Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day

[Shug]

Am I the only one who wants to scream from the rooftop about one of the most awesome incredible rock experiences I've ever had?

Holy fucking shit! Led Zeppelin DESTROYED IT in the Celebration Day film! How in the hell did they pull this off after so many years? (6 weeks of rehearsals might do it if you are Led Fucking Zeppelin).  I had no idea they could muster such power at their ages, playing damn close to as strong and tight as they did at their peak. When has Page ever played with such clean dexterity? (12 string soloing on Song Remains the Same!!!!) JPJ and Jason Bonham locked into all those crazy odd time signatures and doing it with precision, power and flair. Very few signs of the detriments of age in Robert's voice and he's lost little in his frontman's charisma and lead singer prowess, at times urging the band to a new crescendo ("...push, push, push!"). Many arrangements were spot-on faithful to the studio versions (like the crescendo of Stairway To Heaven, particularly Page's solo), a great call to jettison the bloated overly long arrangements they succumbed to in the second part of the 70s. So many great moments, I can't wait to get this DVD and crank it again. It was so hard to not explode into a frenzy of air-drumming and rocking out in the theater. Lots of old folks who sat really still and just a few whoops and claps after songs at the one I attended. It was very hard to contain myself, just a super emotional night for me to see the kings of rock reclaim their throne once and for all.

My mind is blown and Led Zeppelin, for me, have permanently put to rest any notion that they are not far and away the greatest rock band that ever was or likely ever will be. They are so far ahead of any other band for me. Jason Bonham was killing the drums (In My Time Of Dying in the #3 song slot? Fucking amazing!) and it was clear to me he was having a peak moment in his life. His overwhelmed emotions were clearly visible on his face after Kashmir and at the end of the show with all the love he was receiving from Jimmy, Robert and JPJ and the crowd.

The only question I have is why did they wait so long to really reunite (Live Aid and Atlantic 40th Anniv. don't count as one-offs without much if any rehearsal) and why oh why did they not take this on even a short tour of the US? Regardless, I'm ecstatic with what I heard and saw last night. Long live the mighty, mighty, mighty LED ZEPPELIN!

[Fully]

I'm jealous. I wanted to see that in the theater, and I forgot about it.  There's a one word answer to most of the questions you pose at the end that I bet you already know: Percy. I'm glad you got to go see this, Shug.

[exist10z]

Best ever, period.

[Crispy]

Holy SHIT, how did I not hear about this? It's playing in OKC tonight, and I already have plans! Hopefully I get another chance.

[Fully]

Probably not. I think it's a one night only thing.

[oistheone]

If it's any consolation, it will be out on DVD in no time.

[Shug]

I'm jealous. I wanted to see that in the theater, and I forgot about it.  There's a one word answer to most of the questions you pose at the end that I bet you already know: Percy. I'm glad you got to go see this, Shug.

Yeah, Percy.  But he didn't sound or look too old to pull it off on that night, maybe it would've been too much for even a short tour, maybe they poured all of the intensity of emotion they have for that music into one night and maybe that's part of what made it so great.  If so, I'm happy that they at least got back together for one last show.  They definitely went out on top, in my book.

Led Zeppelin, for me, is like finding the Holy Grail:  You touch it and a white beam of light from heaven shoots down on you and you get instant nirvana!

Glad I got to see it in the theater and I'll be stoked all over again to blast it at home, over and over again.

[mahg33ta]

It's definitely something I want to own, so I figured I'd wait and buy the DVD.   But maybe this was a mistake and I should have seen it last night.   

[johnnYYac]

Its tonight, too.

http://www.ledzeppelin.com/

[oistheone]

It's definitely something I want to own, so I figured I'd wait and buy the DVD.   But maybe this was a mistake and I should have seen it last night.   

I'm getting the same vibe right now. I had FREE tickets offered to me for a Friday show and I turned 'em down because it was a midnight screening and have work early the next morning. Feel pretty dumb about that right now after hearing all these glowing reviews. Buttttttttttttt, in a few weeks from now when I'm crankin' this on my own system with a drink in my hand, I'm hoping I'll have long forgotten about these screenings.

