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Home » Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant

The Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert, O2 Arena, London

10 December 2007 8,017 views One Comment

SetList : Good Times Bad Times, Ramble On, Black Dog,
In My Time Of Dying, For Your Life, Trampled Under Foot, Nobody’s Fault But Mine, No Quarter,
Since I’ve Been Loving You, Dazed & Confused,
Stairway To Heaven, The Song Remains The Same,
Misty Mountain Hop, Kashmir
Encores : Whole Lotta Love, Rock And Roll

Reviews :

Wow – what an evening…

That’s the show that should be on the road!
What a well oiled machine and what a production.
I cant wait to re-live it!!!!
Scott Cameron, New Jersey

 

A night like no other!

I felt so privileged to be present. Bigger than a World Cup final, The biggest state occasion, Chelsea winning the Champions League!! this was IT !!!

They kept each song as true as possible to its original, so different from the 70’s and the 30 min. solos. No rest for ‘recreational’ pursuits backstage in 07′!!
the set list:

“Good Times, Bad Times,” “Ramble On,” “Black Dog,” “In My Time of Dying,” “For Your Life,” “Trampled Underfoot,” “Nobody’s Fault but Mine,” “No Quarter,” “Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “The Song Remains the Same,” “Misty Mountain Hop” and “Kashmir.”

the group then treated the crowd to a two-song encore: “Whole Lotta Love” and “Rock and Roll.” The band had never played “For Your Life” before.

Plant enjoyed himself which makes me think he will, if not tour definitely play more ‘one off’ gigs.
He sang every song better than ever before except Stairway. He sang this like he HAD to sing it, not that he wanted to sing it. Good riddance to this over rated song. I’m with Planty on that. Good too that they just threw it in as ‘another’ song and not the drawn out opus it became in the 70’s.

So Zep were brilliant. Whatever the sceptics may think of them, believe me this was as good if not better than when I last saw them in 75′ at Earls Court and Jason Bonham was a credit to Bonzo senior.

