Transfer of Led Zeppelin reunion passcodes may not hinder anyone, after all

After more than two weeks of being led to believe otherwise, anyone who has purchased a ticket to Led Zeppelin's Nov. 26 reunion concert through Ticketmaster will be allowed to go.

The ticket retailer's U.K. subsidiary has today begun responding to complaints it received earlier this month in light of comments made by concert promoter Harvey Goldsmith.

After winning entrants in the lottery to obtain tickets were notified, some people began listing passcodes for sale on eBay and other online auction sites. This prompted Goldsmith to fire back in a press release on Oct. 2: "Please note that unless the ticket, the code and correct identification match, those tickets will be invalid."

He reiterated his statement several times throughout the month in various media appearances and also put it in writing again on Oct. 4, e-mailing winning entrants: "If you have sold or have given away your passcode whomever you have sold / given it to will be denied entry into the concert."

To the contrary, Ticketmaster is apparently now indicating that tickets purchased through their Web site using passcodes will indeed be honored. Led Zeppelin fans who bought passcodes in eBay auctions now report that Ticketmaster has notified them that the tickets are valid after all.

"The promoter of this event (Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund) has instructed us to inform you of the following, which only applies to tickets purchased using passcodes issued on 1st October 2007," the e-mail from Ticketmaster reads. "Bookings will be validated even if the name on the credit card details used to purchase the tickets does not match the corresponding passcode issued to the ballot winner."

Ticketmaster has apparently determined that the transfer of those passcodes was not against its policies. However, the company distinguishes between the sale of passcodes to obtain tickets and the tickets themselves.

The retailer's e-mail to the eBay passcode purchaser reads, "Ticketmaster would like to remind you that, under our standard terms and conditions, tickets purchased from us for this event are for personal use only and may not be resold or offered for resale, and we reserve the right to invalidate any tickets that are or have been the subject of any resale or attempted resale."

The form letter in which entrants of the ballot were notified on Oct. 1 that they had won states: "The original conditions of sale will be enforced. These tickets are non-transferable and any resale will void the transaction without refund."

As recently as Oct. 16, Goldsmith defended his position in a news segment broadcast by the BBC that the passcodes were not transferable.

"It says the tickets aren't transferable when you get your passcode," he said in the televised interview (see above). "Presumably, to anyone with a brain, that means the passcode's not transferable."

Goldsmith stipulated on Oct. 2 that names and addresses of ticket purchasers must match up with those of the ballot winners. This statement was first made one day after passcodes had been issued to winning entrants in the lottery. By that time, a number of people had bought passcodes offered on eBay and used those passcodes to purchase tickets from Ticketmaster.

A second round of the ticket ballot is said to be nearing, allowing more winners to be given passcodes to purchase tickets to the Led Zeppelin reunion at the Ertegün tribute concert. It is currently unclear whether or not passcodes issued in the second round will be transferable.

Goldsmith has said he intended for these rules to shut out scalpers from profiting from the concert. "We're not interested in that bunch of gangs of people who are doing this professionally, who are trying to profiteer out of the business," Goldsmith told the BBC.

The concert benefits the Ahmet Ertegün Education Foundation, a U.K. charity set up to "provide students with annual scholarships to universities in the UK, USA and Turkey," according to an official press release. "In addition, a music scholarship open to all will beestablished at Ravensbourne College in the UK."

Goldsmith serves on the board of the charity, along with Mica Ertegün, Ahmet's surviving wife; Bill Curbishley, who manages Robert Plant and Jimmy Page; Phil Carson, who was chief of Atlantic Records in the United Kingdom during the Led Zeppelin days; and film director Taylor Hackford.

Led Zeppelin rehearsing reunion concert set

You can speculate all you want about whether Led Zeppelin will play another show or possibly even a concert tour after the one-off reunion gig next month.

Why not speculate, instead, about the one thing we know is going to happen: the one-off reunion concert!

They have to play songs. What songs will they play?

In separate phone interviews with Sun Media in Canada, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page addressed this issue. Here's a portion of one write-up based on the interviews.

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.

