Led Zeppelin has shown once again how daring, brave and confident they are as an artistic unit. They are without disputed one of those historic, iconic bands that are larger than life. They helped define the concert film with The Song Remains The Same, which has received mixed reviews in the press and with fans over time. As a rock audience, we’ve practically seen it all: multiple camera angles, audience noise, high-speed editing, close-ups, cameras (and even performers) in clear plastic balls, helicopter shots from above, giant video screens, wide angle shots, 3-D effects, and even fan-held cameras on the loose. After so many years of technological leaps and bounds finding their way to the big screen, it’s downright hard to bring anything new or innovative to this medium. Fortunately, the mighty Zeppelin didn’t really try. Sure, they used all the bells and whistles available way back in 2007, but they showed what will probably be seen as wisdom and restraint by not trying to hard to impress.
In this concert film we see what we need to see – the concert. And probably all the things that I wanted to see were up close and personal. This includes close-ups of Jimmy Page playing his classic sunburst Les Paul at just the right times (during powerful riffs or solos), John Paul Jones’ fretless bass (which was a surprise) and Page’s skillful slide guitar playing during “In My Time of Dying,” Jones’ use of the rare 12-string bass during “Trampled Under Foot” and Page’s use of the Transperformance guitar during “Whole Lotta Love.” And those were just the technical/musical close-ups of real value. Add in the human emotion of Jones, Page and drummer Jason Bonham looking at each other, nodding and smiling when they were locked in to a tight groove. Then there were smiles at times between Page and Plant at the end of a section – at one point Page pinched his singer in the side in a good-natured bit of fun. There were plenty of big grins that the elder statesmen in the band were giving to their former drummer’s son, who was doing a splendid job back there that would’ve made the late John Bonham proud. Plant gracefully spotlighted each of his band mates at appropriate times during the set after they shined, but pointed out Bonham’s vocal contribution prior to his help on “Misty Mountain Hop.” Led Zeppelin kept it simple and succeeded by doing so.
The setlist they picked was just fantastic. It was a great choice of songs that flowed amazingly well. “Good Times Bad Times” started the show off with little fanfare and straight-up rocking. This segued quickly into “Ramble On,” which seemed to miss some of its mystical balladeering character by not having much of a ramp-up or quiet transition, but it served the beginning well. “Black Dog” rattled the stage again with high intensity and we didn’t hear a peep of between-song banter until the third song was finished. All we got was a short little “Hello” from Robert Plant and it was back to the serious presentation of tightly performed music.
My eyes could be deceiving me, but I think I saw a teleprompter or two at the edge of the stage. This was kind of a shock. While not performing as a band for 27 years (minus a 3 or 4 song set at Live Aid in ’85 and one or two songs at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary celebration sometime in the ’90s) certainly gives a little room for needing a crutch like a teleprompter, but that’s still a little suspect. I hope that’s not what it was. There were a few little drum fills that Bonham offered his bandmates as helpful hints towards upcoming song changes. I know I rely heavily on these things from the drummer in my band when I’m performing, but somehow I bet that Zeppelin in its prime didn’t need such obvious helps midway through songs. I’ll have to A-B the Zeppelin DVD performances of some of these same songs with this concert when it comes out on DVD on November 19th.
Like any great show, there were some transcendent moments on this night. Most notable was the epic “Kashmir,” which basically ended the show (prior to the two obligatory encores). The inclusion of romping, stomping tunes like “For Your Life,” “In My Time of Dying” and “Trampled Under Foot” underscored the fact and reminded me once again how great of a rhythm section this band has. “For Your Life” was an excellent example of stop-on-a-dime tightness and big, yet simple riffage. It was delightful. There were a few moments where the band wasn’t shining in sonic perfection, but that was the rare exception. The rhythm section sounded a little sluggish as they came out of the middle section of “Dazed and Confused.”
Lyrically, some of the set’s songs were quite telling of the band’s roots. “In My Time of Dying,” of course, was a lament about death, Jesus, Saint Peter at the gate of Heaven, and a request for another pair of wings should his “wings fail below.” Then “For Your Life” seemingly puts a negative spin on doing Cocaine and tryin’ the “fryin'” of psychedelic drugs. “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” as we all know, is an old Gospel Blues standard that takes on the responsibility of letting one’s soul die.
The old mad-as-hell critics of the band might cheer up and forgive the band after all these years (of making money of the backs of old black blues masters whose tunes they covered without much credit) as Plant references “Terrapine Blues” as the tune they nicked from Robert Johnson and then paid homage to Blind Willie Johnson prior to the next song, “Nobody’s Fault…”
Plant introduced “Dazed and Confused” by remarking how difficult it was to choose songs for the set when they had so many studio albums to choose from. He made an off-handed reference about how “Some songs just had to be in the set,” which cast a slight gloom over the introduction to the next tune when he added, “and this is one of them.” But “Dazed and Confused” took off shortly before the violin bow middle section and Plant’s call and response howls and chant-like bellowing. It’s a wonderfully trippy song that wasn’t too far away in the set with its equally trippy bookend number, “No Quarter.” The song following “Dazed,” however, was probably the song that Plant had the most misgivings of including in the set (if I can read into his previous statement) and that was the “most popular song of the ’70s on rock radio,” the iconic “Stairway to Heaven.” This one came off as bit of an obligatory moment, but it’s a fine song nonetheless.
I have to also go on record and state that this particular show really sounded great. I plan on picking up the DVD and the audio-only Compact Disc soundtrack of this film, because I want to jam on these tunes in my car. I can’t say I was a big fan of the previous concert film soundtrack, The Song Remains the Same, as I preferred the performances found on several Led Zeppelin bootlegs to those ’73 Madison Square Garden shows immortalized in that film. (For those who’d like a guide into the world of Zeppelin bootlegs, might I recommend starting with the ’77 four-album set called Destroyer from Seattle). The songs drive with a passion and a life that’s quite surprising when you think about this one-off reunion show being 27 years after their existence as a band.
The only thing missing from this 2-hour performance was another hour, which would’ve then included a short little acoustic set. That was the only missing element from the magical concerts they used to deliver. Seeing how this film has way more good things included than any nitpicking over what was left out, I’d have to judge this film as a roaring success. I was sadly disappointed that the theater up in Cedar Park (a large suburb of Austin, TX) was not packed. In fact, it was quite empty. I didn’t get a headcount, but I’m guessing there was less than 25 people in the place. My first accusatory blame will be at marketing. Perhaps the underground, street-level mystique Led Zeppelin had all these years (being able to sell out a stadium in a few short hours) is gone. I’d hate to reach that conclusion, but that’s what the evidence at this turnout tells me.
If you’re like me and you felt a twinge of pain by not being able to attend that single show at London’s O2 Arena back in ’07, you’ll be quick to pick up this DVD to get as close to reliving it as you’ll ever get.
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