I am now retiring from live gigs………it doesn’t get any better than this!!!
via email
So, I headed to London from New York to one of the most over-hyped gigs ever, thrilled about the prospect of Led Zeppelin. I was nervous about how Jimmy’s pinky finger would hold up, and whether Robert’s voice could get to those notes again.
At exactly 9pm the greatest band that existed came on stage, to play a rollicking version of “Good Times Bad Times” which would have sounded great had the mixing desk removed the feedback. I knew from that song the band was in fine form. Next up was “Ramble On”. What impressed me the most during this song was Jason Bonham’s drum work. Sounded fantastic – half way through the song they had removed the feedback issue.
“Black Dog” came next, and it was great to see Jimmy and Robert’s interplay during this song. Jimmy was devastating in this song, attacking the riff with fury. The crowd went absolutely berserk, from which the feeling never dissipated.
My favorite song of the set came next: “In My Time of Dying” a dirty 10 minute sludgefest on slide guitar. Fantastic. Robert’s vocal work was great, and Jimmy nailed the various elements. After they nailed “Black Dog” you could sense confidence in the band was high.
It was interesting to hear ‘For Your Life” a song they had never played live before. Whilst not a classic Zeppelin classic, it was good to hear a less popular song having the cobwebs dusted off.
White people can dance, or at least the crowd attempted to during “Trampled Under Foot”, with excellent keyboard work from John Paul Jones. A fun number to experience, that sounded great live.
“Nobody’s Fault But Mine” saw a return to the electrified blues. At this point I really couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be attending this event. In total aural (AURAL) ecstasy.
JPJ returned to the keyboards to play his signature number, “No Quarter.” It’s interesting to watch JPJ, you get the impression his body language would be exactly the same playing in Led Zeppelin, as he would in the church band.
Zeppelin’s most famous slow blues number “Since I’ve Been Loving You” was next. I’m running out of superlatives, aren’t I? Superb.
“Dazed & Confused” was next. I was certainly dazed by their performance. Jimmy’s violin bow work during this song was amazing – did not come across as self indulgent, nor overblown
Jimmy then strapped on the double-neck for “Stairway to Heaven.” Being the professionals they are, the band gave it 100%, although I think on reflection that song belongs in the 70’s. I love hearing the recorded versions, it just seemed dated during the concert, unlike every other song they played.
The next two numbers “The Song Remains the Same” and “Misty Mountain Hop” continued the excellence. I especially liked the bouncing riff of “Misty Mountain Hop” another song where white people (including me) attempted to dance.
The perfect song to end the regular set was “Kashmir.” That song was perfection live on Monday night. Robert’s vocals were perfect during this song, as was the band’s playing. This song as not aged one year.
With the end of “Kashmir” and the regular set there was no way they were going to get away with not doing an encore. So they came back on stage to annihilate “Whole Lotta Love.” I have the feeling Jimmy’s Theremin was playing up, as that element did not last as long as expected.
The band once again retreated from the stage, before a further encore of “Rock & Roll.” “It’s been a long time since I’ve rock and rolled.” Indeed. The perfect end to a perfect concert.
Concluding thoughts:
– An emotional high from start to finish
– I know they didn’t have time, but it would have a perfect night even better to hear a couple acoustic songs. “That’s the Way” for example.
– “Stairway to Heaven” belongs in the’70’s. Great to hear, but it was the only song that dated the band.
Nearly 30 years after Bonzo’s unfortunate death, Zeppelin once again set the live benchmark.
Mark Griffin
48 hours later I’m still dazed and confused; too many thoughts, too many emotions, 30 years (since I was 14, I’m 44 now) of rock music passion compressed in 2 hours…
every step to that night was like climbing a mountain: the show first news, the ballot, the struggle to find a ticket despite not winning the latter, the hope, the disappointment, then the hope again, the trip from Italy to London, the queues to collect ticket and then to get in …
it’s getting close, close … I’M IN! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!
I like the O2, it looks the perfect temple for tonight ultimate rock gods celebration… well, maybe too huge, too round and the ceiling is too high, acoustics will be pretty
awful, I guess, but who cares…
pre-show: nice Fanfare for Commonwealth meets Kashmir (from ELP meets Yes meets Bad
Company), GREAT Paul Rodgers, that voice, that feeling … I really would like to see him, a full show, but not tonight, sorry Paul…
Almost 9 PM, everything seems ready, I can’t stand over, please let the dogs out…
Dark, everyone shouting, the vintage video behind the stage and in the darkness those figures: Jason … Jimmy, he’s there, I can see him!… Percy is coming … ready, ready…
TA-TA … TA-TA … *Good Times, Bad Times* erupts from nothing, but I almost can’t hear
a single note, too much noise from the audience around me … but they look great:
Jimmy great suit and black glasses, that grin on his face; Percy always classy, bearded, reminds me 1970s days … Jonesy short hair, dressed in full black, a column, perfectly focused on his playing … as always…Jason, wow, *just hit them hard* someone said, and he does, oh if he does…
then *Ramble On* and a (very slow paced) *Black Dog* … some kind of a low key start …
Page too low in the mix … Plant too low in his throat … all four are close, very close each other, despite the huge stage, like a rehearsal … like if they need to keep in touch, to pluck up courage…I though that’s human, that’s nice…*Good Evening* from Robert, and then like a moan and a gesture that seems to mean *I can’t tell you…*
but beware, the warm up is over: *In My Time Of Dying* is A BLAST, tight, very tight; that drumming … I shut my eyes … I can’t believe what I’m listening, Bonzo are you here?
that’s BEYOND human, that’s beautiful, that’s what Zeppelin is about…my body starts to shake, it will never stop …
*For Your Life* is the anticipated *surprise* of this magic night: good,but I was hoping in *The Rover* or *In The Light* … well, maybe next time…*No Quarter*, *Since I’ve Been Loving You* (despite a Jason mistake makes almost disband everyone at the end) and a shortened (but with bow section and laser games) *Dazed And Confused* are simply joy
