So Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will tour, but what about Led Zeppelin?

A celebratory worldwide reception to the Led Zeppelin reunion concert on Monday -- the first such event of the 21st century, and featuring a fully capable Jason Bonham on drums in place of his late father -- gave fuel to the old will-they-won't-they question that has plagued the band ever since the cruel hand of fate took away one of them.

For perhaps the first time, the question has an answer other than definitely not. They've just appeared onstage and were overwhelmingly successful in recapturing the spirit and the magic of their original incarnation. Each one of them has been quoted, separately, saying the band is playing well and that the future of playing together is possible. So, what's the deal? No official announcement? Have they even made up their own minds yet? Why not keep the momentum going and see what else can be done at this point in time?

The answer is be patient; just wait and see.

One thing that might hold it back -- and this is certainly not the only factor -- is that Robert Plant is too versatile a musician to stick with just one project. The perennial troubadour already has at least one other project on his plate for 2008. Remember, when Led Zeppelin confirmed rumors that it was going to play one show in London to pay tribute to their late mentor, Ahmet Ertegün, it was less than three weeks away from the album release date that introduced the public to the next phase of Plant's career. Indeed, his partnership with Alison Krauss is one he intends to extend beyond only their existing album. Not only will they take their Raising Sand material on the road, as they announced yesterday, but Plant at least once hinted that he and Krauss could be making more studio dates to record a second album together, perhaps next month even.

Already, they are set to spend the month of May touring the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. From this, the logical assumption is that further dates will be in store in the United States, the obvious choice for a bluegrass tour as the music was developed on the American homeland. So, would those shows be in the early spring, or just after the European tour, or some other time? Whatever is implicit here merely puts a temporary limit on the openness of Plant's calendar for outside musical activities.

If only Led Zeppelin didn't have such a versatile singer; he wouldn't be in such high demand! But the simple fact is, folks, he is a versatile singer who, with Alison Krauss, is being energized by a style of music he has heretofore overlooked and performing songs with an approach that is unique in his career. The album came off remarkably well; Raising Sand has been certified Gold by the RIAA and remains high up on Billboard's charts. For a few weeks, it was all I was listening to.

Robert Plant has seldom shied away from a challenge. And he surely realizes bluegrass is not the only possible musical challenge he could be taking on next year. Being the Led Zeppelin singer at the age of 59 is another, a challenge he met head-on for a few hours on Monday.

This development in no way diminishes any chance there is for Led Zeppelin to fly again before audiences in America and elsewhere in 2008 and/or perhaps beyond. In fact, of the rumored concert dates for Led Zeppelin that have been mentioned, the most credible one seems to be the rumored upcoming appearance at the Bonnaroo festival, which takes place this June in Tennessee.

Tacked onto this rumor is the report of Metallica also appearing on the bill, perhaps headlining as one report suggests. (Management for both bands said the report was inaccurate, but it wasn't clear whether they meant the whole thing was or just a minor detail was.) But come on, would Led Zeppelin be playing a festival it wasn't headlining? My opinion: Not in this century! Led Zeppelin might play the festival, but Metallica will not be headlining over Led Zeppelin.

It's interesting to note that the October 2007 "Guitar Heroes" special issue of Q magazine quotes Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett about his appreciation for the live version of "Dazed and Confused" from The Song Remains the Same. "I used to listen to it every day when I was learning how to play guitar," he said. "That's a total guitar wankathon." The magazine ranked it track the second-greatest guitar track of all time, just under the studio version of Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog." Hammett continues, "Jimmy Page cycles through so many moods and levels of intensity, then he breaks out the violin bow."

Hammett then shifts into a story about the group that took place when he was 14 years old and another six years away from joining Metallica. "I saw Zeppelin in 1977 at the Day On The Green [in Oakland, California]. It was the show where [promoter] Bill Graham threatened to throw the Zeppelin guys in jail and there was a big argument before they went on. I remember sitting in the crowd for an hour and a half. Someone came onstage and said, Sorry for the delay, something's wrong with Jimmy's double neck guitar. The funny thing is, I could see it off to the side of the stage. I was thinking, Well, there it is. I wonder what's wrong with it?"

