Led Zeppelin reunion now virtually certain

Jesus Christ, was working today dishing out the tickets. Security was so tight. Basically those people who bought them off eBay etc. (i.e. off a third party seller) could only get their tickets if the original winner/purchaser was present at time to "sign their guests in" and we had to go through rigorous identity checks. By the looks of things, a load of Americans and Canadians got chosen, as well as a small proportion from Europe and Japan. The tickets seriously are like goldust and people were given wristbands along with their tickets which they have to keep on til tomorrow for the gig - or they're refused entry. Simple as that. I really wish I was going as a spectator now. Listening to their albums now and can just imagine how it's gonna be tomorrow night. I think I saw/heard them doing their soundcheck during my toilet break but I couldn't recognize the song.
 
Phæte said:
Basically those people who bought them off eBay etc. (i.e. off a third party seller) could only get their tickets if the original winner/purchaser was present at time to "sign their guests in" and we had to go through rigorous identity checks.
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You're probably signing people in as I type but does that mean that some of those Ebay buyers got refused entry?
 
Phæte said:
Jesus Christ, was working today dishing out the tickets. Security was so tight. Basically those people who bought them off eBay etc. (i.e. off a third party seller) could only get their tickets if the original winner/purchaser was present at time to "sign their guests in" and we had to go through rigorous identity checks. By the looks of things, a load of Americans and Canadians got chosen, as well as a small proportion from Europe and Japan. The tickets seriously are like goldust and people were given wristbands along with their tickets which they have to keep on til tomorrow for the gig - or they're refused entry. Simple as that. I really wish I was going as a spectator now. Listening to their albums now and can just imagine how it's gonna be tomorrow night. I think I saw/heard them doing their soundcheck during my toilet break but I couldn't recognize the song.
Click to expand...

do you think you could sneak me in pretty please.....i'll be your bestest friend ;)
 
dmpoole said:
You're probably signing people in as I type but does that mean that some of those Ebay buyers got refused entry?
Click to expand...
I was offered a ticket a couple of months ago through a friend in Australia; a mate of his bought an ebay passcode and wanted to find a second person. I was offered it for £250, i.e. 125 for the ticket cost and another 125 contribution towards the ebay purchase.

After much hand-wringing I declined, partly because it just felt wrong and partly because it was a lot of money, and I had no confidence that we'd actually be able to get in! I feel that the whole ticket sales thing was mismanaged somewhat. I'll be sitting at home tonight wondering how it's going :(

Anyway, I'm very curious to know how the many ebay passcode purchasers will have fared.
 
So far Led Zeppelin have played:

'Good Times Bad Times'
"The set started with a clip from 'The Song Remains The Same' DVD with an American news clip telling of they broke The Beatles' attendance record for a gig in 1973 in California. Simple stage set, video screen behind the band."

'Ramble On'
"'Ramble On' done in extremely slow, bluesy manner, with shards of electric guitar from Jimmy Page."

'Black Dog'
"Page wearing dark shades, quite muddy sound. Crowd singing the 'ah-ah' bits back at Plant."

'In My Time Of Dying'
"Page is playing bottleneck guitar. Plant spoke for the first time before song, saying 'Good evening'."

'For Your Life'
"That's not something you get to hear often these days, Led Zeppelin giving a song its live debut."

'Trampled Under Foot'
"Before starting Plant told the crowd it was the band's attempt to sound like Robert Johnson's 'Terraplane Blues'."

'Nobody's Fault But Mine'
"There are huge screen's dominating the O2 Arena, they split into four sometimes, goes monochrome, colour etc...quite spectacular."

'No Quarter'
"Following the song Plant paid tribute to John Paul Jones, who played keyboards and bass on the track."

'Since I've Been Loving You'
"A bit of a style guide for you, all the band are dressed in black bar Page who is rocking a white shirt. As for the song they gone for the epic version....very bluesy."