for my ears and eyes…
*Stairway To Heaven* … 20.000 singers, a great Pagey solo, *Ahmet, we did it!*…yeah, you did it, Robert! and Jimmy, once you have the double neck SG in your hands …right, *The Song Remains The Same* ! and thanks God the title doesn’t lie… after IMTOD,in my opinion, the second musical masterpiece of the night, pure blessing, the ROCK itself, ladies and Gentlemen! *Jason Bonham! Spectacular!* … really! a little too *loose* here and there, but … thanks him (and Jonesy, of course) the Heavy Machinery is here again with us tonight, alive and kicking! *Misty Mountain Hop* and *Kashmir* … great, great, GREAT!!!
*Goodnight!* No way! Nobody stops to clap his hands until *Whole Lotta Love* riff sweep everything away … after the Theremin section Robert seems keen to start the R’n’R medley … oh yes, please … no, just a feint ,,, too bad!
2nd encore: *Rock And Roll*, I almost forgot they didn’t play it yet, I was ready for *Heartbreaker*, well, *it’s been a long time…* … it’s done, over, already over … *just* 2 hours, I wanted to be here and listening to them for 2 days at least … but, you know, after all
they’re no Gods, they’re humans, they’re wonderful humans…that play as Gods would play if they should play rock’n’roll…
48 hours since that, still dazed and confused, but so much happier…
Giuseppe from Italy
The 10th of December accomplished a number of very important things for music of old and new and for the band Led Zeppelin and their Legacy, or should I say “Legacy”! The house lights blacked out and I thought I was gonna as well. Showing on two screens left and right was a news report framed by a 60s style tv set. It was the report of how they broke the
Beatles record for attendance at tampa stadium in 73 I think it was. The fact that Paul McCartney was in attendance for this show makes for an interesting picture in deed, wonder what he thought of this as vibe inducer.
What a great way to set the mood and bring the urgency in the air up front. As soon as the report finished, BOOM BOOM———–BOOM BOOM————“In the days of my youth I was taught what it means to be a man.” Plant now at 59 and in great shape physically and vocally
delivered that first line and they were launched. Then it was Ramble On and Black Dog in a row before Plant even spoke to say a restrained, “Good Evening” Boy, what an understatement THAT was at the time. For a night filled with a ton of pressure to produce, a lot of feedback screeches from a hot mic and the fact that the expectation factor was at an all time high, the mighty Led Zeppelin FINALLY pulled off a proper reunion that was VERY close to the days of old. Were some of the numbers tuned down? Yes. But so what, it allowed for Plant to hit the high notes in certain songs a lot stronger without blowing his voice out, which by the way is still robust and powerful with a great range for a 59 year old man. Page had a multiple blended amp sound that was thick and cutting at the same time. John Paul jones was using his split direct and amp sound with 8 string basses at times and a fret-less as well. He also played great keyboards while hitting bass pedals with his feet. Jason Bonham’s dad would have ben proud that his son kept up the live feel and legacy for the young generation and had a vast knowledge of all the live shows via bootleg to draw from. Jason has been doing Zep sets of his own as of late and has picked up enough of the live tapes to recognize where to go in the songs thus bringing this reformed Zeppelin to a authentic live feel that fans like me would recognize. He OWNED this evening. Was this a perfect night, no. Was Zep EVER perfect?
No. This reunion shows a very important thing, it shows that the power of their songs and the sound of their respective musical voices is still commanding.
Highlights of the show besides the intro song was a very sexy and slinky In My Time of Dying which showed off a beautiful new Gibson hollow-body with p90 pickups that had a better sound than that dano. Also, For Your Life, a never before played song shined! Plant hit all the notes in the song and sounded remarkably like the Presence cut vocally. Page showed off another new guitar for that, a replica of the 3 pickup black beauty les paul with the Bigsby Trem that was stolen from an airport in 1970. Dazed was spectacular with the wizard using his bow on the strings. Trampled Under foot was a great performance with JPJ demonstrating his awesome talent as well as Page using his Whammy Pedal on the solo.
For Plant I would say Kashmir was his Vocal tour de Force. After the repeated descending part of the song when it breaks into that bridge, he let out TWO powerful wails of WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO that he held longer than I just typed and never cracked. It was the moment of truth. Misty Mtn Hop including Jason on harmony.No Quarter was also a highlight. Stairway was played with a short solo and Plant hit the, Our Shadows taller than our souls” part with power. Then, our golden god said, ” Ahment, we did it” ever
see at least 10, 000 grown men cry their eyes out, I did.
Whole Lotta Love rocked and so did Rock and Roll, the last song.
While the band played their was a great light show, fog on No Quarter, A laser Pyramid for the Bow Solo, and production images on the huge screen behind them. There was a camera work delivering close ups and arty stuff ala stones show. Also during Rock N Roll their was a montage of bootleg clips played on the screens. They all looked incredibly sharp. Robert was in
great shape, thin with a goatee looking like an old viking or pirate. JPJ was in jeans! Jimmy wore his now almost white hair long with a black trench and sunglasses. Jason was dresses down and looking cool.
Those 4 musicians exceeded everyones expectations as well as theirs. If they never played again together they would have at last proven who the true rock gods really were and also removed those two gnarly stains on their legacy from 85 and 88. I really feel that these 4 should play a few more shows just for fun and charity and just because of the fact that we do not all live forever. Maybe now Robert will realize that he can still do whatever he wants and ALSO play with his friends once in a while for FUN. After witnessing these blokes throw down the old tunes with new flair it only would be a dying shame if they didn’t at least TRY to see what new music would sound like one more time. I think they could create one last chapter to the Led Zeppelin book. It is not needed, but it would be a remarkable experience.
Long live the mighty Led Zeppelin.
Jason Walker from Las Vegas, who also supplied the following poem.

