelin: We Can't Quit You Baby

Reunion In London Marks Group's First Full Concert In Almost Three Decades

(AP)  Led Zeppelin's time is coming again.

When the diviners of rock 'n' roll classics "Stairway to Heaven," "Whole Lotta Love" and "Your Time is Gonna Come" reunite for their first full concert in almost three decades, the question on everyone's mind is sure to be: How many more times?

Monday's reunion in London has quickly become one of the most anticipated concerts of all time. Whether a larger tour will follow could depend on how well Zeppelin's members - singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones and the late drummer John Bonham's son Jason - perform in front of a frenzied audience.

"I've got to go through it, see how I feel," Jones told Rolling Stone magazine in its December issue.

If the result of the band's early rehearsals is any indication, Zeppelin fans have reason to be hopeful. Bonham told Rolling Stone that the band clicked immediately, right from the opening notes of the first song they tried: the haunting dirge "No Quarter."

"When the riff came in, there was this look that went around. It was brilliant." After blasting through "Kashmir" next, Bonham told the magazine that the band stopped and Page said, "'Can you give me a hug?' And Robert (Plant) shouted, 'Yeah, sons of thunder!"'

The 63-year-old Page echoed those sentiments to Q music magazine, saying the initial get-together was "so exhilarating and fun that I did feel I would like to do more."

Despite rumors that the 59-year-old Plant can no longer hit the high notes, the singer's latest album, with bluegrass star Alison Krauss, seems to show that he's still in good voice. On "Raising Sand," one of this year's surprise hits, Plant still has that otherworldly feel.

Besides, he rarely was able to conjure the same piercing vocals from Zeppelin's studio albums when onstage in the band's heyday.

Led Zeppelin formed in 1968, but disbanded in late 1980 when Bonham choked to death on his own vomit after a drinking binge. In their 12 years, the group evolved from a rhythm and blues band first known as "The New Yardbirds" to become the standard for guitar-driven hard rock and the precursors of heavy metal.

Plant's caterwauling vocals and curly blond locks combined with Page's ragged riffs to give the band an identity that became instantly recognizable, but Bonham's death robbed the group of its heart-pounding pulse. Led Zeppelin disbanded on Dec. 4 of that year after a career of hard-living success that saw it fly around the world on a private jumbo jet to play sold-out concerts just about everywhere.

In the years since their breakup, Led Zeppelin's eight studio albums are still in heavy rotation on classic rock radio, with millions of fans still listening to classics like "Kashmir," "Black Dog," "Rock and Roll" and "Hey Hey What Can I Do." And the opening notes of "Stairway to Heaven" have commonly become the first thing just about any aspiring rock star learns to play when first picking up a guitar.

The sold-out crowd at the O2 Arena in east London will surely hear Page picking away at his double-necked guitar on the band's staple song - and maybe even get a glimpse of his cello bow for the solo in "Dazed and Confused."

Zep's surviving members have all stayed involved in music since they broke up, with Plant and Page even working together in the mid-1980s and '90s. With The Honeydrippers, they produced a hit with a cover of the '50s classic "Sea of Love."

Jones, however, was mostly left out, which he wryly noted at their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995: "Thank you, my friends," he said, "for finally remembering my phone number."

Monday's concert won't be the first Led Zeppelin reunion, but it will be the biggest. The band played together in 1985 at Live Aid, and joined forces again three years later - with Jason Bonham on drums - to play at the 40th anniversary concert for Atlantic Records.

At their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, they teamed with other musicians for another short set. This time, they have promised to play a two-hour concert, and not even that will be enough for the thousands of fans making their way to London from countries around the world.

The latest show is dedicated to Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who died last year. Proceeds from the show are to go to the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund, which provides scholarships to universities in the United States, Britain and Turkey.

The Who guitarist Pete Townsend, former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman and one-time Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers are also scheduled to perform.

Besides the concert, Led Zeppelin also released a greatest hits double-CD called "Mothership" and an updated version of "The Song Remains the Same" DVD in November. The DVD, which features scenes from three concerts in New York in 1973, includes 40 minutes of extra footage.

When the reunion show was announced Sept. 12, tickets were made available by ballot only "due to the anticipated overwhelming demand for this concert," according to the Web site.

Priced at about $250, tickets have been selling on the internet for $2,000 or more. The show was originally scheduled for Nov. 26, but was postponed until Monday because Page injured the little finger on his left hand.

Hey hey, what can you do?

For more information visit the band's Web site: www.ledzeppelin.com

[keithle1]

TOOL? Gimme a break. How many people even know who TOOL are? There is no band like Zeppelin. Never will be.

You have to know when to pack it in & retire. I wish "THE WHO" did. They really should just call it The Pete & Roger Show. It''s embarassing.

Stones need to call it a day too. What else is left for them to do in the studio? Their best songs are behind them. They don''t need the money. Charlie Watts probably can''t wait for it to end so he can go back to his true love which is jazz.

45 years is more than enough of a music career.

[shanev137]

There''s no way they will tour.

Way too old, way too tired, and way too rich.

[shanev137]

Led Zeppelin: We Can''t Quit You Baby

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....um, they obviously did for 30 years.

[ronaldstark]

The only band around NOW that can compare to the likes of Led Zep...which in my opinion was the best in their field...is TOOL. All you old timers need to look into TOOL or A Perfect Circle (Tool side group). You will not be disappointed. Led Zep blew every other hard rock group of the 60''s and 70''s clear out of the water onto the bloody beach.

[olebd]

It''s ashame you only hear 2 or 3 of their songs on the radio these days over and over and over again. I doubt we will ever see talent like this and many other rock bands out of the 70''s in the mainstream ever again.

The likes of American Idol, manufactured boy/girl bands and control of the music industry by a greedy few people have stiffled the creativity and experimentation in music that flowed freely up until around the mid to late 80''s.

As far as this band pulling off a decent show these days, who knows? Aerosmith, The Moody Blues, Steely Dan, Styx (without Dennis)and a couple others are still doing it and doing it well.

[keithle1]

Maybe it would be better to remember them as they were at their peak.

[wvce]

I''ve never been able to call Zeppelin a metal band. To me, they were always a lot more versatile than that. When you listen to them, you can hear Rock and Roll, Blues, English and Irish folk music, Indian music and Arab music. They performed ballads. In concert, they often broke into Elvis or Eddie Cochrane songs or whatever else struck their fancies. They would also lay down their electric instruments to pick up mandolins, acoustic guitars and tamborines. You just didn''t see that kind of versatility in metal bands. Zeppelin was special. That''s why their music sounds as good today as it did in 1969.

[bobgee_1999]

Zeppelin wasn''t a "precursor to heavy metal," they were heavy metal, along with Sabbath and Deep Purple. The meaning of the term has simply changed over time.

[keithle1]

Can''t be dissing John Paul Jones. He''s a musician''s musician & an arranger par excellence. Bet he decides to bail out on a possible tour.

[erichsh]

One of the greatest bands in history, from one of the greatest decades in music. Led Zep is just another reason why 70''s classic rock still shines (on, you crazy diamond). There isn''t a single band formed in the past 25 years that can hold a candle to the great 70''s rockers - and that''s putting it politely. Don''t get me started about c(rap).