Tuesday, December 11, 2007

More Rave Reviews

Rolling Stone: "Any doubts about Plant's ability to still hit the high notes, his willingness to go stratospheric, was obliterated at the right, dramatic points in "Since I've Been Loving You" and "Kashmir." Jones and Bonham locked in like family. And Page was a continual shock on guitar, mostly because he has played so little in public for the past decade. At sixty-three, Page is undiminished in his sorcerer's mix of reckless ferocity — stammering runs, strangled howls, granite-block chords — and guitar-army wow."

Reuters: "Led Zeppelin had a lot to live up to after the hype surrounding their reunion gig on Monday night, but the British rockers pulled it off so successfully that critics and fans are begging for a world tour."

AP: "On the morning after Led Zeppelin's long-awaited reunion concert, the music reviewers were already calling for more. Playing a full set for the first time in nearly three decades, the authors of "Stairway to Heaven" and "Whole Lotta Love" rocked the O2 Arena on Monday for more than two hours, leaving fans from around the world gasping in delight."

The Times of London: "“It’s been a long, lonely time since I last rock’n’rolled” screeched Plant. Well, at least since he has showed this sort of fire-eyed intensity. And so, was it all for a one-off show in memory of their label boss Ahmet Ertegun? Come on. With a synergy like this going on, it would be an act of cosmic perversity to stop now."

London Free Press: "You could quibble that it didn't equal the sprawling three-hour shows they used to put on, but as someone who saw them back in the day, let me tell you they were never this tight. And the sound and lights were never this good. And this time, we didn't have to sit through a half-hour drum solo. By the time it wrapped up after a smoking version of Rock and Roll, the fans most certainly had not had enough. We can only hope the band feels the same way."
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LED ZEPPELIN
Rating: Six stars (out of five)
They were that good! "

2 comments:

Colette said...

Geez Don...

Don't you wish you could have been there?

Think they will come to Cleveland?

Country Squire said...

C.,

I do wish I could have been there. I understand there were attendees representing fifty countries in the crowd. Right now I’m just hoping someone had the foresight to record the concert! My wife will attest to the fact that I sat around here with a broad grin on my face as I read the reviews which, as you saw, were very good indeed. I am also happy that the band took eight months to practice and put together a concert that was worthy of their reputation as well as the fond memories of many of their long time fans, myself included.

Since the London concert went so well I would have to assume that they will tour. Their entire catalog just went online at iTunes which now leaves The Beatles as the last major holdouts. All of this seems calculated to determine if there is enough demand for a tour and my educated guess is that the answer would be an unqualified “yes”. I would also guess that the tour will sell-out just like Zeppelin tours always did – within hours.

Will they come to Cleveland? Who knows? Cleveland is not the obligatory concert stop it once was when we really were the Rock ‘N Roll Capital of the World. I will tell you that fair warning has been given in this household and if I need to travel and pay scalpers – so be it. If you can’t splurge every thirty years when your favorite band tours – I mean, WTF?