These two session men
Took two men from Birmingham
One had the hammer of thunder
The other owned the pipes of god

Gathered in a little room
created a noise that the earth consumed
one year off of forty
all would be resumed

Come back Jimmy, we need your band
Come back bonzo we need your hand
Come back Bobby your voice is grand
You remembered the number
Achilles took it’s stand

Marshall stack emits
The bass is tight
The Golden God is in the light
The LED ZEPPELIN is back
It was in FULL FLIGHT

Nice one Jason
Can mere words describe this fantastic night? The magic, the grandeur, the fun – just wonderful! Thirty years melted away as three (or more) generations came together to view the mighty Zeppelin. The camaraderie in the crowd was lovely as people chatted, laughed and swapped stories from over the years. We were standing about 5 or 6 rows from the front and there wasn’t too much jostling although at just 5′ 4″ it was a tricky business trying to see over rather tall gentlemen’s shoulders! The power from the stage just washed over us like an ocean, wave after wave sending the vibes right through us, sometimes I could even feel my hair vibrating! Some people in the crowd were dancing and whooping and singing along of course but some were just staring in amazement as though wanting to drink in every incredible moment – I was a mixture of all! Ramble On was a highlight for me as I have loved that song forever – the rain and the pain and the Autumn moon really does it for me. Kashmir was brilliant and Dazed & Confused was incredible, when Jimmy (the white wizard!) got his bow out, the roar of the crowd said it all – no magician could have cast a spell like that! John Paul was his usual understated brilliant self and Jason kept up the thunderous,relentless beat throughout, he must have been exhausted at the end! Robert, still oozing sex, let out a voice that was incredible – hitting the high notes with ease and strutting just enough to send a shiver down any red blooded woman’s spine! Altogether a confident, powerful performance by musicians who are happy with their own brilliance – and I for one am sooo glad they shared it with us! Here’s hoping for more!
Jill Warburton

 