Here are my predictions:

• "Rock and Roll" - they have to start the show off with Jason's drum intro leading into the sudden roar of Led Zeppelin and that predictable "been a long time" sentiment
• "Good Times Bad Times" - they'll surprise us and pull off an excellent rendition of album one, track one; the vocals on it aren't all that high
• "Houses of the Holy" - you know this is a band favorite; it's been included on Remasters, Latter Days and now Mothership; I originally had "The Rover" in this place but switched it to "Houses"
• "The Song Remains the Same" - again, the sentiment is in keeping with the theme of the evening; plus, it's just such a rockin' tune and Jimmy will rule
• "The Rain Song" - it's not on Mothership, but it's natural to follow "The Song Remains the Same" with this, so they might aswell finish what they started; it's interesting to note that in 1980 they played this without having played "The Song Remains the Same"
• "No Quarter" - Jonesy just did a bunch of orchestra-sounding stuff, so they'll let him continue to dominate with his absolute trademark keyboard song; perhaps in the lower key of C# minor like on Houses of the Holy rather than D minor as they played in concert; Jason won't sit out for very long at all; piano solo will be relatively short, like on 1973 versions and studio album; Jimmy and Jonesy may jam with Jason pretty long after keyboard solo, though
• "What Is and What Should Never Be" - a Jimmy favorite, definitely in a lower key for Robert's sake, such as D; I was just listening to the version on Unledded a couple nights ago, and Robert was straining to hit some of those high notes

Before I continue, here's a side note on the lower keys I'm predicting for songs. Don't forget that in an article published Sept. 14, electric musical instrument manufacturer Hugh Manson tells the Exeter Express & Echo:

"Some of the songs [at the reunion concert] will be in a lower key than usual and, while you can tune a guitar to accommodate almost any note, the best way is to make an instrument to do the job - and that's what this is. In fact, all the basses used by the band in the concert will be ours."

John Paul Jones has long been a client of Hugh and his brother, Andy; Andy makes acoustic instruments, and Hugh makes electric instruments. An edition of "On This Day In Led Zeppelin History" from April 28, 2003, has more on the Manson brothers.

Ever onward! The acoustic set:

• "Going to California" - it's been done at so many Jones and Plant concerts, but they just have to do this one together again; it gives Jason the first part of a nice two-song break
• "That's the Way" - some of you may call me a heretic, but they should give Plant a rest on this and install Jonesy on lead vocals, which he took during his last solo tour
• "Tangerine" - Page's song, with Jonesy playing a triple-neck guitar and offering a nice mandolin solo; in this place, I originally had "All My Love" because it's a radio staple chosen for Mothership, but it's Page's least favorite song of the Zeppelin catalog, so I think it would be nixed if suggested
• "Nobody's Fault but Mine" part 1 - they start this one off with the Unledded rendition in the key of G and then ...

Back to electric:

• "Nobody's Fault but Mine" part 2 - ... they drop their acoustic instruments and finish the song with the full electric onslaught
• "When the Levee Breaks" - OK, stay with me on this; the song is played three half-steps lower so it's in D; Page switches to a custom bass so that Jonesy takes the lead on lap steel guitar; Plant pulls out his G harmonica and takes a solo before singing two different verses about three times each; where most fans would be expecting a guitar solo from Page, Jones awes everybody on lap steel
• "Dazed and Confused" - this will be close to the length of the first-album version but also includes some portions of "Achilles Last Stand"
• 
  "Stairway to Heaven" - yes, they're going to play it, no question, and it'll be great; personally, I really liked the version they did with Jason at the Atlantic Records 40th Birthday in 1988 (see above), and I thought Robert sounded great on it regardless of whether he was remembering the lyrics properly; he should be well-rehearsed this time
• "Kashmir" - a powerhouse of a song to close the regular set

Encores:

• "Black Dog"
• "Heartbreaker"
• "Whole Lotta Love" - Jimmy will steal the show during all three of these closing numbers

Why I don't like to play Led Zeppelin live

Led Zeppelin is my favorite band. I'm a musician. Why don't I really like to play their music live?

The answer relates to my theory about performing any cover song live. That theory stipulates that if you are going to play a song that has been done before, your performance had better really be something.

If it's a rockin' song, you had better plan on rockin' out at least as much as the original did, if not more.

If it's a subtle song, you had better plan on making a beautiful musical statement -- and keeping your audience enticed the whole way through.

Anything short of that, and there was no purpose in you attempting to do the song in the first place.

So, when it comes to playing Led Zeppelin's music, there's an awful lot to live up to. It is my favorite group, and it had four of the most amazing performers playing some of the greatest rock songs ever. How can you even touch that?

Luckily, I have been in a band for the last few years that has pulled off a rockin' version of "Kashmir." I was doubtful when the song was first suggested that we could pull it off anything like Led Zeppelin did. But it turns out that we rock it out as well as some live renditions. Good enough for me!