Bonnaroo aside, Led Zeppelin dates at Wembley Stadium in London, Madison Square Garden in New York, and Olympic Stadium in Montreal have also been rumored to be booked, in the works or, at the very least, being contemplated. There is certainly a buzz about the chances of Led Zeppelin performing live again in 2008. Just be patient. We must wait and see.

Robert Plant, Alison Krauss announce European tour in May

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are scheduled to perform 11 shows in May 2008, according to the Tour page on their official site. Their announcement contains dates, locations, showtimes and ticket purchase information.

Their tour is to begin and end in the United Kingdom, with initial dates May 5 at the NIA Academy in Birmingham, May 7 at the Apollo in Manchester and May 8 at Cardiff International Arena in Wales, and concluding May 22 at Wembley Arena in London.

The middle of the month is to include dates in Dusseldorf, Germany (May 10); Brussels, Belgium (May 11); Paris, France (May 13); Amsterdam, Netherlands (May 14); Stockholm, Sweden (May 16); Oslo, Norway (May 18); and Bergen, Norway (May 19).

Each concert is also expected to feature the musicianship of T. Bone Burnett, who produced the singing duo's album Raising Sand and played guitar on it.

Seventh report from fans in London

Michael traveled from Montreal to attend the Led Zeppelin reunion concert. When his night was finally over, he had a few words to send over the Internet:

It's 5 am Zulu time, finally back in my hotel room.

If I were to write a full, lengthy report right now, it would be gibberish. I'll save that for when I'm sober and lucid and back home in the suburbs of Montreal. Suffice to say it was everything we all hoped it would be x 10.

You know the setlist by now, I'm not going to scoop it for anyone. When Robert said "We need to do one last (?) great show..."--I don't know if it'll be the last, but oh, my Lord, it was Great.

If I had to pin it down to one song that did it for me, it'd be "Since I've
Been Lovin' You." Those of you who I've had the pleasure to get to know online and, in some cases, meet in person know that's my ultimate live Zep tune. And tonight, they brought it on home for me. That was when I got the goosebumps and my tears, they fell like rain.

In the words of Ahmet, "It is a great life, this life of music."

Michael wrote another update last night, supplying the top photo shown here:

Got back home a little earlier this evening, safe and sound and still blown away by what I and 20,000 or so other lucky souls from 50 countries had the privilege to experience for two hours in London, England, on December 10, 2007.

The other photos shown here are from Simon W. in the United Kingdom, who supplied the photos taken Sunday just before the soundcheck, including the pictures of the line that had formed of hardcore fans willing to camp out overnight. Here's word from one of the fans shown in those pictures, another guy named Michael:

That was me in the front of the line in the pics of fans queuing for the show (the guy from Nebraska who is working on his doctorate in music, blue jacket and proudly wearing my dress rehearsal pass as well).

I had front row between Robert and Jimmy and close enough to get some great photos all night. I'll post them on picasa and send the link to you all next week. It was a great experience, like you have been hearing.

I spoke to Robert's assistant today at the airport who was also heading back home to Nashville and he said the guys in the band thought it was an ok show, but mentioned that the crowd was a bit disappointing and lackluster. (I agree, but I genuinely think we were all in a but of shock and awe seeing this happening before our eyes.) Anyway, there is my viewpoint of things.

A very Zeppelin morning in Washington, D.C.

When I arrived at work today, one of my coworkers greeted me and immediately told me to look at the Style section of the Washington Post I was already carrying in my hand. I'm glad I did because there's an excellent concert review submitted by a fan by the name of Erik Huey. The guy appears to be very well versed in his Led Zeppelin reading, referencing the "sons of thunder" comment and other details only hardcore Led Zeppelin fans would know. Perhaps he visits my blog...?