On the 4th August 1979 when I was just 16 I attended the Led Zeppelin concert at Knebworth Park. At the time I only had 3 albums, ‘The Song Remains the Same’, ‘IV’ and ‘Houses of the Holy’. But by the time the concert had finished I had become a life time fan, and let’s remember that this was not a particularly cool or trendy thing to be in the punk/ska landscape of 1979/80. I then spent the next two years using my Saturday job money to complete my Led Zeppelin collection and started subscribing to ‘Tight but Loose’ (subscription has subsequently lapsed but will be renewed). I read the reviews of the 1980 concerts in Europe and waited excitedly and expectantly for the next Zeppelin concerts in the UK, this time confident that I would know all the songs.
Little did I think that it would be 28 years before I would get the opportunity to see them again! But as the old adage goes ‘Sometimes, the best things are worth waiting for’ and this was definitely worth waiting for! There is and never will be anyone like them. They are magnificent.
Looking down from level 4 I could see the four of them walk on stage and tear into ‘Good Times, Bad Times’. From up in the Gods, Robert Plant didn’t appear much different from the way he did at Knebworth. For one moment I thought he still had the same shirt on. Every song was a testament to their raw talent, hard work and sheer dedication. Never has there been a band where each member perfectly compliments one another and contributes so much. At one stage my younger brother, fellow concert goer and general good guy who got up at 3 am to enter the ballot said to me ‘Listen to that sound, there is only four of them down there, how do they do it!’.
During the late seventies Zeppelin were derided for being Dinosaurs by the music press. This is a band that is not extinct; it is a band still in its prime with more, so much more to give.
The set order has been listed in many other places so I won’t dwell on that here but am just going to highlight one song if it is possible to highlight anything in an evening which was a 2 hour highlight.
Although ‘Dazed and Confused’ is a great song I always found Jimmy Page’s extensive use of the violin bow a little tiresome on ‘The Song Remains the Same’ and indeed at Knebworth. However, at 02 the timing had been slimmed down and it became an intense emotional experience. The accompanying pyramid of lasers helped to time warp me back nearly 30 years to that long summer’s night of my youth. It was at this point that the emotions took control of me. I had managed to keep it together through all the preceding wonderful songs but the shock of the divine beauty of those ethereal sounds unlocked the flood gates and the tears streamed down my face. 28 years, 1 divorce, 3 children, a failed and then rebuilt career were stripped away and I was once sixteen again.
Led Zeppelin are a living legend. The adjectives do not exist in the English language to describe how good they are. Academics believe that the word genius initially came into use to describe Shakespeare. We need a new word to describe Led Zeppelin. One of them has fallen, but ‘The Once and Future Kings’ have returned, even if it is only for one night, to show us all once and for all how rock and roll should be. Two thousand years from now when we are all long dead and gone people will look back on Led Zeppelin as we look back to King Arthur and Camelot.
Philip Brown

 

We arrived about 5pm, got the tickets and wristband and punched the air.I was going to see the band that had been the soundtrack to my life again! (I was there in 1979 at Knebworth, but was only 18 and can’t remember much of it). My seat was up in the (hammer of the) gods to the left but close to the stage.
At 9am it happened, the lights went down and we were treated to some vintage footage of TSRTS film, then into GTBT, didn’t see that one coming, (I had R and R down as the opener, how wrong could I have been)?
Sound was a bit muddy were I was, but got better for Ramble On, Black Dog next complete with audience participation on the Ah, Ah Ah’s, great!
Then another out of left field, IMTOD, superb bottleneck from JP.
Another surprise was next, FYL from Presence 1st time live from the 1st Zep album I ever bought.
TUF rocked hard, NFBM was fantastic and then all mean and moody for No Quarter, definitely my favourite of the night.
SIBLY was next, I love that song, then D and C, another highlight for me, complete with violin bow and pyramid lasers, ah yes Knebworth is coming back to me now!
Then Stairway, my wife’s favourite of the night (She has had a quick lesson in all things Zep recently, I suppose it was my favourite song too when I was a Zep virgin).
Robert sang it with feeling and did not send it up, witness a very happy JP at the end of that one.
TSRTS was next, sound again went a bit muddy, then MMH, complete with funky hippy trip images on the big screen, then Kashmir, the power of this was completely stunning.
Off they went only to return with WLL and R and R what a great ending to a spell binding performance.
A word now for Jason Bonham, I thing the pressure on him was even greater than on the others, having to fill his dads shoes with the greatest rock band ever, but he was a revelation, I have not seen drumming like that since, well, his dad was alive.
JPJ was as he always was, a superb musician and rock solid, wish he would smile a bit more though, hope he’s not still upset about them losing his phone number in the mid nineties.
Must mention the production, although the sound was sometimes too booming and muddy, the projection images were fantastic, I loved it when they mingled vintage footage with the live stuff, very clever.
All in all 2hours 15mins of blistering, tight but loose rock and roll, lets hope it’s the beginning of something very special, 2 nights at Wembley stadium in the summer anyone?
Ian Baker