We've also played "Immigrant Song," but our renditions don't rock quite as hard as any by Led Zeppelin. That's one that I think ought to be dropped from the set list.

Our bass player felt the same way about the Rush song "Red Barchetta." He loves Rush, and that's one of his favorite songs of all time. But after we rehearsed it for about a year, he insisted that we were still to rough and the song needed to be dropped. Dude almost quit the band over it!

A few hours ago, I was at an open mic night in Alexandria, Va., for no other reason than to find out if this drummer who e-mailed me today is any good. The open mic night was run by a bandmate of his, this dude named Eric. I found out about the open mic night when I was researching the drummer, and I figured showing up and asking for a recommendation would just be, naturally, another part of my research on the drummer.

Well, turns out the drummer was there, and I didn't even know it at the time! That's what I found out when I asked the open mic night guy if he knew of any drummers who might be looking for a new band. He mentioned a friend of his, whose name matched up with that of the guy who had e-mailed me. I didn't let on that these guys were one and the same, so I could get an honest opinion about this guy. He raved about the drummer and said they had been playing together for a long time. My brain went ding-ding-ding!

I asked about the guy I had just seen leave a few minutes earlier, carrying a conga drum. Turns out that was this drummer, and I didn't get to speak with him! It's a shame, too, because I had almost chased him down outside to ask if that conga drum meant he was a drummer and happened to be looking for a band. Little did I know that this guy I almost tracked down outside was the guy I was researching all along.

So, anyway, I now have a good feeling about this guy -- and about his buddy who led the open mic night too. I had put my name in the ring to play some tunes on the 88-key Kurzweil keyboard that just happened to be three. When it was my turn to shine, I introduced my first number as one made famous by an Alexandria native; it was "Riders on the Storm" by the Doors. (A book was just published about the life and times of Jim Morrison in his D.C.-area hometown.) While I was playing this, the open mic guy started playing along on acoustic guitar. That was fun. I segued nicely from "Riders" into one I have never heard another keyboard player attempt, "Roundabout" by Yes. We played that full song together.

Next, I played an original that has a lot of weird chord changes. Although I wrote this song -- music and lyrics -- back in July 1994, I myself am not sure whether it is in the key of B or B minor! The guy on acoustic guitar followed along and played, though the song was unfamiliar to him. Kudos to him for keeping up with me!

After that, I looked at the time. I had been in a hurry to make a train into D.C. at 11:03 p.m., departing from a station that was a five-minute walk away. The time said 11:03 exactly, so since making that train was no longer a reality, I was no longer bound by the clock. Instead of leaving right there and then, I settled in for at least one more song.

To start, I played another one from my past, this one written about eight years ago by a friend of mine who was playing in a band with me in Pennsylvania. I led it straight into the closing portion of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," which I was sure the guitar player would pick up on right away -- and he did.

That's all I had planned on playing. Open mic guy kept me up there and asked if I could play "Breathe." Naturally! We played that one together. I sang both verses until the part when the album version would have transitioned into "On the Run." I was ready to start goofing around but heard the guitar player keep on going through the chord progression. So, I took a solo as we went through those chord changes a couple of times. After this, we skipped "Time" and completed it with me singing the "Breathe" reprise.

After this, the guy suggested some Steely Dan song I didn't know very well, so instead I played some bits from "Tarkus" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. This alienated the guitarist, unfortunately, as pretentious ELP is wont to do, so he sat back as I played as much as I could of the song without making a fool of myself. Come to think of it, he started backing me during the keyboard solo in the "Stones of Years" section.

As soon as that was all over, so was open mic night, and the bar was pretty much ready to close. Before I left, the open mic night guy handed me his business card and said I should e-mail him to get the drummer's contact information (haha, little does he know I already have it!) and possibly to get together with him to jam sometime this weekend! It's cool how stuff works out.

Now, why did I pick the songs I did? Because I can play them well (and because I was confident enough in my pitiful singing that I could pull them off). Why didn't I go for anything by Led Zeppelin? Please. Do you really think a two-man bar atmosphere can do justice even to the simplest of Zeppelin songs?

Come to think of it, "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper" would have worked well. Dammit!

The film remains the same, but the sounds are vastly improved

The sound engineer behind the newest revisiting of Led Zeppelin’s film says next month’s re-release of The Song Remains the Same will look exactly the same as it did in 1976. What will be vastly different with this version is what you hear, says Kevin Shirley in an interview conducted over the weekend for Modern Guitars magazine.

