BoomerGirl Diary

Once the holidays were over with and everything started getting back to normal, I realized I had let December slip by without reporting on the biggest concert event of the year. For that matter, the biggest concert event for many years.

Led Zeppelin reunited on December 10th at London’s new O2 Arena to benefit the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund. Ertegun, co-founder of Atlantic Records was instrumental in building the band’s career in the '70s. Ironically, he died in New York in October of 2006 from a head injury suffered when he fell backstage at a Rolling Stones concert. He was 83.

Tickets for the event, which included appearances by Paul Rogers, Bill Wyman, Paulo Nutini, Keith Emerson, and Foreigner, were ingeniously sold by ballot. Meaning you had to register your name on a website and then hope it was picked randomly. If so, you were then able to purchase a limit of two tickets for $250 each. Only 14,500 tickets were available to the over 20 million people who tried to register. This system supposedly kept scalpers from acquiring tickets because fans had to show their ID, credit card and a special confirmation code. Lucky winners came from all over the globe from more than 50 countries and stood in lines for six hours. And it seems to have been worthwhile.

The three remaining members of Led Zeppelin; Robert Plant 59, Jimmy Page 63, and John Paul Jones 61, joined Jason Bonham 41, son of the late drummer, John Bonham to perform for the first full concert together in 27 years. The audience stood and cheered in complete adoration at the beginning of the show when the foursome opened with ‘Good Times, Bad Times’ and would not let the legendary musicians leave the stage after delivering some sixteen plus songs for two hours. After reading many reviews and industry newsletters, no one seems to be disappointed with the amazing performance and all are hoping for a follow-up tour this year.

I was fortunate to see Led Zeppelin two separate times when I was young in the early '70s and both concerts will always remain emblazoned in my memory. I was also able to see them again, against a gorgeous sunset, when I attended Live-Aid in Philadelphia in 1985. Their performance was the highlight of that event for me.

If the show is taken on the road, the group could stand to make $2 million a night, selling out stadiums and arenas at those prices. No promises have been made, so we’ll just have to wait and see what they decide. It’s a lot of money to turn down. As much as I’d like to see them play again, hopefully, it’s not just about the money.

Until next time, rock on, and be excellent to each other… Penny