Celebration Night

[caption id="attachment_2060" align="alignright" width="292" caption="Photo: Nech Tytla - Used By Permission"][/caption]

It was Celebration Night around the world, and certainly in my little part of it where no less than 5 theatres within' a 25 minute drive were showing Celebration Day. I must say, minus a few quibbles, it was as good, better, than I hoped for: a magical recreation of a magical night.

The movie is the concert, full bore. A few edits to keep the pacing going, a few small parts of the show where cut for brevity. But ultimately, it was the show. They didn't mess too much with the music, although they tried to fix the little mess in "Dazed and Confused when the rhythm section seemed to not be connecting." But otherwise it was the show, just the show, and nothing but the show. On that note, here's what I said about the show at the time:

...I won’t equivocate: this was a great concert by a great band that was in great form. I simply can’t imagine how good these guys would be after a few shows to get the groove going. If they do tour, and it would be a crime if they don’t, I want to see them again mid tour. They would be an unimaginable force of music.

Too bad about that last bit.

Now the quibbles. First, I would have set the stage, given the movie some context. An intro in which the camera is outside the O2 before the show, so everybody understands it was London. Further I would have replaced the old Tampa TV news clip that started the show with one from the O2 show. My feeling watching it was, if I didn't know better, I'd think I was seeing Led Zeppelin in Tampa in the 70's.

Others have commented on the 35mm footage used in the movie, and it was too much. It's a cool effect used half a dozen times through the movie: they used it 3 or 4 times a song. Way too much. And the film was edited to MTV standards, which means it was far to jumpy.

But again, these are mere quibbles, disagreement over choices, not commentary on the performance itself. The truth on the performance itself is, it holds up extremely well, and Celebration Day is a must see movie for music fans, and a must see more than once for Led Zeppelin fans.

Jimmy Page Says The TIme For a Reunion Has Passed

In the last podcast I was fairly clear on how I felt the guys in Led Zeppelin had been doing a poor job of communicating what seemed obvious to most observers, no reunion is coming:

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For the life of me, at this stage I don't know why they just don't say..."at this time we have no plans. we see no foreseen circumstances in the upcoming future... so the short answer is no! However, we don't rule out the possibility of something somewhere down the road. Of something coming up somewhere down the road that we feel is big enough, important enough to do.

The answer to "will there be a reunion?" has been no for some time time, no. And while I understand they don't want to shut the door 100%, they don't have to. Just be honest, and say, no reunion that we can foresee, but never say never.

With those words ringing in Jimmy Page's ear, he talked recently to Rollin Stone, and on teh issue of a reunion, he said:

I think if there had been any more concerts to be done, we'd already be talking about them. So I don't see it.

See Jimmy, that's all you had to say.

John Paul Jones at Hardly Strictly

John Paul Jones joined Robyn Hitchcock on stage at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Fransisco's Golden Gate Park to play the song Glass Hotel yesterday.

"Just imagine your listening to this out doors, on a sunny day in the park," Hitchcock told the crowd.

Watch at 1:45 to 1:55, where Hitchcock says something to Jones which makes Jones laugh and stop playing for a second.




The free festival takes place every year and features a number of acts. Hitchcock performed on the Porch Stage, which Jones also played on with Seasick Steve later in the day.



Last year Robert Plant and the Band of Joy opened the Banjo Stage on the Friday night of the festival. Plant also joined Patty Griffin during her set on the Saturday portion.

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Update: Robert Plant also made an appearance at Hardly Strictly this year, joining both Buddy Miller and Patty Griffin during their sets. He sang a song he wrote with Patty during her set:



With Buddy Miller he joined Griffin and Emmylou Harris for Somewhere Trouble Don't Go, which Plant played harp on:

Ramble On Radio Episode #22

Led Zeppelin held a press conference and I have all the details, plus: Black Country Communion at war; Jimmy Page out and about; Did Robert Plant do a movie soundtrack? John Paul Jones jams with Alfie Boe and more, on the only Led Zeppelin podcast on this, or any, known internets.

Listen here

or

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Links

Shawn Sarazin's Mystery of the Quotient

Dony Wynn's blog post on Modern Drummer

Buy Carol Miller's Autobiography on Amazon.com



Pre-order the Celebration Day LP:



Jason Bonham's son, J-Swagg's Facebook page.

Carol Miller - Up All Night: My Life and Times in Rock Radio

I picked up Carol Miller's autobiography, Up All Night: My Life and Times in Rock Radio for the Led Zeppelin stories. Miller has been a staple of the New York radio waves since the early 70's, founded the much copied radio format Get The Led Out and was for her entire career the go-to Led Zeppelin DJ in New York. Her book would have, one could be sure, lots of Stories of debauchery and mayhem from backstage at Madison Square Garden, no doubt.