As was the case with the DVD set released in 2003, the primary sonic output technology for this release is Dolby Digital 5.1 channel surround sound. What does that mean to a layperson? This is high-tech sound quality for the modern era.

“5.1 has made a huge difference in things. It’s like taking an 8-track and saying, ‘Does this work as modern DVD audio?’ It might have been state of the art back then, but it just doesn’t fly anymore,” explains Shirley in the interview conducted Saturday, Oct. 13, by Tom Watson, content director for Modern Guitars.

The film, whose theatrical debut was 31 years ago this month, captures the band at one height of its brilliant career. It concentrates mainly on a three-night tour-closing stand at New York’s Madison Square Garden in July 1973 and also embraces scenes of the band and its entourage at home, work and play.

The original project endured a change in directors a year into production. The end result is a hodgepodge of segments filmed either at those concerts or in the ensuing months. All of that footage will be included on the new release without any alteration. “It would have been a whole can of worms with directors, and legal hassles, and whatnot, if you started editing the movie,” Shirley explains.

So, the new project was essentially matching the 16-track audio recordings from each of the three Madison Square Garden concerts to fit the visuals included in the movie. “We started from scratch,” says Shirley. “Everything was reassembled from the ground up.”

Of course, this was done for the film’s original release, but some concert portions occasionally were not exactly synchronized to the audio. “If you look at the end of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ on the original movie, the visual’s from a completely different take than the audio,” Shirley notes.

Often, this was due to the original audio containing a “mistake” – assumedly things like a guitar note that is out of tune or a crack in Robert Plant’s voice. Such things would render a live recording unusable in the 1970s, but modern editing technology has made it possible for such occurrences to be manipulated and corrected. Given this technology, Shirley says, “I could fix the mistake and we could put the original audio back on there,” thus making the audio match the video.

The music that will be available on the CD soundtrack will closely match the audio presented on the DVD. Historically, the soundtrack has contained its own cuts unlike those in the movie. “What you hear on the new soundtrack CDs is what’s in the movie,” Shirley reveals. “They’re not two different things now.” One persisting difference is that the revisited soundtrack almost completely restores the original sets played in 1973 from start to finish. The movie, however, follows the running order of songs that was approved for theatrical release, and songs not included in the movie are presented separately as bonus features.

As Shirley is aware, the revisited soundtrack will surely be analyzed once it is released worldwide. For one example, “The Garden Tapes” is a site run by Eddie Edwards, an enthusiastic fan who has scrutinized every detail of the audio on every Led Zeppelin live release. (Edwards wrote me in September, saying, “Yes, I think I will be quite busy in a couple of months' time.”)

Shirley says he isn’t interested in that level of painstaking examination. To show this, he gave this sole interview to Modern Guitars magazine before heading off to Peru for a charity bicycle event. He’ll be biking for 11 days, and he doesn’t seem interested in any others at this time. Shirley says of the new releases:

"I hope people dig it, I really do. I'm not going to do a lot of interviews about it because these Internet days are very tough with some people analyzing things to death and obsessing over minute detail. It's really just for people to go and enjoy. The detailed analysis isn't really welcome - who cares if somebody says, 'You needed more cymbal in "Black Dog," or something like that. Enjoy the experience. Don't over analyze it. It's the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band playing a very good set of shows."

Music journalist Lisa Robinson, writing for Vanity Fair, has the following to say about Led Zeppelin’s new releases: “A great band is a great band. Frankly, it doesn't matter how many times these guys re-release this stuff; it always sounds better, still sounds modern, and still combines hard rock with blues, acoustic songs, and Eastern influences.”

Apparently, even Robert Plant had his doubts about the merits of the project going into it.

"What was very cool was Robert [Plant] would come to the studio and he's not a big fan of the original movie, I'd say he was probably a catalyst to the thing being re-done, and when he first came by he said, 'Oh my God, I don't want to hear this,' and he sat down and listened to it with his hands over his eyes. Then, he starts nodding his head and rocking with it and turns around with a big grin on his face and goes, 'It rocks, doesn't it?' Then he looks at the video and goes, 'We weren't half bad, were we.' It was great to experience that chrysalis, to see the butterfly coming out."

