Led Zeppelin Or Lead Balloon?
Dueling reviews this morning from two papers about the Led Zeppelin reunion concert in London last night. The Washington Post carries a review by Erik Huey, a lawyer from the US, who praises it to the moon and back:
I'm an attorney now, staring down the barrel of 40. But think of the person you were decades ago — adolescent, unshackled by cynicism and Weltschmerz, full of youthful abandon and an unblinking belief in the sheer possibility of things. And if you grew up in the '60s, '70s and '80s, Zeppelin may well have been the soundtrack to your adolescence.
As they launch into the opening chords of "Good Times Bad Times," the band seems to acknowledge the limitations brought on by the passage of time. "In the days of my youth/I was told what it means to be a man,/Now I've reached that age/I've tried to do all those things the best I can." Indeed, they're doing pretty well, for old guys.
By the time they finish their second and third songs — "Ramble On" and "Black Dog" — it is becoming clear that, even if they are not gods who walk the Earth as men, these are no mere mortals before us. And this is going to be no mere rock show. We are witnessing history.
Meanwhile, The Daily Mail has a review by James Delingpole that is somewhat less than enthused:
No matter how proficient Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, the three survivors of the Seventies' heyday, played, no matter how good it is to see them back on stage still breathing and vaguely compos mentis, there is something deeply sad and unedifying about rockers who go on rocking past their natural sell-by date…..
….Ah yes, Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven. Let us suppose, as many think, that it really is the greatest rock song ever written.
Is that sufficient justification for its three surviving originators - one now looking like an accountant, one like a Muppet in a white fright wig, one like the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard Of Oz - to creak back on stage and play it not quite as excitingly as they could in 1971, 1972 or 1973 for an audience of mostly staid, pot-bellied, middle-aged men in a smokeless environment named after a mobile phone company?
And if they insist on doing so, shouldn't it be renamed Stannah Stairlift To Heaven?
Stairlift to Heaven. I like that. That's even better than Stairway to Freebird. Which review is right? Well, they probably both are, at least to some extent. A lot depend on what you expect from these performances by old bands that reunite. If you expect them to sound exactly as they used to, you will likely be disappointed. To a younger audience, these guys would seem hopelessly dated and well past their prime. But doubtless some people will be thrilled - and would pay big bucks for tickets, even to see a Muppet in a fright wig.
Music, World news | Gaius Wednesday, 12 December , 2007
By feeblemind, Wednesday, 12 December , 2007 @ 10:07 am
When I was a kid, I remember seing aging entertainers like Bing Crosby and Perry Como on TV. My Dad loved it. He would smile and sing along. He thought it was great. At that time it got me thinking, would my generation’s entertainers still be going strong in 30-40yrs or would we discard them? I would speculate that watching aging entertainers from one’s youth is a connection to that youth. How many old song’s does a person enjoy because they can be remembered playing in the background during the fun times of our youth? Good or bad performance aside, if Led Zep can carry some people back to their younger days for a couple of hrs, what’s the harm in that?
By Gaius, Wednesday, 12 December , 2007 @ 12:12 pm
Oh, I didn’t say there was anything wrong with it, feeblemind. And I think you captured something with that remark about your father. I remember thinking how lame some of those old singers and such were when my mom watched them, too. But it made her happy to see them and sing along, too.
The more things change, the more they stay the same…
By feeblemind, Wednesday, 12 December , 2007 @ 12:35 pm
Absolutely Gaius. Human nature never changes.
By martian, Wednesday, 12 December , 2007 @ 1:30 pm
“Stairway to Heaven” was the theme of my high school senior ball. I definitely have some happy memories attached to the song and the band. Rock on Led Zeppelin, Rock on!
By Sam, Wednesday, 12 December , 2007 @ 3:49 pm
A few years back my wife bought me tickets to see Page/Plant at the local arena. I don’t remember much about the music - it was mostly songs they did after Led Zeppelin, although the did some of their older stuff too. What I remember is the sight of a guy in his late 50s or 60s, bald on top but with a long grey ponytail, playing air guitar in the aisle in front of us. That, and the reek of marijuana smoke in the air - something I hadn’t smelled in many years. The whole scene seemed slightly ridiculous. My wife certainly wasn’t impressed.
Don’t get me wrong. I have been a Led Zeppelin fan since their first album came out when I was in Junior High. I own every one of their LP albums, plus CDs, and three remastered Box sets too. I would love seeing the show if it ever comes to free TV. But at the same time, you can’t go back.
By Woodsprite, Thursday, 13 December , 2007 @ 1:33 am
In the right context, these reunion tours are a lot of fun. It’s a chance to reconnect with your youth and remember the times back when your knees didn’t hurt on cold mornings. Over the last few years I’ve seen David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Sieger, and have tickets for The Cure this spring. All artists I wanted to see in the ’80s, but couldn’t afford as a teenager.
Nothing wrong with an evening of nostalga, the key is being OK with having to go to work the next day.