Celebration Day (Led Zeppelin) 10 years on....

Which Metallica live Blu-Ray are you comparing it to ?

 

I believe at at least a couple of live music online trading/torrent sites the first source of the show still holds the record for most downloaded concert recording, in spite of the seven or eight superior audience sources that popped up after.

I remember the day well. One of my best friends was living in England at the time and was lucky enough to attend the concert. He called me -waking me up- after the show was over: "They played 'No Quarter'. Now I can die a happy man," is how he prefaced the conversation (the live version of "No Quarter" from the Song Remains The Same LP was always one of our favourites). He told me about the show and how good it was while I was sitting there turning about seventeen different shades of green with envy. In those days I was still indulging in my pot and Jose Cuervo habit...I basically sat there all night drinking and smoking and waiting for an audience recording to show up online. Eventually one did (the aforementioned first source) but by that time I was so out of it I couldn't really enjoy it. I freely admit that was the point where I decided it would probably be best to knock that particular combination on the head- one or the other is fine, but not the two of them together! Anyway I gave the recording a second listen the next day when I was actually sober and was suitably impressed by the performance. I think it's safe to say that the show was better than anybody -possibly even including the band themselves- could have expected, especially considering how bad the other Zeppelin 'reunion' concerts had been to that point. "Kashmir" in particular still stands as IMO the best, most dramatic live version I've heard them do, and I've heard most of 'em.

True, but his kid did a helluva job in his place.

 

Detuning didn't help either....

 

Brings back memories of all those hours sending off multiple ticket applications when I should have been working. The guy I sat next to was a huge fan too and when I looked over his shoulder he'd be doing the same. Needless to say, neither of us got lucky.

 

For those complaining about the sonics on the CD/DVD of Celebration Day, I believe the consensus here is that the vinyl is a much improved listening experience... but then, isn't it always ?

 

I don't agree at all with those happy that they didn't do a tour afterwords. Why? Their reputation is set in stone. A Zeppelin reunion tour would have made countless fans happy world wide, myself included. From an artistic standpoint, I think they could have improved on the road (especially Jimmy), which who knows....could have led to a new album. We'll never know.

Despite the great success of the O2 show, I consider what happened afterwards to be a lost opportunity. Jimmy might still be waiting for that call.

 

I agree. I missed out on seeing them in the 70's, and managed to catch Page/Plant in 98, which was great. But to sit there with my son and see those songs performed live would have been wonderful.

 

No matter how you look at it, they played great or downright amazing especially for a band that hadn't played in decades, no easy feat regardless of how good you still are as a player or how good you were, a group thing is an organic thing and alive, so to be able to play and capture those songs as a whole they did more then knock it out of the park, and yes Jason is the driving beat behind it and a fine performance he did. Overall impressive!!
I am not a fan of the footage editing, though that goes for many music dvds/blu ray of late, some or most of recent are difficult to watch, and some I can't even watch as jumps around and flashes so frequently, yet performance and music are very listenable. This one is not as bad as I was going on about, I just like the older editing style over what they been doing in the oughts. EDIT (Recent Years)

 

Well, let's take the first track Good Times Bad Times; Where John Bonham used one bass drum pedal for the track, Jason needed two. Jason, a good drummer, is not near the skill level of his father. I find the comparison similar to trying to compare the Beatles live with and without John Lennon. Each member of Led Zeppelin was that important.

Also, how do you compare a band in their prime in 1973 to a band many years later and many years older? They had to tune down because Plant couldn't reach the notes! Listen to Dazed and Confused. Also, there was absolutely no improvisation. Listen to some of the bootlegs back in 72-73. It's like comparing apples vs oranges.

 

I got through the selection lottery and was eligible to buy a ticket, but I had to decide between that and a holiday to California. I opted for the latter, and in the end I got to meet Slash and see the original cast of Star Trek reunite, so I'm not so upset at missing out on LZ.

 

I own the blu-ray and cd combo, but THIS is the one song I still revisit on youtube semi-regularly. RP was fully in "the zone" by this point. His voice was hot and he was going for and nailing everything he wanted to reach for. Hands down best song in the set and watching Jason was equally awe-inspiring.