One would be wrong, and on the Led Zeppelin front, Miller's book is a disappointment. Which is not to say it is not a good book.

First, the Zeppelin content, or lack thereof. While Miller was the Zeppelin DJ in New York and dated both Paul Stanley and Stephen Tyler, she never actually met the band in their heyday. Part of this was intentional, as the bands reputation preceded them, even early on, and she was not enthusiastic about getting caught in their web.

Her Zeppelin stories are really later, and mostly concern Robert Plant: for Live Aid she was working for Entertainment Tonight doing live on-camera interviews and, as such, had first access to the artists after they performed. Plant's first words to her where that he had just called home to England and his daughter told him their performance "was less than stellar." Ouch!



Later she would run into him at a club in New York with an Indian woman named Shirley:

"Strange, I momentarily thought. Didn't I read that Plant's wife of Indian background, Maureen, had a sister named Shirley?"

As much as the book disappoints from a Led Zeppelin perspective, it is an interesting, well written autobiography. Miller walks you through her life, including a failed marriage, a few interesting relationships and a battle with cancer. If you are looking for dirt on the 70's rock scene, Miller is, in fact, scrupulously fair to everyone in the book, and nobody comes off really poorly. It speaks well of her as a human being but must have drove her publishers and editors nuts.

But for the reader interested in the 70's and 80's New York rock scene, the rise of rock, and then classic rock, radio and MTV, it's an entertaining read, even if it doesn't spill any blood.

Getting the Milwaukee Led Out

I spent the weekend a few weeks ago in Milwaukee, catching up with some Led Zeppelin pals, namely, Steve, the Lemon, Sauer, proprietor of Lemon Squeezings, and Paul Hammond Get The Led Out's guitarist extraordinaire and supplier of fine acoustic guitars to Jimmy Page (well, one guitar - one day I'll get that story on here).

[caption id="attachment_1959" align="alignnone" width="452" caption="Paul Hammond (left) and Jimmy Marchiano"][/caption]

I last saw Get the Led Out at Irving Plaza in New York with Steve Sauer, this time I was seeing them with Steve Sauer on keyboards. It was fun all round.

Before the show Paul took me to see his guitar rig, picking out guitars and mandolins and noodling on them while he talked. He is an impressive player, with a very light  touch and flawless technique. Onstage, that light touch translates into a player who never misses a note. His attention to detail was apparent in everything he showed me backstage, his amp set-up, his pedal set-up and the why's and wherefores of the myriad guitars he uses through the night.

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On this night I had a good opportunity to watch the other half of Get The Led Out's guitar heroes, Jimmy Marchiano. Post-show it was mentioned to me that while Paul is an excellent technician, Jimmy is a brilliant pure rock and roll guitarist. If you don't take "technician" to mean "unmusical," that's not far from accurate and between the two they deliver a powerful dual guitar attack. Marchiano was particularly impressive on In My Time of Dying, giving a stunningly soulful slide guitar performance while Hammond took a break.

How good are these guys? I went with a pal of mine who had never seen them before. When we arrived I bought a t-shirt, and He was eyeing me suspiciously. You could almost hear him asking, "a t-shirt for a tribute band?" At the intermission I got up to go to the bathroom, and he says, "I'm going out to buy a t-shirt." Half a show and he was sold. The bottom line is, Get the Led Out is that good, full stop. Combining a note-for-note authenticity of the original recorded material and that magic live Zeppelin energy, they are absolutely as good as it gets.



Get The Led Out perform mostly in the North East (they are based in Philadelphia), and if they are coming to a town near you, be sure to see them.

Celebration Day Premieres

via LedZeppelin.com

Film To Debut At Ziegfeld Theater In New York On October 9;
Press Conference With John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, And Jason Bonham To Precede New York Premiere

Hammersmith Apollo To Host London Premiere On October 12

Premieres In Berlin And Tokyo Also Scheduled In Advance Of
Global Theatrical Release On October 17

Led Zeppelin have announced upcoming premieres in four countries for Celebration Day, which documents the band’s 2007 concert at London’s O2 Arena.

and

Join John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant at London’s Hammersmith Apollo for a special premiere screening of Celebration Day on October 12th 2012. Very limited number of tickets available here: http://bit.ly/QEiIJR

The film of Celebration Day will see a worldwide theatrical release on 1,500 screens in over 40 territories on October 17. Celebration Day will then be available in multiple video and audio formats on November 19 from Swan Song/Atlantic Records.