That's 'Doctor' Jimmy Page to you; guitarist conferred honorary degree

The first time Led Zeppelin performed under that name, the date was Oct. 25, 1968. And the location was the Great Hall at Surrey University in Guildford, England.

Forty years later, Jimmy Page returned to the area, attending a ceremony during which he was given an honorary doctorate.

The ceremony took place yesterday at Guildford Cathedral.

In a press release regarding Page's doctorate, the university noted his involvement in charities as well as his musical contributions.

While on hand, Dr. Page autographed a guitar that is to be awarded to a contest winner at an upcoming festival.

Also honored with an honorary doctorate from the University of Surrey yesterday was George Martin, producer of the Beatles' records and many others in the British music industry.

What lies next for Led Zeppelin members: DVDs, more live work?

When many of today's most popular cultural icons were nobody yesterday and will presumably return to anonymity tomorrow, the members of Led Zeppelin have smartly managed to improve with age.

The modern era of Led Zeppelin history could be defined as a new peak for the men who, repeatedly throughout the 1970s, defied a popular media prejudice and packed stadiums, earning notoriety and awards based on their own inventiveness.

Jimmy Page and his bandmates from 1968 to 1980 had the savvy to know what fans wanted and how to give it to them. Over time, what the fans want has not changed. Society has revered the group's members as the best in their respective arts and their contributions collectively as classic and yet timeless.

Now that the band members have used a golden opportunity in December to demonstrate their lasting worthiness of coronation among rock royalty young and old, the passionate outcry for further collaboration has reached a new climax.

There remains no question of whether Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Robert Plant are able to give the fans what they want. The only question lies in their willingness to do so. Whatever the future holds (more one-off concerts, additional partial reunions, a DVD of the 2007 show, an album of new material, none of the above), there is ample reason to reflect on what has occurred.

The band played a full set in remarkable fashion on Dec. 10, 2007, following a committed series of rehearsals, and recreated magic that hadn't existed for longer than a quarter of a century. This encapsulated moment in time was witnessed in person by only about 20,000 of the world's luckiest fans but has been pronounced overwhelmingly as a major achievement.



Last year's one-off concert appearance has now earned the band recognition from Mojo magazine as the best live act of 2007. Rolling Stone had bestowed a similar honor to Led Zeppelin earlier for the same two-hour show.



Thus, it is encouraging to know that, on some level, the moment will not vanish into the abyss of forgotten shows. It may be more along the lines of Woodstock, which many more claim to have attended than actually did attend just because they want to have the honor of saying they were there.

Many of us, like this writer, have watched and heard fan-created footage from the show and can attest to the power of that performance. Scores more would be privy to the show if someday it is issued in officially sanctioned form for a DVD release, in the event the band deems sharing that one-night run a high enough priority.

While it remains unclear if that show will ever proceed beyond its limited one-night run and result in a long-awaited official DVD, it appears that more recent footage of Led Zeppelin's members in action will meet the eye first.

A statement last week said a film of the pair of highly attended Foo Fighters shows is coming to movie theaters across England. However, the announcement left unresolved the issue of including the encore set that featured surprise guests Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones backing half the headlining band on a pair of Led Zeppelin tunes. (Keep it right here for any clarification on that note.)

Another announcement last week provided the dates for a pair of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss shows in St. Louis on Sept. 24-25 that would be filmed for an eventual DVD release. It would be the fans' permanent souvenir of the folksy act that has received rave reviews on tour in North America and Europe including appearances in the United Kingdom and festival appearances at JazzFest and Bonnaroo. More festival appearances are scheduled, and who knows what challenges lie ahead for Robert Plant next year.

Will Led Zeppelin surprise us once more and have another go-around? Will some, or even one, of our wildest dreams and hopes for the band come true? Of course, when we're talking about a band like Led Zeppelin, history has shown time and time again that anything is possible.

Just keep those fingers crossed and that mouse clicking back here to check.

Plant regales in the past on stage Led Zeppelin shared with the Who

A sign at Merriweather Post Pavilion informs or reminds modern-day concertgoers that "a little known band called Led Zeppelin" played there "in the early 70's" as the opening act for the Who.

Closer to the truth, the date was May 25, 1969. The guy who took me to the show and landed us a pair of seats in fourth-row center owns a handbill and an unused ticket from the '69 show and once owned a concert poster from it. We know better than the sign did. It wasn't the early '70s.

Robert Plant knows better too. At the beginning of the encore set on the same stage a few hours ago, he said he was well aware he and his old mates had been on that stage 39 years and 40-some days earlier. He even recited the date (although I think he said May 26, not 25).