Here is what Huey was thinking during their performance of "Dazed and Confused":

It is not long before the violin bow comes out, which Page proceeds to use for his trademark assault on his Les Paul. All notions of rock idolatry aside, it has now become obvious that Page is simply not human. He is some kind of formless shape-shifter, channeling darker forces as he languidly glides across the stage, his visage made all the more eerie by the shock of white hair that flows to his shoulders.

As part of Huey's personal story, he recounts a typical scenario he encountered during his transcontinental trip to England. It's like he's telling an old joke we've all heard before but is worth repeating in its latest incarnation:

I'm standing in front of a young customs agent at Heathrow who asks, "What is the purpose of your visit?" "To see Led Zeppelin," I emphatically reply. She nods politely and says "Oh, Led Zeppelin, is it? When is he playing?"

Talk radio station WWWT had also played a one-minute clip from Monday's performance of "Black Dog" and went into a bit of discussion about the Led Zeppelin reunion. Cohost David Burd said he'd seen some Youtube clips of the band and was very impressed with what she saw. His counterpart, Jessica Doyle, said she'd heard that the guys in the band are playing better now than they did back in the '70s – reason being that "they're clean now," she said. Then Burd joked that Jimmy Page does admit to being addicted to Vicks VapoRub, smearing it on his guitar so that he can slide his strumming hand down the neck of the guitar more easily. Burd also asked whether a DVD is going to come out officially. The British accent-using sideman who calls himself Nigel said it's positive there would be an official release. As to when it would be out? "Not soon enough," he said, adding, "I could get you one in an hour" off the Internet, claiming he has some connection with the soundboard man.

You'd think talk radio in Washington, D.C., would be completely engulfed in waterboarding and the presidential race. Well, it's not completely engulfed. We do still have personalities. Led Zeppelin is the talk of the town. I'm sure others of you in your respective cities and towns have heard or read coverage of the concert like this. One person listening to 100.7 The Bay – a Baltimore station, if I'm not mistaken – responded with a comment about the coverage on that station, and I read that Seattle was this way Tuesday morning with a local TV station going gaga over the group. How is the band being treated in your area? Comments, please!

Led Zeppelin songs in lower keys

As expected, several of Led Zeppelin's songs at yesterday's reunion show were played in a lower key than normal. Update: It actually turns out that all but six were played in lower keys.

The Exeter Express & Echo quoted Hugh Manson on Sept. 14 as saying, "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."

So, for John Paul Jones to play a song on his bass in a different key doesn't require any additional work. He's said he plays many of these songs out of rote memory; his hands automatically know where to go because he's played the songs many times over the years. Changing the tuning of an instrument from E-A-D-G to D-G-C-F means it is parallel, just lower, and his hands will be in the same places as usual even though the notes being output are lower.

The same goes for Jimmy Page, who is now using a model of guitar that fixes itself to preset tunings. Again, his hands are doing what they would normally do, but since only the tuning is different, the output key is different.

This is what we heard with several of the songs yesterday:

• Good Times Bad Times - played one whole-step down, in D instead of E
• Ramble On - (updated, now that I've heard it) played one whole-step down, in D instead of E
• Black Dog - played one whole-step down, in G instead of A
• In My Time of Dying - played one whole-step down, in G instead of A
• Nobody's Fault but Mine - (updated, now that I've heard it) played one whole-step down, in D instead of E (Robert must have been using a G harmonica instead of his traditional A)
• No Quarter - (updated, now that I've heard it) played in C minor, one whole-step down from the D minor Led Zeppelin has always played it live
• Dazed and Confused - played one whole-step down, in D instead of E
• Stairway to Heaven - played one whole-step down, in G minor instead of A minor
• The Song Remains the Same - played one whole-step down, in C instead of D
• Rock and Roll - played one whole-step down, in G instead of A

With the exceptions of "No Quarter" and "Stairway to Heaven," anything else John Paul Jones played on the keyboards was in its proper key:

• "Trampled Under Foot" was in its original key of G minor
• "Since I've Been Loving You" was in its original key of C minor
• "Misty Mountain Hop" was in its original key of A (updated, now that I've heard it)
• "Kashmir" was in D

In addition, two songs without keyboards -- "For Your Life" and "Whole Lotta Love" -- were both in their proper keys: G and E, respectively.

