Jimmy Page continues to blame Phil Collins for ruining LZ's Live Aid set!

They continue to record music. That is not the same as remaining relevant.

 

It wasn’t that bad.

God knows all three of ‘em have given worse performances with their bands. And ‘85? When’s the last time Keef amd Ronnie had performed live at that point? ‘81? ‘82? The ‘80s weren’t Bob’s best years, either.

 

Johnny Bravo!!!

 

The Who has definitely been better than that in the 21st century, and Led Zep, too.

 

Live Aid -
some artists took it seriously, rehearsed in preparation and brought their 'A' game on the day...
some artists phoned it in...

That's the way it fell on that one day back in the 80's, and we have the video to prove it - none of it means that any individual musician is good or bad at what they do...

 

Are you kidding me? We can go much longer. We have yet to even touch on this, produced specifically for Live Aid!



As for how it relates to Zep at Live Aid, well, Zep wasn’t the only disaster that day.

 

I really think that Mike Rutherford could have turned in a better lead guitar performance than this...even in 1977. Jimmy was too busy "chasing the dragon" on the back of his suit to care...

 

Tony Thompson was there too. Was he?

 

This tired topic again? How many people posting here have actually read Phil's bio? He clearly states Robert talked him into playing songs (not a Led Zeppelin reunion, see Pictures at Eleven, Principle of Moments). Due to limitations he basically became the 2nd drummer, flying overseas (Tony Thompson really wanted to be Bonham's replacement, they even rehearsed with him beyond Live Aid). MTV made a big deal about it, the cameras focused on Phil not Tony. Page never wanted Collins, was angry before, during and after about it, and now has sour grapes. The End. (clickbait article)

 

That's Johnny Bravo, man.

He's a real groovy cat.

But, then he realises that he needs his family and misses his bunkbed and sharing a bathroom with his 2 brothers and 3 sisters.

It's a tale as old as time.

 

Is there something in the water that is causing all these septuagenerian rockers to slag each other over the events of 30+ years ago? Page vs. Collins, Waters vs. Gilmour, Mason & Wright, etc. Give it a rest. You were all great back in your respective days. Leave it at that.

 

I’m glad that they ended on a high note with the O2 show. It really was better than it should’ve been.

I knew someone that was a tech during the Live Aid performance. He said that he watched a string of droll go from Page’s mouth all the way down to his boot.

 

Not to my knowledge. They obviously liked his work well enough to consider reuniting with him in the drum chair, even going so far as to have a two-day rehearsal in early 1986. He played competently, so it would be stupid to try to blame him... almost as stupid as it is trying to blame Collins.

 

I was there.

Their first mistake was not rehearsing nearly enough.

Their second mistake was having two drummers who didn't know the song well instead of one who did.

Their third mistake was letting Page party before the gig. I'm a huge Jimmy Page fan, but he was clearly incapacitated and either drunk or on coke.

Their fourth mistake was Plant not resting his voice before the gig.

It was all such a huge disappointment for fans like me who had never gotten the chance to see Led Zeppelin live because we were too young and they broke up before we were old enough to go to rock concerts.

 

Not knocking Phil Collins here at all; I think he did an admirable job. But what was the point of having him playing when they already had Thompson lined up ready to go? Tony was a much better choice right out of the gate since his style was way more similar to Bonham. So why the heck were they dropping Phil into the mix? Was it a name recognition thing? Collins was a really big name back in the 80s. (Must say I sure got sick of hearing his stuff being played to death back then.) Thing is, they may have pulled this mess off a little bit better if only Thompson had been playing, keeping it a little closer to the real deal.

 

Phil had a luxury Concorde flight on his mind that's why he was sloppy

 

And maybe just maybe It was the "other" drummer that ruined it? Maybe

 

Did it sound better or worse in person than it does in the live proshot video? Just curious! As someone born after even the Atlantic reunion, the 2007 reunion and following the show via updates on online forums is the closest I will get to a true Zep reunion experience lol

 

(in an interview) I believe that Phil blamed Tony for speeding up and getting a bit carried away that day, ruining his perfect timing, if this was not already mentioned.

 

Collins is a far more versatile drummer than Bonham, but Collins always dug Bonham and in a proper context with a little planning could have easily done as good as anybody in filling that chair.

Remember, this is the mid 1980s. Sans maybe Michael Jackson this guy is arguably the biggest pop star in the world. Was he spending as much time on his drumming as he was in the seventies when he was in Genesis and Brand X and one of the most in demand session drummers in London? Probably not. But Page blaming the issues of Live Aid on a “guest” musician is an epic fail and not much else.

 

I blame “heron.”

 

As Collins notes he regretted at the time but it was too late to pull out.

 

Was there a flock of rabid herons there distracting pagey.

 

Yes, Phil was a great drummer, and could certainly play Led Zeppelin's music just fine. The curious thing to me is Tony Thompson is a better natural fit style-wise to fill the Bonham seat, and they already had him! So was the real reason for getting Phil in there last minute for the star power? Did Zeppelin really need any help on that front? I think not.