But as a matter of fact, Plant said it was a phone call he'd taken this week that reminded him. On the other end of that call was the man who was Led Zeppelin's tour manager in those days, Richard Cole. Funny side note: When Plant mentioned Cole by name, a few people cheered, to Plant's surprise. He asked for clarification: "Richard Cole, 'woo'? Are you serious?"

Plant was surrounded at the show by reminders of his past. Just as in Knoxville this April, when a fan in the front row handed him a powder blue T-shirt with the message "Nurses Do It Better" -- replicating a message Plant wore onstage at the Oakland Coliseum in July 1977 -- Plant waved and spoke with a front-row fan who was wearing the same shirt.

Another fan, a few seats to my right in the fourth row, had the shirt on too, having obtained it along with a bootleg ordered online from Fishheads International. Popular item!

Speaking of popular items, earlier in the tour, paperback programs were being sold at concerts for $30. It was a hot item, and now only hardcover programs are available -- for $40.

A merchandising company called Bravado -- which recently was absorbed under the Universal umbrella along with Trinifold, Plant's management for longer than a decade -- is handling the sale of concert souvenirs. The company also sells Led Zeppelin memorabilia online, with the group's online store on the official Web site. Some concertgoers in Columbia, Md., came to the show wearing shirts with Zep's Mothership logo, probably ordered via Bravado.

Tote bags, which are adorned with Plant's feather symbol from the Led Zeppelin era and a heart assumedly representing Krauss, are $10 at the shows. About four different T-shirt designs are available at $20 apiece. Opening act Sharon Little also has T-shirts there as well as her CD. A disc of T Bone Burnett's is also available.

Strangely, there are no copies of Plant and Krauss's Raising Sand there. That's too bad for folks like the man and woman my buddy and I spoke to in line before the gates opened. She was a fan of rock music, and he was a fan of all music and the owner of an extensive collection of 45s his brother steals from. But neither of them had heard Raising Sand. My buddy actually sold them on the idea of buying the album. Well, they didn't have their chance to buy it from Bravado at the show. Hopefully, they enjoyed the show and are inspired to pick it up at a later date.

If their experience of the concert was anything like ours in row four, it was exciting. Every song was well received, and the band's performance was tight under the direction of T Bone Burnett. It improves from show to show -- this was my fourth and the best yet.

What I notice about Plant's performance is how seriously he's striving to do everything perfectly. Krauss? Either she really is as wonderful and note-perfect as she comes across or she hides it well. Whenever Plant hits a bum note (like he did in "Please Read the Letter") or misses part of a line (like he did in "The Battle of Evermore"), his facial expressions let you know he's not satisfied.

But those moments are few and far between. More often, those in the audience witness carefree moments of sheer fun. This was best exemplified tonight when Plant and Krauss laughed together from the side of the stage, during a song neither was singing, when they had the chance to watch a man in the front row who was swaying and dancing to whatever hallucinations he may have been having. It put me in the mindset to remember Joe Cocker at Woodstock; Cocker opens for the Steve Miller Band soon at the same venue.

The only Friday the 13th moment of the evening came during "Gone, Gone, Gone," when the curtains missed their cue to drop all at once and reveal a shimmering backdrop for the entire stage. I hope some enterprising photographers in the audience were wise enough to capture that moment as Plant and Krauss took notice of the mishap before it was quickly corrected by a stagehand. Their frolicking resumed at the end of the song, which for once featured more dancing from Krauss than from Plant. But Plant was barely dancing at all this time, so the couple of moves and poses she made took the cake.

The musical highlights of the night were too many to pick only a few. "The Battle of Evermore" awarded them the first widespread standing ovation of the night. What's stunning about hearing that song live is that Plant's vocals so closely resemble his vocals on the album version of that song, just as it first appeared in 1971. Tonight, he gave us a string of "Bring it, bring it, bring it, bring it ..." just as on the album, something I hadn't heard him do at any of the three earlier shows I attended.

Another vivid highlight, just as in Atlantic City last Sunday, was the little extra in Plant's delivery of the Townes Van Zandt tune "Nothin'." Tonight, instead of scatting before a verse, he just belted out a high note and really let it reverberate inside the old pavilion. That sent shivers down my spine. Thank goodness for the two West Virginians to my immediate left, Leslie and Laura, who helped me recover from that note.

These new friends of mine say they travel to see Krauss perform at least once every year, and they'd just seen Plant and Krauss in Roanoke, Va., and decided with only a few hours' notice to snag a pair of tickets online and trek up to Maryland to relive the occasion. While they were there for Krauss, I am sure I heard Leslie comment that Plant is the sexiest man ever. That's funny; my mirror begs to differ.

Plant, Krauss entertain Atlantic City

These pictures from June 7 show in Canandaigua, N.Y., are courtesy of Grant Burgess.

