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Jimmy Page hobnobs with Jack White in Los Angeles in time for film premiere

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Two days before the first public screening of "It Might Get Loud" in Los Angeles, at least two of the film's stars were in town. It is likely both Jimmy Page and Jack White will stick around long enough for the Friday evening screening of their film, taking in the flick yet another time before its widespread theatrical distribution in August.

Don't expect a full reunion of the three guitarists starring in "It Might Get Loud." Unlike at the world premiere in Toronto last year, when all three attended and participated in a public question-and-answer session, this time, The Edge is in Barcelona, where he is with the rest of U2 preparing for the 360 tour, which is set to open in less than two weeks.

Page's frequent traveling companion, photographer Ross Halfin, details the events of the June 14 flight they shared into Los Angeles on his blog. Halfin then discusses the concert he and Page attended at the Roxy last night.

  • The band was the Dead Weather, which consists of Alison Mosshart on vocals and Jack White on lead guitar and occasional vocals. An L.A. Times blog by Ann Powers mentions Page's presence at the show, saying he "was the show's most whispered-about attendee." Luckily for Page, the blog says, his "It Might Get Loud" co-star didn't fail to "invoke" (might she mean "evoke"?) Led Zeppelin during the hour-long set.
  • The Dead Weather is scheduled as tonight's musical guest on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien." Their album, Horehound, is expected to drop July 14.
Anyway, Halfin says he and Page had barely just arrived in Los Angeles when they ran into Roger Daltrey of the Who. In Halfin's words, the singer "wasted no time in badgering Jimmy to play at the Teenage Cancer Trust next March. Jimmy didn't say no, so you never know." Indeed, this 2010 charity event would be a welcome addition to Page's invisible concert schedule, seeing as he is nearing the halfway point of this current year with only one in-concert appearance under his belt.

There's been no mention of how long Page would remain in Los Angeles or what the purpose of his visit, so assuming he'll attend tomorrow's "It Might Get Loud" showing is just a logical conclusion. However, if he's still around through the weekend, perhaps Page would pad up his sightseeing itinerary with another concert. Led Zepagain is one tribute band Page has watched in approval and solidarity. It's possible that on Saturday night, he may head over and watch the tribute act again at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, which was the scene of four consecutive nights with Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper sharing the bill 40 years ago.

Also, there is that gong of John Bonham's that seems to be in town past its expiration date. Imagine stuffing that in the overhead bin on the flight back!

One last thought: Gee, I hope Jimmy gets a chance to listen to the nightly installments of "Get the Led Out" on 95.5 KLOS. The program, for which I write and consult, just debuted in Los Angeles last week and is now airing at 7 p.m. Pacific time (10 p.m. Eastern). Those of you not in the area can tune in on the Web site to listen live, or check with your local classic rock stations to see if they already "Get the Led Out" with Carol Miller.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems everybody oversees this, there is also the Secret Policeman's Film Festival in LA now ongoing which features the performance of Page/Plant from 1998 in Paris.

Steve Sauer said...

How secret is it?

Led Zeppelin Reunion


Photo courtesy of Simon Keeping

The surviving members of Led Zeppelin regrouped in 2007, with Jason Bonham on drums, to perform a year-end tribute to Ahmet Ertegun. Their widely praised concert was witnessed in person by fewer than 20,000 people. It is likely never to be repeated, and there are no announced plans to release the concert for home viewing. However, clicking the image above will bring up multi-cam footage of the entire Led Zeppelin performance as it happened on Dec. 10, 2007, at the O2 arena in London.

Many posts on LedZeppelinNews.com have centered on the possibility of a full-scale Led Zeppelin reunion, noting particularly the inaccuracies reported by the popular press.

Page


Jimmy Page stars with fellow guitarists Jack White and The Edge in this guitar documentary, directed by Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth"), which had widespread theatrical showings beginning in August.

LedZeppelinNews.com provided a review of "It Might Get Loud" at that time.

"It Might Get Loud" will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on Dec. 22 in the United States. Click here to pre-order on DVD or Blu-Ray. Prior to this, "It Might Get Loud" will be available on iTunes for two weeks beginning Dec. 8.

- What else should I know about "It Might Get Loud"?

- What else is Jimmy Page up to?

Plant


Just prior to the Led Zeppelin reunion concert in 2007, Robert Plant released the album Raising Sand with Alison Krauss. Their partnership has been the subject of much critical and commercial success, including victories at the Grammy awards two years in a row.

A follow-up to that album has been in pre-production, but Krauss's current priorities are new recordings and eventual touring with her signature band, Union Station. Progress on the second Plant/Krauss album is anticipated following the completion of the Union Station tour.

More recently, Plant entered the studio with famed U2 producer Daniel Lanois for some recording sessions, the nature of which has not been disclosed.

Following the breakup of Led Zeppelin, Plant went on to a rewarding career as a solo artist. He released six albums of his own between 1982 and 1993, two collaborative albums with Jimmy Page between 1994 and 1998, and two more solo albums since that time. Yet until Raising Sand, his biggest commercial success came in releasing an EP of classic cover material under the name The Honeydrippers.

- What else is Robert Plant up to?

Jones


John Paul Jones is now in one of the hottest and hardest rock bands, Them Crooked Vultures. The frontman, handling lead guitar and vocals, is Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters is on drums. As for Jones, he offers not only bass and keyboard but also mandolin, keytar, lap steel and whatever else is needed.

One album was released in November, and another is forthcoming. A tour of North America completed in November, and the band now heads to Europe in December and Australia in January.

- What's the latest on Them Crooked Vultures, the group featuring John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme?

- What else is John Paul Jones up to?

Jason Bonham


Jason Bonham, son of the late John "Bonzo" Bonham, does not take lightly the responsibility of carrying on his father's legacy. Having made a head start at drumming while he was a child, Jason is now passing on the same lessons to a third generation of Bonham drummers.

John Bonham's death in 1980 left such an impact on the surviving members of Led Zeppelin that they knew immediately they could not continue as they were. Yet Jason Bonham's familiarity with the band made him a shoe-in to join his father's bandmates on the few occasions reunion concerts have taken place.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of Bonham's most successful album release to date, the Platinum-certified disc The Disregard of Timekeeping released by his band, Bonham. To mark the milestone, he recently toured with a new band and played under the banner of "An Evening with Jason Bonham."

In the past, Bonham has also toured and/or recorded with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Foreigner, UFO, Paul Rodgers, Joe Bonamassa, Virginia Wolf, Airrace, Healing Sixes and Motherland. He also acted in the movie Rock Star and appeared on the reality TV show "SuperGroup."

- What's the latest on Jason Bonham?

Who Else

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