Plant ended up telling Cameron Crowe, who quotes him in the liner notes, that the project's end result captures "the warmth and the feel of the room and it sounded good." The room to which he is referring is Madison Square Garden. Watson asked Shirley where the audio point of view is for somebody watching the DVD in 5.1 Surround Sound. Shirley laughed as he answered, "You're sitting three rows back, in the center, just behind the gorgeous girl with blonde hair." Asked what the rear speakers will produce in the proper surround sound environment, Shirley answered:

"There are all sorts of things coming from the rear speakers. Audience, delays, and there are some elements coming back from the rears like in 'Dazed and Confused' - the violin bow thing goes all over the place when Jimmy's climbing up the mountain - some of the drum solos, and in the fantasy sequences the audio travels between the front and the back. So, you're sitting in the middle of this very interesting experience."

And it’s not just during the concert portions either. He continues:

"There are also the sound effects. There's the subway train that comes in the middle of the movie right before 'No Quarter' - the train comes from right behind you and through the middle of your head, which is pretty cool, actually. It's a surround experience, no doubt. It's not a concert with just some subtle rears."

The concerts depict Led Zeppelin at its best.

"They are explosive, they really are explosive. They're just so much on the edge the whole time, everyone's on the edge - Robert's performing, John Paul Jones is such a solid foundation, and Bonzo, John Bonham, what can you say? He's the rock. …

"Actually, there are a couple of things on the DVD menu, like where I've taken 30-second samples and they'll cycle around, and you could make a song just from those samples of them jamming. There's Soundgarden in there, and countless others. What makes Zeppelin so unique is that it wasn't just about one thing taken further, it was about so many things done in so many different ways."

Pre-orders accepted for remastered Roy Harper album with Jimmy Page solo

Pre-orders are now being accepted online for a newly remastered CD version of Roy Harper's 1971 album, which features Jimmy Page on one track.

This month marks the second time the album Stormcock will have been available on CD – it was first available in 1994 on Harper's label, Science Friction – although this new reissue improves on the old one sonically.

"Certain lines and certain words will not chop your ears off at high volume any more," says a quote attributed to Harper himself, displayed at a fan discussion site named after the album. "Bottom end is taken care of properly."

Recorded in 1970, the album's four tracks include the 12-minute opus "The Same Old Rock." It is the cut that includes Page's guitar solo. The album, originally issued on the Harvest label in 1971, credited the solo to the pseudonym S. Flavius Mercurius.

Preorders for the remastered disc and expanded 20-page booklet of expanded liner notes and photographs are now being accepted online at the Roy Harper Shop. Unexpected delays prevented the artist's official store from offering the album on the previously announced date of Oct. 15.

Harper has long been a friend of Led Zeppelin's members, becoming one of only two actual people named in a Led Zeppelin song title. Led Zeppelin III, released in 1970, closes with a blues medley titled "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper." (The other actual person named in a Led Zeppelin song title is Ian "Stu" Stewart, who contributed piano to Zep's "Boogie with Stu.")

Page also played on Harper's 1973 disc Lifemask, and Harper's 1975 album HQ includes John Paul Jones on bass. Harper and Page released an album together in 1985 called Whatever Happened to Jugula? Science Friction reissues of these albums are all available at the Roy Harper Shop.

As reported earlier on LedZeppelinNews.com, the new Stormcock disc is also said to contain at least one hidden surprise fans might appreciate. "There are one or two secrets," Harper said of the reissue. "You may eventually spot them. It won't matter much to the general public that much, but it sure does matter to me."

Led Zeppelin going digital next month

Led Zeppelin is further being presented to the masses next month.

Already announced were the band's first reunion concert since the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1995 as well as the releases of a two-disc anthology and expanded live reissues.

Now a date has been set for the band's debut in the world of online digital media.

The band's songs, published by Warner/Chappell Music, are going online for sale on digital media sites on Nov. 13. The date coincides with the U.S. release of Mothership, a heavily promoted career-spanning CD set.

Another component of the group's entrance into the world of digital media is the availability of authorized cellphone ringtones using full Led Zeppelin songs.

"We are pleased that the complete Led Zeppelin catalogue will now be available digitally," Jimmy Page said in a statement. "The addition of the digital option will better enable fans to obtain our music in whichever manner that they prefer."

How much did Led Zeppelin sell out?

An interesting mathematical equation appears in today's Washington Post. The mathematical equation is about the extent to which an artist is a sellout for allowing a song to be used in commercial advertising for a product (and be compensated for doing so).

The article uses Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" on Cadillac commercials as one of several examples. And it turns out that, once the equation is applied, Led Zeppelin's sellout isn't the world's biggest! Good to know.

The author's blog is here.

I'm down at the National Folk Festival in Richmond, Va., today. Mike Seeger (see previous post on his involvement on Raising Sand) is down here, and I'm hoping to say hello in person.