[lpkell2145]

This is showing right down the street from my house. I might surprise my husband this weekend and get tickets. Then I'd be like the best wifey ever!

Thanks for the tip Shug!

[exist10z]

Tonight at 7:30pst in Huntington Beach, thanks for the head up, I'll report back...

[Shug]

I feel like Vic from Almost Famous!

(starts at 1:20) http://youtu.be/hTpx7ocKVPg

"Its all happening!  Zeppelin are here! Mr. Jimmy Page, Mr. Robert Plant!"

[Fully]

I feel like Vic from Almost Famous!

(starts at 1:20) http://youtu.be/hTpx7ocKVPg

"Its all happening!  Zeppelin are here! Mr. Jimmy Page, Mr. Robert Plant!"

You left out that our Penny Lane is there with them! :happy:

I guess I'm just going to have to buy this. There's no way I'm getting to the theater before it starts which is six minutes ago. Also, the closest theater that's showing it is over an hour away.

[ManNamedTruth]

Wanted to go wednesday but waited too long and was sold out, couldn't make it today. I'll definitely be picking up the DVD.

[bartel]

Wanted to go wednesday day but waited too long and was sold out, couldn't make it today. I'll definitely be picking up the DVD.

yeah can't wait for the DVD going to be epic.

[exist10z]

Just got back.

Fucking Awesome.

So much I want to say about it really.  But again a big thank you to Shug for the heads up/reminder.  I 'like' Zeppelin on FB, and have seen a bit about this in the past few weeks, but never really looked into it or investigated what it was, so without this thread I would have missed out.  Glad I didn't.

I can't remember exactly what Shug said, so sorry if I repeat.  Just amazed by how great they were, really amazed.  I am not at all unbiased, as they are probably my favorite band ever, but they have held up better than most of the reunion acts I have seen, and frankly as well or better than some of their contemporaries that never stopped playing.

Robert Plant can still sing - well.  Sure, he's not the same, but he's a pretty old man.  He may not be able to do everything he could at 25, but he's still got a great voice and does his younger self justice.  Jimmy, he's Jimmy, the best, maybe ever, if not then close.  I am not a musician, so watching him I started thinking, 'why can't someone else just do what he does, he's just playing guitar, and he's older now, he can't be as nimble.  Then it just hit me, it's not about being able to 'play', so much as being able to coax a certain sound out of an instrument.  JPJ was solid, looked the youngest/best preserved of the guys (excluding JB), great on the keyboards.  Jason Bonham was very good as well, very proficient.  Having now seen him fill in for his dad, I don't think I'd be as happy to see them with someone else, it just seems right having him back there.  Not as heavy as his dad, but then no one ever has been.  Can't imagine how stoked he must have been to play that show with the greatest rock band ever.

Setlist was awesome.  Like MMJ, but x10, they have so many songs I wanted to hear that I never could have been completely satisfied (unless they played a three night no repeat at the Wiltern, or maybe a T8).  There wasn't anything I would have taken out, that's for sure.

They really looked like they enjoyed playing together and really looked like they enjoyed playing period.  Which of course had me thinking... Well, why don't they play again?  I don't know, I guess they have plenty of money and it's just too difficult, but having seen this, I just want to see them all the more.  I could almost have convinced myself that it wouldn't be that great, that they were too old to pull it off, that it wouldn't be magic.  I was wrong to think that.  It would be everything I could imagine and more I am sure.  I am also a huge Smiths fan (yeah, strange combo I know), and my wife asked how much I'd be willing to pay to see a Smiths reunion. I said, 'as much money as I could legally come up with at the time'.  Having seen Celebration Day, I could now answer that question with complete conviction, 'not half as much as I'd be willing to pay to see Zeppelin'.