Things were pretty good at the Borgata Hotel and Casino on Sunday, June 8. I guess some people collected on the 38-1 odds for the Belmont Stakes winner yesterday. Whatever it was, the audience for the Alison Krauss and Robert Plant show in Atlantic City was appreciative when the Golden Gods took the stage.

Stuart Duncan played a quite amazing violin solo at the first break in "Black Dog" from Atlantic City. Robert Plant walked over to Stu's left to boogie with Stu. He seemed to enjoy watching a fellow musician rock out to a song Plant had a hand in writing 38 years ago.

After the song, Plant swang his mic and addressed the audience's applause as he often does: "Oh yeah?" He thanked the crowd for coming to see "our merry band of pranksters." Then he introduced the next song, "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," with this: "I'd like to introduce you to the most wonderful singing voice I've ever stood next to, Miss Alison Krauss."

She followed up "Through the Morning, Through the Night" with a song thy to my knowledge hasn't been done before on this tour. It was "Good-bye and So Long to You," a twist on the chorus in the song when performed by Mac Wiseman ("So Long and Good-bye to You").

As Robert led on "Fortune Teller," it's apparent he's the best dancer onstage. Alison's not even trying! Robert still must not have taught her any moves, after longer than a month on tour! Alison can sure step up with her voice though, and what else could you want from a singer? She filled in perfectly with Plant on their next duet, Plant's own "In the Mood." Little song that you want to sing. The song segued briefly into "Matty Groves," a tradition that I think was a Fairport Convention specialty.

Plant dropped his microphone during "Black Country Woman," but it was the song's only off moment. By the time Plant and Krauss left the stage for T Bone Burnett's two-song mini-set without them, they were firing up the place with their treatment of the song from Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti.

Plant left the stage immediately after giving his most heartfelt onstage speech about his current "little project" and the man at its helm. Burnett started his set with a newly developed intro to "Levez les Bons Temps Rouler." There were parts of the song in which Jay Bellerose was skillfully pounding the drums like a madman. Too bad Robert wasn't onstage to witness it! He sometimes is for that song, even strapping on a guitar in Chattanooga, where he played a pretty decent solo. Buddy Miller and Stuart Duncan were featured in that song's solos tonight.

There was still no sign of Robert onstage again during Krauss's renditions of "Trampled Rose" and "Green Pastures."

The next Plant sighting came as Alison sang "Down to the River to Pray," with Plant in that position of sharing a mic with Buddy and Stuart for three-part male harmony backing Alison's medley. Quite the sight, to see my favorite singer of all time taking such a backseat! This time, for the first time listening to this song (my third show this tour), I could tell which voice was Plant's; his was the lowest one, doubling Alison's melody one octave lower than hers.

The version of "Nothin'" Robert and the fellows performed in Atlantic City was head and shoulders above any I've seen them do previously. Although the words are Townes Van Zandt's and not Robert's, he spoke eloquently about the song before starting it. Then he thrashed the song, making it his over the duration of it. Before the second verse, Plant improvised by himself and saw that the band followed his lead by adding however measures of vamping were necessary for his moment of inspiration. Plant used Duncan's banjo later in the song as a muse to come up with some good ad-libbed interplay. The band really hasn't been this "on" before!

"The Battle of Evermore" was next, and the audience knew what it was immediately. This was going to be another high point, so soon after the last one! Incredible. And when it was over, it earned not only a standing ovation from everybody there, but also a visit from a drum tech who was very fast on his feet to appear for a quick fix. Whatever was retooled was ready on time for Jay to start the intro to "Please Read the Letter" on time.

To his credit, Robert spent the end of "Gone, Gone, Gone" showing Alison some moves she was then replicating. She was a little more playful tonight than before, which may be in part because she could get away with a few more moves with her tight pants compared with the dresses I saw her in the other two times. Anyway, she looked like she was having a good time striking a pose for Atlantic City.

An old-timer of Zep's online community, Grant Burgess, sent some remarks to For Badgeholders Only after he attended Saturday night's Plant/Krauss show in upstate New York. He writes:

"I was at the show last night in the second level of seats and took a few pics. I had a little bit of a go with 'The Battle of Evermore' and got five minutes of it here. I had a problem of a walkway right in front of me so it wasn't a good spot to video from. But you get a taste of the song."

Enjoy!

Pre-show with Roy, Plant's sound guy

Just had a conversation with Roy Williams at the sound desk for tonight's Plant/Krauss show. Hailing from near Birmingham, England, he's been traveling with Robert doing his sound for the last 10 years. I asked if he records any of the shows. Roy says they record everything and it goes straight to disk, for reference purposes.

