(CBS) The question was: Could a band that hadn't played for three decades still cut it? The answer was yes.

Three 60-something rockers - with Jason Bonham, son of the late John Bonham, taking his place on drums - Led Zeppelin not only still rocks, it still defines rock.

The band returned to the stage to play its first full set since 1980, the year John Bonham died after choking on his own vomit.

Out of an estimated 20 million people who entered a lottery for tickets, 18,000 lucky winners - still tragically hip themselves - were able to turn back the hands of time.

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Photos: In Concert

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The organizers say the applications flowed in from around the world, which is where the crowd came from.

"I flew all the way over here, 8,000 miles - 8,000 miles from San Francisco, California," a man named Mark told CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips.

People like Mark were drawn to the show not just to hear the music of their youth, but also to re-experience the values of their youth.

"Because there are real," Joe Elliot of the 1980s band Def Leppard, said. "They didn't come up through some bogus TV reality show. There is soul and heart that doesn't exist in today's music, I think."

The band had resisted the current fashion for reunion concerts, but came together - they said - for a one-time gig to celebrate the memory of their producer, Ahmet Ertegun. The old chemistry that had made them so special then was still there now.

"We had some initial rehearsals and boy oh boy it was just - it was so exhilarating to play together," lead guitarist Jimmy Page said.

The audience seemed to agree.

"It was the best concert I've ever seen in my life by far and I've seen a lot of concerts," Mark from California said.

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