[Shug]

You are welcome, guys.  This one did fly kinda under the radar, it seems.  Glad a few folks here heard about it in time to make it, regrets for those that didn't.    I guess it was one night in each city but spread over several nights?  I know in Phoenix it was just on Wed at about 5 different theaters.

exist10z, glad I'm not alone in being blown away.  My love for Zeppelin is immense, so many might not be as impressed as I was.

I keep thinking about what sets Zeppelin so far apart for me and some of it is hard to pinpoint.  Obviously, part of it is that you have four players who are not only brilliant virtuoso soloists, but they have a full grasp of how the whole is greater than the sum of the parts in a true rock ensemble.  As my lovely wife LD says, you can't have an awesome rock band without an awesome drummer (uhhh, Zeppelin, The Who, Rush, MMJ anybody?).
One thing I keep coming back to is that not only is Page a great soloist with fantastic tone (so fucking dirty in No Quarter!!!), he is also a genius rock composer/arranger.  Its not just riffs and melodies and chord progressions he's writing, he's doing complex orchestral arrangements AND its all combined with awesome rock power AND he's drawing on and combining a wealth of Delta blues, rock 'n' roll, and Celtic/Indian/Arabic influences into one singular unique music.  That's probably the main thing that all the Zepp imitators failed to grasp: Zeppelin was so much more than a power rock band.  They'll never be properly copied, its just impossible.

And as for what made this film so great, even in comparison to some of the video footage from the 70s, it probably has a lot to do with the joy at Zeppelin finally reuniting for a properly rehearsed full show.  That has a huge emotional payoff for those of us who thought it'd never happen.  And the fact that they packed all of their own emotions about playing this music again for Ahmet Ertegun and the fans into one intense night.  And I think modern live video/audio recording technology certainly helped capture the magic in ways that was difficult to do in the 70s.  The setlist may have looked like a basic greatest hits, but as it was unfolding, it seemed inspired and perfect to me.  Not really that many rarities (although For Your Life blew me away and I've never really liked that song before) and some surprising omissions (what about The Ocean?) but they did an excellent job covering their body of work in just one show.  And I loved that it was just the four of them, no extra musicians to fill in the sound.  JPJ playing "bass" on the foot pedals when he was at the keyboards.  And for me, Jason just belongs there.  I LOVED Michael Lee in Page/Plant band and I'd be hard pressed to choose between him and Jason as my preferred replacement for Bonham (Michael has passed on, obviously).  With Jason back there, as cool as he is and all the reverence and emotion and skill and knowledge of his father's playing that he brings with him, it kinda doesn't even seem like a replacement drummer to me.  No, he ain't his Dad, but he's so so so good filling that drum spot.

They really did look like they were thrilled to be there and it made me wonder the same things:  Plant doesn't look like the guy who says he's not interested in playing this music anymore.  No one looks too old to pull it off.  It doesn't look like hard work, it looks like something that got them high again after all these years.  Why not go back for more night after night?  I understand why not, but still its a bit baffling at the same time.

Just an overwhelming emotional experience for me, my head is still reeling.  I love feeling this way!

[Fully]

Shug, I hear you. I've wondered why Plant wouldn't go back out on the road with them. I wonder if it is just that he's involved in his own projects and has no desire to do a greatest hits tour or if he has some animosity left over from their years of touring. I can't remember what book I read, but it insinuated that Jimmy Page often derided Page during the early years as just the singer. Or is it the fact that Plant's voice just couldn't handle those arrangements night after night after all these years. I doubt we'll ever know.

I've watched the videos that popped up on youtube of that show. You can see the joy that you speak of in those videos. I'm so glad they at least released this show. So many people have waited for a Zep reunion for so long. Those lucky souls who got to attend this show....

[Crispy]

I want to see this so badly, not just because I am also of the opinion that Led Zeppelin was the greatest rock band of all time, and by all accounts (and the poor recording I have), they gave a great performance that night in 2007 (it was that long ago?!). But also because of the almost twenty years' worth of the bad taste left in our collective mouths by that awful reunion performance in 1988. I was so excited for that, and it just made me sad.