He said last night's Plant/Krauss show in upstate New York was a little different, in terms of crowd control. He called the place a shed and said the security was pretty lax, so much so that everybody rushed down to the floor. He said it didn't affect the performance per se, but it just pissed some people off a little.

We're a little over an hour from when Plant and Krauss take the stage. We just heard a Dr. John song and before that, a guy named Scott Matthews. Roy tells me Scott was the opening act for Plant and Krauss in Europe. Pretty soon, we'll hear the American choice, Sharon Little.

Roy was in London at the Zeppelin show in December, minding the sound along with another guy. It was a rock 'n' roll show and one with a lot of feedback. I asked him about that, and he said it was just in the first two songs. I asked specifically if the O2 set was recorded, and he confirmed if it was, like everything else, recorded for reference. I asked him if the quality was along the lines of something that could someday be released. He said yes it is, but everybody's running around doing other things and releasing it isn't a priority. I asked if the guys realize the demand for that recording, and he smirked as if to say, "Of course they know that." I said it wasn't just guys in Zeppelin T-shirts who want to hear that set. He said yeah, he would like to have a copy too.

Roy was in a Robert Plant and Strange Sensation tour shirt.

Top five concert lineups we'd like to see Jimmy Page in

My buddy Brad and I are traveling through Atlantic City on our way to see what Robert Plant's been up to since we saw him last in Tennessee at the end of April.

And we can't help but think of what happened in London last night. Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones showed up, as rumored, at Wembley Stadium and jammed on two Zep songs with the Foo Fighters.

It's great that half of Led Zeppelin is playing together and seems raring to go, to jump at any occasion to don the stage clothes and rock out in front of an audience again. They haven't done that together regularly since I was learning to walk for the first time!

So we started speculating about what kind of bands could form to lure John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page back into the touring circuit. And we came up with some obvious, and some not-so-obvious solutions.

5. The Kinks featuring Jimmy Page
Know that animosity over claims that Page played in the studio for the Kinks' "You Really Got Me"? Put that to shreds. Let the guys go out on tour together. Jimmy can prove his worth in covering Kinks tunes, sitting in with them and offering a nice lead. Why even do more than two or three Zeppelin songs? Just play Kinks material all night! Oh, Jimmy! Go on tour with the Davies brothers the same way you went on tour with the Robinson brothers. Jonesy, you're not to be forgotten. Grab some acoustic instruments and work your way into the arrangement. You could modify "Lola" to "Stephanie" and "Soho" to "the French Quarter."

4. Page/Jones: The Guitar and Bass of Led Zeppelin
Want Page to prove he can have the success of Page and Plant without needing Plant? Want him to do what he and Coverdale missed out on doing? Just go out as "Page and Jones" and market it "The Guitar and Bass of Led Zeppelin." The same way Page and Plant's T-shirts and concert posters and TV spots proclaimed "The Guitar and Voice of Led Zeppelin." As for a singer and drummer, just have various people sit in and switch spots, like Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins did last night. Make it a long summer tour where different acts all live out their wildest dreams and sit in with half of Led Zeppelin!

3. The Chili Peppers broke up; Page and Jones should hook up with Anthony Kiedis
What kind of stuff would they come up with if the Red Hot Chili Peppers front man joined forces with Pagey and Jonesy? Forget regashing tunes from the past; give us a new album of originals and make it a double-album, Stadium Arcadium-style. We want to hear new stuff. And then go out and tour that. Kiedis in a band with Jones and Page: now that would be something like Blood Sugar Sexx Magick!

2. Jack Black supergroup: Tenacious Zeppelin
We all know Jimmy matches up with Jack White. But what about the opposite of White? Black! Jack Black and Jimmy Page. Toss in Dave Grohl on drums and John Paul Jones on bass, and you've got yourself a very solid lineup. Tenacious D guitarist Kyle Gass is also in the band of rock royalty, even if that royalty is facetiously self-proclaimed. Hell call the combination of guitarists "Page and Rage Cage."

And the No. 1 concert lineup we'd like to see Jimmy Page in:

1. Led Zeppelin
Of course! Back to basics! Jason Bonham, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page! That's what we would like to hear, by far, more than anything else!

Photos, footage of Page, Jones with Foo Fighters

"For someone that grew up listening to Led Zeppelin and never seen the guys live that was half of a dream. The Foos concert yesterday was brilliant but today was just awesome. Thanks for the great night...it was worth every penny even if I nearly got squashed to death. I can't even sleep I am so hyper. The photo is not the best... but man... I was shaking with excitement."

That's what one fan wrote when posting the photo at right of Jimmy Page online after Page and John Paul Jones sat in at Wembley Stadium last night on an encore set with the Foo Fighters.









Please help out my Comments section with your thoughts on this onstage jam!