 

A nice Celebration on vinyl, CD, DVD & Blu-ray in HD video, I mean really enjoy for " What Is, And Never Shall Be"

 

Wasn't the release like 5 years after the fact? It doesn't seem like ten years ago buying the CD/DVD.

I enjoyed the show with a few highlights, but haven't watched or listened to it in years. Might have to bust it out. My thought process is usually, "nah, i'll just watch the Royal Albert Hall Show" though.

 

Keeping everything in perspective as to their age, etc, it was a killer performance and one of the greatest gifts they have given us post 1982.

 

Its almost 10 years anniversary of the gig. The DVD/CD came in October 2012.

 

They should have made more gigs. Doing that expectacular concert just for 20000 people was a shame. My dad is a HUGE Zeppelin fan, and coudnt get tickets(like others 19 million) and I would love that had seen them with my dad after that gig. They sounded amazing and would be even better if they had more gigs in the months to follow. And their legacy would still be the same obviously. Greatest rock band ever.

 

Did Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones in fact 'de-tune' their guitars to change the key? I guess that would make the most sense, as opposed to re-learning the songs in different keys using standard tuning.

I am a casual Zeppelin fan, but have this concert DVR'd from an AXS TV presentation. I was impressed with all four musicians. I thought Robert Plant's charisma didn't quite come through as it did seeing him live during the Plant Page '98 tour. I definitely loved Jimmy Page's rhythm playing. Perhaps due to broken finger issues or transposition issue, his solos had an occasional bit of sluggishness to them. Given the circumstances, an impressive effort.

 

I believe everything is played the same, just tuned a whole step down, likely to accomodate Robert Plant's voice

 

Guitars tuned down for sure. Which is another reason in my humble opinion Jimmy didn't play his best. To be clear, I am not saying "bad" but he played better with the Crowes and certainly on the two Page/Plant tours.

Detuning a guitar a full step has a dramatic effect on the tension of the strings. To compensate, players typically go up one or two gauges i.e. use heavier strings to offset the slackness the down tuning introduces. Jimmy was not used to this and has always preferred very light gauge strings in standard tuning. Adding to that, Jimmy is typically an inconsistent player, he recently broke his finger and he hadn't played an event this magnitude in almost a decade. That's my story and I am sticking to it!

But wow - 10 years ago. It's crazy. It's even crazier that Page/Plant Unledded was 23 years ago. 2 plus decades. Where does the time go?

 

The band rehearsed for this show for weeks, and as such, one would expect a talented guitarist to be able to master the tune-down within in that period, even taking into consideration he had to nurse a cracked finger for a few weeks. And for all the excuses, some more valid than others, JP really struggles during a number of solos. It is still a concert with some wonderful moments and a ton of positive energy, but the guitar work is inconsistent, which is a bit of problem considering it is a primary component of the Led Zeppelin sound.

 

Not an excuse by any means (in regards to the slack tunings) just an observation on my part. He does indeed struggle throughout the show - for whatever reason. Like I said earlier, there is an abyss at the performance level between his playing at the O2 and Page/Crowes, Page/Plant. Still though (and to your point) a highly enjoyable show with some magic moments akin to the past.

JQ

 

Just seen this, I really can't believe it's 10 years.

 

10 years, Wow I don't remember much about the show itself, except waiting in line for the merchandise the day before and lining up the day of the show but had a Great time the following days site seeing London.

 

Page wasn't near his best but he wasn't the weak spot IMO.

Jason Bonham (well, and Robert Plant) was the weak spot to me. He has little of his father's touch, nuance and subtle swing. That combined with the drop in key for some songs made most of them a little (or more than a little) plodding.

Even though the Black Crowes drummer might not be a Bonham clone, he made Zep tunes move and groove far more than Jason Bonham.

 

I watched closely, studied the finger position and then did the same with vintage footage. There is no question about it, the healing pinky was a major factor that greatly affected Page's ability to play guitar at the O2 reunion show.