"AEG Live, the team behind the King of Pop's 50-night stint, want the rock
supergroup to alternate shows with Abba. Both bands - who have sold 600 million
albums between them - have been offered big money to reform.
Led Zep stars Jimmy Page, 65, Robert Plant, 60, and bassist John Paul Jones, 63, have been approached.
They played their only concert in 19 years at the O2 in 2007 and
are seen as one of the few acts who could rival Jacko. His This Is It tour was
due to start at the London venue on July 13. AEG face multi-million pound losses
if they cannot fill the slots.A source said: "Only Michael Jackson could sell out 50 nights at such a big arena, but Led Zeppelin and Abba combined might just rival him. There is huge money on the table." "
Ok...am I the only who thinks that quote is pretty lame sounding? I find the fact that this "source" thinks that Abba could sell-out as many shows as Led Zeppelin...offensive. Abba?! Really?! Come on! These are the same weirdos that performed the song "Dancing Queen" and have their own Broadway musical. That's just not right. Honestly, I think they need to take out the part of that sentence that says "...and Abba combined..." because in this writer's opinion, Led Zeppelin alone could probably out sell Michael Jackson in London...or at least come pretty damn close.
Think about it...when they re-grouped in 2007 for the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert their tickets (selling at $250 face value...proceeds all going to charity) had to be sold in a lottery format. Over 1 million people put their names into the lottery (including myself) and only 20,000 were given away.
Although this announcement is exciting in substance...the chances of this actually happening are slim to none. Here's what will happen:
Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham would sign tomorrow if they could, but Robert Plant will never agree to this. Remember he kept stalling the reunion tour last time due to his touring with Allison Krauss. Then after all was said and done and the other 3 had been working on new material, he blackballed the reunion tour after the 2007 show with the following statement,
"The disappointment that could be there once you commit to that and the
comparisons to something that was basically fired by youth and a different kind
of exhuberance to now, it's very hard to go back and meet that head on and do it
justice."
(By "a different kind of exhuberance" I think he clearly means "lots and lots of heroin and other mind blowing psychadelics"...hahaha.)
Why would Plant not want a reunion tour?
1. Because Plant can't sing like he used to. Although, he's the youngest member of LZ, he's still 60 years old. When they played the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert they tuned down most of their songs to accustom his geriatric vocal chords. Yes...his voice is still amazing, but No...he will never be able to sing "Black Dog" in the high wail he used to.
EXAMPLE A: "Black Dog" in 1973.
EXAMPLE B: "Black Dog" in 2007.
2. He's trying out new platforms. Plant went from being one of the most idolized frontmen in rock history to becoming a soft, harmonizing back-up singer to Allison Krauss...a bluegrass/country singer. And, whether you like it or not, their voices do sound great together and they have a lot of chemistry on stage. He's crossed platforms and has done it succesfully.
3. Not only did he cross platforms, but he won awards while doing so. Allison Krauss and Robert Plant's album "Raising Sand", besides being critically acclaimed, has been certified platinum, and won the 2009 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. A feat that was never accomplished with LZ. Another sign that he's trying to solidify his legacy as one of the top singers of all time.
So...after all is said and done would the public still shell out millions of dollars to see an aging Led Zeppelin?
The answer is YES! Without a doubt. If Led Zeppelin re-formed for a reunion tour they would sell more tickets in 20 minutes than the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and Paul McCartney did in the last 5 years of their careers. Their shows would sell out in record numbers.
Plant needs to take off his Depends and squeeze himself into his ripped jeans and ruffled shirts and quit whining about being too old, because there is an entire new generation of youth out there who still idolize Led Zeppelin for everything the accomplished. They are the greatest rock n' roll group of all time and they need to start acting like it. And although Page, Jones, and Bonham were willing to find a new lead singer...they failed miserably...because no one can lead Led Zeppelin on stage besides Robert Plant. He is one-of-a-kind...it's the same reason why Queen's reunion tour keeps failing...because they can't replace a rare vocalist the likes of Freddie Mercury.
We all know it sucks getting old, but I think the millions upon millions of devoted Led Zeppelin fans would put up with hearing their old favorites in a lower octave. Why not suck it up and try to stretch those vocal chords back out? They're a muscle...they have muscle memory. Just go balls to the wall...if he blow out his vocal chords on the last song of the last concert in the last city would his image be ruined forever? No...he would be remembered for giving it his all and going above and beyond what was expected of him. Surprise us all Robert, by all means, but if you can't hit the original octave we're not going to turn against you.
In conclusion...the thought of Led Zeppelin reuniting for more shows (whether in London or in Timbuktu) is exciting. It is a lifelong dream to see LZ live in concert, and you better believe that myself and many other Americans would make the trip across seas to catch one or more of their shows. Almost every rock band out there today is in some way influenced by Led Zeppelin, and who wouldn't want to go see the band that revolutionized rock n' roll forever...the fathers of heavy metal? All I'm asking Robert Plant is...what do you have to lose?
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