Ever since Led Zeppelin broke up in 1980 in the wake of John Bonham's death, the music press has continually queried the band's surviving members - Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones - as to whether they will ever get back together. As of this writing, the odds of a Led Zeppelin reunion are slim. The 'word on the street' is that Page is eager to at least tour, Jones is ambivalent about a reunion but could probably be talked into it, and Plant is the one who says "No".
Led Zeppelin is of course not unique in this respect: the reunion thing comes up with all well-known bands that fragment completely or partially. Will Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr perform together again? Will Steve Perry rejoin Journey? Will David Byrne ever bury the hatchet with the rest of Talking Heads? The press even pesters Brian Eno about a possible Roxy Music reunion. However, I think that Led Zeppelin is the most interesting of these cases, and that's whom I'm going to talk about in this post.
Plant has nixed a reunion because, he says, "I'm not bored" and "I'm not part of a jukebox", and I understand where he's coming from. Nonetheless, I look at Led Zeppelin's musicianship, its presence, its catalog, and the auxiliary material it could draw on, and am intrigued by the performance possibilities: If I could mastermind a Led Zeppelin concert, what would it be like?
Led Zeppelin last performed in 2007 as the headliner for the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert (AETC). I look at the band's AETC set list and my heart sinks: "Oh my goodness, what a frightfully predictable collection of songs." Most of the band's standards are there, in particular "Stairway to Heaven", "Whole Lotta Love", "Rock and Roll", and "Dazed and Confused". If these guys feel an obligation, out of a sense of showmanship, to roll out a 'greatest hits package' when they play, then yes, they really should find something else to do.
We can do better than that. Here are some suggestions for mixing things up:
(1) Led Zeppelin rose out of the ashes of the Yardbirds. Kick "Dazed and Confused" out of the set and replace it with "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor" from Little Games, the last 1960s Yardbirds studio record and the only one to feature Page.
(2) During the AETC the band performed "Ramble On" and "For Your Life" in their entireties for the very first time. There are various other Zeppelin tracks that have never been played live, e.g., "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper", "Night Flight", and "Candy Store Rock": get them in the set.
(3) We've all heard "Kashmir" enough times: replace it with "Slow Dancer" from Pictures at Eleven, Plant's first solo record.
(4) The AETC set didn't include anything from In Through the Out Door or Coda. "South Bound Suarez" is one of the best songs on the former record but has never been played live, so play it; from the latter record I'd recommend "Poor Tom", which has also never been played live, as Led Zeppelin III has historically been given relatively short shrift in the band's concerts.
(5) "Hummingbird" from Page's 1988 Outrider solo record is a cool song: let's hear it.
(6) What about the 1990s Page-Plant partnership? "Wonderful One" is the best of the four Middle Eastern tracks on No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded whereas "When the World Was Young" would be a solid choice from Walking into Clarksdale: get them in the set.
(7) We wouldn't want to leave out Jones's solo material. Robert Fripp solos on The Thunderthief's "Leafy Meadows". How would Page play it? It's time to find out!
Actually, I'm sure that the band is up to the task of culling their own favorites from their various extracurricular projects, but I'm the one who dreamed up all of this, so it's up to me to 'prime the pump', yes?
Needless to say, a lot of fans, critics, etc. would be upset by a show of this nature, to which I say, "Too bad": they should just be thankful that they got to hear four musicians at the very top of their game, which, as Page himself would tell you, is what Led Zeppelin has always been about.
Finally, if Plant persists in being uncooperative, then Page should call up Jones's good friend Diamanda Galás and commandeer her to front the band. Ah, what a performing ensemble that would be!
Upon reading this post, most people - perhaps including Page, Plant, and Jones themselves - are likely to say, "This bloke is mad." Maybe I am. For the sake of the music, however, this is how it should happen, speaking as someone who hates to see great talent and opportunity go to waste.
P.S. You'll notice that I didn't address "Stairway to Heaven" in my suggestion list. As you might guess from the preceding discussion, I agree with Plant that it's time to retire "Stairway" but would be willing to sit through it if the band were willing to work some obscure material into the set.
P.P.S. I favor holding onto "No Quarter" because Page's "No Quarter" solo on The Song Remains the Same is IMO one of the most masterful solos in rock music history. (One of these days I'll have to write up my own "Top 10 Guitar Solos" list.)
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