Led Zeppelin | 12.10.07 | London

Words & Images by: Ian Feder

Led Zeppelin :: 12.10.07 :: O2 Arena :: London, England

Led Zeppelin :: 12.10.07 :: London

For fans of legendary rockers Led Zeppelin the thought of seeing them in concert had long been an unattainable dream. In 1980, Led Zeppelin broke up following the tragic death of drummer John Bonham and hadn’t played a full show under the Zep name since. However, on December 10, 2007 at the O2 Arena in London, the dreams of 20,000 people were fulfilled at the one night only concert that brought together Jimmy Page (63), Robert Plant (59), John Paul Jones (61) and John Bonham’s son, Jason (41) filling the drum chair.

The night before the concert, there was a group of about 40 dedicated fans camped out all day in order to get the best view from the General Admission floor. The long, cold night turned into a Led Zeppelin pre-party, with music being played and sung by fans from Canada, America, Columbia, Brazil, England, Ireland and even one young fan who was brave enough to come from Germany with no ticket. Dedicated fans that waited out that night found him a ticket for only 300 pounds – a bargain given the astronomical prices being reported for after-market tickets.

As night turned into day, hoards of people flooded into the O2 to pickup their tickets and wait for the doors to open. During the day there was a Zeppelin cover band that played as we slowly moved through the cramped, metal-gated line like a herd of music loving cattle.

Jimmy Page – Led Zeppelin :: 12.10.07 :: London

At 6:00 p.m. the doors opened and the show began promptly at 7:15 p.m. with an introduction by promoter Harvey Goldsmith about the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund (for which the show was a benefit) and its three lifetime scholarships; one in Ertegun’s hometown in Turkey, one at Oxford in England and one in America.

After the opening acts quickly ran through their very brief, sometimes one song sets, the house lights dimmed and the crowd let out a ground shaking cheer for the headliner as the enormous video screen lit up to show a clip from The Song Remains the Same DVD about when the band broke The Beatles show attendance record in 1973.

At the end of the clip, the screen went dark for a moment and the band opened up with the first song off of their first album, “Good Times Bad Times,” in an absolutely explosive manner. Dressed in all black, except for Jimmy Page’s white shirt, they played the song a little slower than usual, and while the audience was going absolutely mad, the band did not seem 100-percent together yet. Without a pause, Plant steered them into a very bluesy “Ramble On,” then proved that he hadn’t lost as much as everyone feared by belting out a powerful “Black Dog,” where the crowd sang all of the “ah-ahs” back at him.

By this point, the band had pulled everything together and it was hard to believe that they had not played a complete show together in 27 years. Before a soulful, well-received “In My Time of Dying,” Plant spoke to the crowd for the first time, simply saying, “Good evening.” Plant then introduced “For Your Life” and let everyone know that it was the band’s first live attempt at this song. While the excitement and energy in the O2 Arena was already near maximum, this took it to inconceivable levels.

Led Zeppelin :: 12.10.07 :: London

After their extremely successful foray into that never-before-played song from Presence, John Paul Jones led Zep into what Plant described as the band’s attempt to sound like Robert Johnson’s “Terraplane Blues” – “Trampled Under Foot.” They then unleashed a powerful “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” with the band members all smiling at one another and standing within arm’s reach of each other.

Before the next song, the stage went suddenly dark and the crisp, clean sound of Jones’ keyboard started the audience dancing. Blue light flooded the stage as smoke rolled out during fan favorite “No Quarter,” which ended with Plant praising Jones who wailed on keys and bass throughout the tune.

After a bluesy trip through “Since I’ve Been Loving You,” Jones’ bass announced the epic, solo infused “Dazed and Confused,” which lasted for 10 minutes and saw Page use a cello bow for his solo while covered in laser beams. Afterwards Plant exclaimed, “Jimmy Page on electric guitar!”

Amid the undying cheers, the band transitioned into “Stairway to Heaven,” which generated an even greater level of excitement that was maintained during the remainder of the show. At times it was difficult to hear the words sung by Plant with the audience overpowering him with the might of their combined voices. “The Song Remains the Same” followed and was warmly received though the performance itself was rather predictable.

Led Zeppelin :: 12.10.07 :: London

The quick, powerful “Misty Mountain Hop” opened with Plant saying how great of a job Jason Bonham was doing filling his father’s shoes. This was followed by possibly the most epic song of the night, “Kashmir.” It wasn’t only that Plant announced, “We’ve got people from 50 countries here and this is the 51st,” nor the incredibly psychedelic backdrop on the monstrous screen behind the band, nor the deep Middle Eastern style riff, but more the feeling that this was the culmination of this entire dream-like experience. They left the stage to the loudest applause of the night.

Would these gods of rock come out for an encore? Of course, and the noise level in the arena never dampened as Page vaulted into the main riff of “Whole Lotta Love.” He rocked through the entire song including an extended freakout session using his Theremin. At the conclusion, Plant said, “Thanks to everybody. Thanks, Ahmet.” The band left the stage again and the arena lights came up for about 30 seconds, but the audience did not let up their thunderous roar for more Zeppelin, bringing the boys out for one more.

They finished with a bang. “Rock and Roll” is what this band and this night embodied to everyone in attendance. The essence of rock ‘n’ roll, in the primal, archetypal sense, was in the O2 Arena. Congratulations to those lucky few who were able to bask in the presence of Led Zeppelin, and good luck to the hopeful millions who pray for a future world tour so that they too may experience what a true rock show is all about.

Setlist:
Good Times, Bad Times, Ramble On, Black Dog, In My Time of Dying For Your Life (first time ever played live), 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, Kashmir
Encore: Whole Lotta Love, Rock and Roll

Led Zeppelin – Kashmir – Live in London 2007

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