 

The night of all nights, Led Zeppelin live. It is a funny thing to admit but at 39 years old I am too young to have seen the great band live. So dreams do come true because I was there and what I say that night made me see that all bands pale into nothing before the might of Led Zeppelin.
I waited in line all day to stand at the front and listened to many stories of how far people havetravelled and of passion for this band, the same passion I feel everytime I hear the music. At 6pm we were let in and I ran to the front. I was on the second row stood behind to American ladies who had slept at the O2 the night before. The floor soon filled up and myself and my friend Rob just could not stop smiling at the very thought of what was to come.
All the acts that played showed their respect for Ahmet Ertegun and they did a good job. But I really think everyone was there for one reason only and at 9pm the lights went out and I had goose bumps all over my body as the intro film played.
One by one Jason, Jimmy, Robert and John Paul took to the stage. Then it happened Good Times Bad Times started it all off. Seeing those people together all stood in front of the drum kit was magic. I smiled and didn’t stop smiling until the last beat had stopped on the stage it was all magic.
All the reviews say one thing that the band was mighty, from were I was standing it was like nothing else on this earth. Simply the greatest band of all time smiling at each other playing the music that everyone wanted to hear and so few got the chance too.
For me the highlights were Trampled Underfoot and Kashmir, everything was there, the sound the mix the feeling. It was all amazing, I have no complaints there was magic in the air.
Driving home from the O2, all we could do was act like two kids who have just seen the best band in the world and we cannot imagine anyone anywhere ever playing a gig like that. We got home at 5.30am went to work the next day and we were both stars for the day because
everyone wanted to know was it really as good as the papers were saying. Nah it was a million times better.
Russell Cherrington

 

A night like no other! I felt so privileged to be present. Bigger than a World Cup final, The biggest state occasion, Chelsea winning the Champions League!! this was IT !!!
They kept each song as true as possible to its original, so different from the 70’s and the 30 min. solos. No rest for ‘recreational’ pursuits backstage in 07′!!
the set list:
“Good Times, Bad Times,” “Ramble On,” “Black Dog,” “In My Time of Dying,” “For Your Life,” “Trampled Underfoot,” “Nobody’s Fault but Mine,” “No Quarter,” “Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “The Song Remains the Same,” “Misty Mountain Hop” and “Kashmir.” the group then treated the crowd to a two-song encore: “Whole Lotta Love” and “Rock and Roll.” The band had never played “For Your Life” before.
Plant enjoyed himself which makes me think he will, if not tour definitely play more ‘one off’ gigs. He sang every song better than ever before except Stairway. He sang this like he HAD to sing it, not that he wanted to sing it. Good riddance to this over rated song. I’m with Planty on that. Good too that they just threw it in as ‘another’ song and not the drawn out opus it became in the 70’s.
So Zep were brilliant. Whatever the skeptics may think of them, believe me this was as good if not better than when I last saw them in 75′ at Earls Court and Jason Bonham was a credit to Bonzo senior.
I am now retiring from live gigs………it doesn’t get any better than this!!!
DUMMER1997

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