'Dazed And Confused'
"Settle yourselves in, we're expecting a ten minute version of this classic... it was. At the end of it of the song Plant told the audience 'On guitar Jimmy Page, just as he did on 'The Song Remains The Same' DVD which was filmed in Madison Square Garden in the 70s."

'Stairway To Heaven'
"What do you think happened? Right! From the moment those opening notes rang out the whole audience went absolutely crazy. The atmosphere is electric. Afterwards Plant said "Ahmet, we did it!"

'The Song Remains The Same'
"A fairly straight version of the classic. The sound is still a bit muddy and quiet though."

'Misty Mountain Hop'
"Plant kicked this one off by praising the job drummer Jason Bonham has been doing, stepping into his late father's shoes tonight."

'Kashmir'
"Yet another epic, as this song cracks the ten minute mark. Plant introduced this one declaring 'We've got people from 50 countries here and this is the 51st'. Afterwards they left the stage to loud applause. Will they do an encore? What do you reckon..."

'Whole Lotta Love'
"... of course they come back to deafening applause. And it's an extended version of the old 'Top Of The Pops' theme. Then once more the band leave the stage with a visibly emotional Plant declaring:
'Thanks to everybody. Thanks Ahmet Ertegun, this one for is Ahmet Ertegun as we remember the days when Atlantic Records was the best label on the planet!'."

'Rock And Roll'
"Just time for one more, as after two hours the night reaches its climax, and what a stomper to go out on."
 
Currently sitting in a the cab of an artic OB truck backstage at the O2, waiting for the PA crew to move their truck so we can leave. Managed to pull our rig in 2 hours from the end of Zepp.

The whole show was plagued with feedback and it took a fair number of tunes for them to really get into the flow of things, despite having a week of dress rehearsal time. Kashmir was the best performance by far.

I'll post a few pictures up once I've got them on flickr. I partly rigged the roof (150' above the stage) and managed to get some photos from up there, as well as from back stage.
 
You know what really riles me? The amount of people who got tickets but who've never actually listened to, or heard of, Led Zep! The morons who thought it would be 'cool' to see them because of the hype and nothing less.

********, the lot of them!
 
Anyone care to give us a review then, were they as good as the reviews that I've read.

I really hope they tour, as they are the last band that I really want to see before I die and to tease me with a one off would be too much for me to cope with.
 
I was one of the lucky few. Just got back in from London and had my dinner. What a vile trip on the coach back to Manchester, but ah well, I refuse to pay £120 on a train when the coach is £10!

Last night was absolutely incredible and certainly lives up to the reviews it is getting. They still have it! While they were understandably nervous when they first came on, that soon cleared you could tell they were enjoying themselves, which I love to see in a band. When they pulled off something great, which probably surprised even themselves, they would look at each other and smile. It added to the already awesome atmosphere, never felt a gig like it before. The fact there were people from 50 countries there was astonishing. So many people from so many walks of life all there to enjoy it. Such an awesome feeling to be apart of it.

My Dad, who last saw them at Earls Court in 1975, said they are just as good now as they were then. While I'm not sure if they could have been quite up to the standard they were, but if you factor in the fact that they haven't played (properly) together since 1980 they were pretty damn close.

Sound was good and feedback issues were not a problem at all, only a few minor blips. Apart from that the sound quality was great. So while the O2 is impressive, their organization was pretty bad, at least on ticket collection day, which for me was Sunday. Lines for tickets were 2 hours long and organized by surname. Of course this meant lines such as Z were all but empty and they only let us use other lines when it got close to closing time. No disrespect to Phæte, but most of the staff could hardly speak English, let alone help when you asked a question. I did, however, see a few people being turned away, a few crying, so it seems they were doing their job. Oh well, I got my tickets at 18:03 and I was away so I didn't care from then on and it didn't spoil anything!

I hope they tour. Some people hope they don't because it would make yesterday less special. I'm not sure if I agree with that, as I'd rather see them again than it be just a memory.

All in all it was a stunning performance and a great night, not something I will ever forget. :)

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