  Want to see the mighty Led Zeppelin rise again, beyond a special Ahmet Ertegun tribute show in November? Well, neither guitar riffmaster Jimmy Page nor bassist John Paul Jones would say no way when asked about the possibility by Sun Media yesterday.
|
The three surviving members of Led Zeppelin are reuniting next month for their first full concert since disbanding 27 years ago.
What everyone wants to know, though, is this a precursor to a world concert tour? Or a new CD of original material? Or both?
Neither guitarist Jimmy Page nor bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones ruled out anything yesterday, in separate telephone interviews with Sun Media.
Page, Jones, singer Robert Plant and drummer Jason Bonham -- son of the fourth member of Zeppelin, John Bonham, who died in 1980 -- are playing a two-hour set Nov. 26 at the 02 Arena in London, England, as part of a tribute concert in aid of the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund. Ertegun was the forward-thinking Atlantic Records executive who signed Zeppelin to a record deal in 1968.
So is this show actually a, well, trial zeppelin for a full-blown reunification?
"Basically, we are concentrating on this show," Jones, 61, said. "That's where all the energy is going. I mean, who knows, but one step at a time."
Page, 63, was much more circuitous in answering the tour question. He said that all three surviving band members, as well as Jason Bonham when he tours with Foreigner, always play Zep material whenever they perform live.
"So you've got the four individual members playing Led Zeppelin in four different capacities," Page said. "When they unite, you've got the key members. You can't play it any better, as they're the people who actually played it and wrote it in the first place ...
"(The Nov. 26 concert) is what we're working toward ... That's what we have on our horizon at this point. I know you want to hear other answers, but I'm afraid that's all I can give you."
Page, though, was less vague as to the prospects of new material.
"Look, I'd be really surprised if there wasn't -- you know, I mean I just know the way we are," the riffmaster said. "We're musicians ... as we're playing we'll probably be coming up with all manner of things. And that will be fun. I mean, that's what it's all about.
"Let's do the 02 show, shall we? And then we'll speak to you afterward."
It was at a jam session back in June -- yes, those reports back then were accurate after all -- that the four musicians gathered to see if they could make a go of it.
"We had a very, very secret tryout in June just to see if it was possible and if anyone wanted to do it, to see if the will was there," Jones said. "And it was pretty exciting. We made all the musical cues, and we were pretty hot."
Page said it was the crucial moment.
"The hardest step -- or the most tentative step -- was to actually be able to get together, the four of us, in a rehearsal room to actually play with the instruments ... and keep the whole damn thing under wraps.
"As it was, we did manage to pull it off, and we didn't have to shake hands and say, 'Well, at least we sort of know that it might not be a good idea.' It was quite the opposite."
New Zeppelin reissues will soon hit stores: A two-disc best-of CD titled Motherlode (Nov. 13), and bolstered CD and DVD reissues of their 1976 film The Song Remains the Same (Nov. 20). This week, the band also announced that its entire catalogue will be available for full-album or single-track download beginning Nov. 13.
Expect the songs to remain the same
So what songs will Led Zeppelin play at its reunion concert next month?
The usual standards Stairway to Heaven, Kashmir and Whole Lotta Love? What about some obscure gems?
Neither Jimmy Page nor John Paul Jones would divulge anything yesterday in interviews with Sun Media, but they did provide a few clues.
"You don't want to give it all away," Jones said. "We played kind of the normal songs at the rehearsal."
In confirming that they'd "more than likely" play an acoustic or off-the-beaten-path song or two, Page said the band already has a "blueprint" of a setlist heading into rehearsals next week.
"Now it's time to start constructing the architecture," Page said.
When Page and singer Robert Plant toured together twice in the '90s, they had backing musicians galore -- two orchestras, even, for one tour.
Will there be any backing musicians this time?
"No, you've got to be joking," Jones said. "We've never needed to do that."
Page agreed: "I never felt comfortable with people filling in ... We want to individually be heard as to what we're doing, but also individually within the context of the four of us singing and playing together. It's really important that you don't cloud the issue with other people."
There are no plans for either a telecast or webcast, live or delayed -- or even a DVD, Jones said.
Between 25 and 30 million online ticket applications were received from around the globe. Uh, that's about one in every 250 people on the planet!
"The response is staggering. It's quite overwhelming," Jones said. "Sorry they can't all be there."