One advantage of playing a song in a lower key than usual is that the singer doesn't have to work as hard to hit the song's highest notes. Now, those highest notes are lower because every note is lower. But another side effect of this is that the lower chords have a bit more edge to them.

Bands like Soungarden and Stone Temple Pilots wrote songs in the 1990s in a drop-D guitar tuning specifically so the lowest possible note their guitars were capable of playing was lower than in the standard guitar tuning. They argued that playing a D power chord as the foundation of a song gives it a deeper, harder edge than does playing an E power chord. Bands like Alice in Chains went even deeper and used a C# tuning to exploit that effect even more fully.

As far as Led Zeppelin's songs being played in lower keys, I think "Dazed and Confused" probably benefited the most from this. Playing "In My Time of Dying" in this key was probably another good idea. I'm not sure the effect on "Stairway to Heaven" is the same. I'd look forward to anybody else's analysis on this subject.

Sixth report from fans in London

Mark from the U.K. provides the following insight:

It must be said that Jason Bonham is easily as good a drummer as his father. I've had the pleasure of seeing Zeppelin in their pomp and in their prime in the '70s, and Bonham Senior was perfection for a rock drummer. Power, passion and precision. Bonham Junior has all his father's attributes, talents and strength. He was 10 out of 10 all night... except for the difficult drum intro to the encore of "Rock 'n' Roll". Here he was only out 8 of 10... but that's me being r-e-a-l-l-y picky, I must confess.

Working for the past 30 years for one of the long-established big city radio stations in the UK, I've been very priviledged to attend some awesome gigs over the decades; last night at London's O2 Arena topped the lot. I was sat (in the VIP section, naturally!) directly behind Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour, who stayed to the very end and was discreetly singly along, as was Lulu, Bob Geldof (and daughters), Genesis' Tony Banks, Formula 1 Team Boss Eddie Jordan, top model (and surprisingly tall bird!) Naomi Campbell, amongst many others.

After the first two songs, the (unintended) feedback virtually all but disappeared; the sound cleared and the band soared. A very loud and a very clean sound (eventually); what more could one ask for at a Zeppelin gig?

The After Show party was attended by all the above -and more- notables and the musical entertainment was supplied by former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings; featuring the brilliant Albert Lee on (a lovely green, vintage) Fender Strat., keyboard legend Chris Stainton, and Roger Waters' / David Gilmour's live drummer Graham Broad amongst many others.

Set list for Led Zeppelin at London's O2 Arena, Monday 10/12/07... or for Americans (!) 12/10/07.

'Good Times, Bad Times'
Intro'd with a clip from 'The Song Remains The Same' with an old American news clip showing how they had broken The Beatles' attendance record for their gig in Tampa, Florida.

'Ramble On'
'Ramble On' was very slow and bluesy, with great electric guitar chops from Jimmy Page.

'Black Dog'
Page looking good wearing his cool rock star shades, but spoiled by a poor (not quite-yet-balanced) sound. Everybody replied to Plant's "ah-ah" lines.

'In My Time Of Dying'
Page on bottleneck. Plant spoke for the first time before starting the song, with his
traditional 'Good evening'.

'For Your Life'
The song's live debut.

'Trampled Under Foot'
Before starting Plant told the crowd it was nicked from Robert Johnson's 'Terraplane Blues'.

'Nobody's Fault But Mine'
Fantastic use of the huge screen behind the stage.

'No Quarter'
Following the song Plant paid tribute to John Paul Jones, who played fantastic keyboards throughout the track... plus a ton of dry ice too.

