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LONDON - Classic rock band Led Zeppelin blasted their way through more than two hours of high-octane rock and roll today, turning back time on a night of passion and nostalgia.
The quartet had the crowd of around 20,000 in London's 02 Arena calling for more at the end of 16 tracks ranging from their most famous numbers to less familiar fare.
The newest member of Led Zeppelin was given the honor of kicking off the band's reunion today, pounding out the beat before the surviving founders joined in on a near-perfect Good Times Bad Times.
After the lights went down at London's O2 Arena, newsreel footage of a 1975 performance in Tampa, Florida, was projected onstage. With thousands of fans worked into a frenzy, drummer Jason Bonham, son of the late John Bonham, began thumping the skittering beat, soon to be joined by guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones and singer Robert Plant.
The song, rarely played live in the band's heyday, proved a perfect starting point for this performance:
"In days of my youth, I was told what it means to be a man," sang Plant, showing no trouble reproducing his trademark wail at 59. "Now I've reached that age, I've tried to do all those things the best I can. ... No matter how I try, I find my way to the same old jam."
Fans went away ecstatic, some even saying that Led Zeppelin were as good as in their hell-raising heyday of the 1970s.
"I saw them a couple of times in the 70s, and I think they were actually better," said John, a balding man in his 50s. "The quality of the sound was so crap back then."
There were none of the flamboyant outfits of the old days, but lead singer Robert Plant strutted his way through "Good Times Bad Times" to kick off one of the most eagerly-anticipated concerts in recent years.
A grey-haired Jimmy Page on guitar reminded the world why he is considered one of the greatest players of all time, while John Paul Jones showed his versatility jumping from bass to keyboards.
While Page and Bonham both sported sunglasses, Plant mercifully kept his button-down shirt buttoned up.
Completing the quartet was Jason Bonham. His father John died in 1980 after a drinking binge, prompting the group that has sold more than 300 million albums and influenced countless bands to split.
Led Zeppelin played old favourites like Stairway to Heaven, Kashmir and Whole Lotta Love as well as less- well-known tracks like In My Time of Dying and For Your Life, which they performed in public for the first time.
The group has rarely performed together since its breakup, and by its own admission, each reunion has been a shambles.
Now, with an estimated 20 million fans vying for tickets pared down to a lucky 18,000 or so - including one who paid 83,000 pounds (NZ$221,038) for his pair - most of the rest are hoping for more tour dates.
But Plant - with his screeching, often unintelligible lyrics leading the way during the band's 12 years and eight studio albums - may be the toughest of the three to be convinced that it is a good idea to go on tour.
"The whole idea of being on a cavalcade of merciless repetition is not what it's all about," the 59-year-old Page told The Sunday Times leading up to the performance.
That certainly will not be music to the ears of millions of fans who are hoping to hear Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love and Kashmir in concert again. Plant, who recently released a successful album with bluegrass star Alison Krauss, did give an indication that this may not be the last of Led Zeppelin, however.
"It wouldn't be such a bad idea to play together from time to time," Plant added.
Today's concert was not the first Led Zeppelin reunion, but it was surely the biggest. The band played together in 1985 at Live Aid, and joined forces again three years later - with Jason Bonham on drums - to play at the 40th anniversary concert for Atlantic Records.
At their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1995, they teamed up with other musicians for another short set.
Priced at 125 pounds, tickets have been selling on the internet for 1,000 pounds or more.
Kenneth Donnell, 25, said he paid 83,000 pounds his tickets from BBC radio's "Things That Money Can't Buy" charity auction last month.
"I was gutted that I was not born in the 1960s and able to see Led Zeppelin in the 1970s like my dad," Donnell told The Sunday Times.
Steve D'Onofrio, a 17-year-old from New York accompanied by his mother Ellen, applied for tickets online having fallen in love with the band's music several years ago.
"I'm a huge classic rock fan from the music mom and dad played," he said on his way to the gig in southeast London. "I wasn't a Led Zeppelin fan until I was about the age of 10. I started listening and everything they did was amazing."
Today's show was dedicated to Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who died last year. Proceeds from the show are to go to the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund, which provides scholarships to universities in the United States, Britain and Turkey.
The show was originally scheduled for Nov. 26, but was postponed until Monday because Page injured the little finger on his left hand.
- AP, REUTERS
