Led Zeppelin Reunion Tour
Led Zep Rumors, Potential Led Zep Future Concerts
Are the rumors true? Examining the positives and negatives of a possible Led Zeppelin reunion tour.
One of the biggest bits of music news in the past couple weeks is rumors of a full-blown reunion tour by one of the biggest selling rock acts of all time, Led Zeppelin. John Paul Jones, bassist, and Jimmy Page, guitarist, seem to be for it (or at least ambivalent), but Robert Plant, the lead singer, has indicated that he’s against it.
Led Zeppelin is playing a one night only sold out show in London’s 02 arena on December 10th. The question is, is it a good idea for Led Zeppelin to do more shows, and to consider reuniting for a worldwide tour, and maybe even getting back in the studio?
The Positives
Led Zeppelin has millions of fans that have undoubtedly never seen them live, and would probably kill for the opportunity to do so. A tour would bring in a massive flow of money (not that these British gents really need anymore), but it would perhaps more importantly satiate the appetite of legions of followers who feel like they were born several decades too late.
Also, if they can put on a good show, (and maybe support it with a good album) Led Zeppelin has the opportunity to upstage the current top elder statesmen of rock, the Rolling Stones.
The Negatives
The opportunity for embarrassment is huge. If Led Zeppelin comes out and sounds terrible, they’ll be called cop outs. One of the interesting things about this band is the fact that despite making more money than any concert act before them, Led Zeppelin has never been considered as much of a “sell out” in the way many bands of their era are. Despite being such a huge act, they could almost be considered underground in a lot of ways. While they are clearly more mainstream than a lot of other bands of their day, (The Velvet Underground, The Stooges) Led Zeppelin never seemed like they were as bombastic as the Stones.
This reputation began because of their lack of billboard chart hits from the era of their popularity. It continues, primarily, because of their refusal to reunite for a greatest hits playing, cash-in reunion tour, like Genesis, or any number of popular classic rock acts. A tour does away with all this. Also, if their new music is terrible, Zeppelin will tarnish the legacy they’ve built up.
The Result
Unknown, as of this moment. Whether or not the reception of a Zeppelin tour would be a good thing for the band’s legacy or not, the one certainty is that it would be, as everything is with Led Zeppelin, a huge deal.