'Since I've Been Loving You'
An epic version... very bluesy.

'Dazed And Confused'
A ten minute-plus version of this live classic. At the end of it of the song Plant told the audience 'On guitar Jimmy Page, just as on 'The Song Remains The Same' DVD.

'Stairway To Heaven'
The whole audience went absolutely wild from the very first note. Afterwards Plant said "Hey Ahmet, we did it!

'The Song Remains The Same'
A good and faithful-to-the-album version of the classic. The sound was poor on this track for some reason.

'Misty Mountain Hop'
Plant kicked this one off by praising drummer Jason Bonham, and mentioned that both his mother and father were both great singers. Jason tried -albeit very briefly- to emulate their vocal talents. 7 out of 10 for his efforts!

'Kashmir'
Another epic, ten minute-plus gem. Plant said on the intro: 'We've got people from 50 countries here and this is the 51st'. Following 'Kashmir', they left the stage to thunderous applause... but will we get a rare encore? You bet! It was...

'Whole Lotta Love'
A great extended theramin-drenched rendition; They again left the stage with an emotional Plant saying: 'Thanks to everybody. Thanks Ahmet Ertegun, this one for is Ahmet Ertegun as we can remember the days when Atlantic Records was the best label on the planet!'

'Rock And Roll'
They couldn't leave out this live classic. And what a way to end an historic show!

Rumours abound within Zeppelin circles that they'll be doing "eight major cities aroud the globe next summer, with five nights in each". Watch this space!

Fifth report from fans in London

Simon K. from the U.K., who supplied the photos used here and is seen on the right in the photo to the right, has sent me the following thoughts from the concert experience:

What a gig!
I have seen many, many bands over the years including Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, AC/DC, Whitesnake, Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Guns n' Roses, Metallica etc. etc. etc.
But nothing else comes close ........... this really was the mother of them all!
In the front, centre stage, standing who could possibly ask for more.
Still dazed and confused by the whole experience but nonetheless proud and privileged to be part of history. Outstanding!

Nech from New York provided the following:

Music. Life. The love of life and music. The love of your family, friends, and people you don't even know.... it is a wonderful thing indeed.

I discovered many things about myself and people around me tonight. I'm not gonna go and start a whole University Professor discourse here, but it is the joy of dancing round without boundaries that really breaks down all boundaries between people.

Over the past 2 days, I have met folks from Australia to California, downtowns to uptowns, young tweens wearing brand spanking new repro ’77 tour shirts to grey haired grandfathers wearing their original ’73-80 stretched out over their bellies shirts. All had one thing in common...the love of good music. The love of Led Zeppelin.

The Song does indeed remain the same.

It's pushing 6 am my local time at the moment. Yeah, body clock think's it's only 12 but, I feel as awake as I ever will be. This wasn't just a weekend of Zep, this was a weekend of great music all around brought to us by the late great Ahmet, and the musicians that created it. And if they themselves weren't around, their kin, their spirits, filled the air with magic, and wonderful, wonderful , my wonderful one, noise. Noise that make this guy you all simply know as Nech...Dance. Yes Dance. Dancing Days were here again.

I will go into more details next post, but in this one I just was trying to convey my gut feelings before delirium sets in. No sleep and no food (except a Thai chicken wing breakfast ) make me a bit woozy.

My family knows the true joys of my heart. It's the joy they bring me. But for this weekend I enjoyed truly what it means to be a rock and not to roll...

After Nech wrote this, he responded to an e-mail that asked, "Why do I get the feeling this was the best Zeppelin show ever?" Nech replied:

Because it was.

It really was.

06:24 and I'm still awake...reelin' in the feeling.

I wish ALL of you could've been here. What a joy to see THEIR joy.

This needs to be shared properly with the whole music world....not via youtube or any really compressed and beyond distorted clip from my pos camera I can provide.

Release the dogs....I mean ...oh you know what I mean....