Grounding Zeppelin

Instead, fans just might have to settle for the biggest night ever, specifically Dec. 10, 2007 when a reunited Led Zeppelin rocked London’s O2 arena in what just might be the most awesome one-off in concert history.

Rolling Stone reports that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, along with Jason Bonham who aptly filled the very big shoes of his father John Bonham behind the drums, wanted to do a reunion tour. However, Plant was dead set against it.

“A tour would have been an absolute menagerie of vested interests and the very essence of everything that’s shitty about big-time stadium rock,” Plant said.  “We were surrounded by a circus of people that would have had our souls on the fire.  I’m not part of a jukebox!”

You might remember the stories that followed that December night claiming  Page, Jones and Bonham were secretly working with other singers, including Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.  Page told Rolling Stone that people wanted the band to tour ASAP.

“Singers were being thrown at us from here and there,” Page said.  “The material we were coming up with was really, really good.  Obviously, other people wanted to just get us out there on the road quickly.  I wasn’t feeling comfortable.  Going out with the three members from the O2 show and another singer might have looked like trying to jam a square peg into a round hole.  I wanted to see what we could come up with musically.”

According to Rolling Stone, touring plans were “put on hold” when Jones decided to join Dave Grohl and Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme in Them Crooked Vultures.

But even Plant isn’t totally dismissing another ride on the Zeppelin.

“I don’t think there’s any reason for me to do that,” Plant said.  “Otherwise we’ve got nothing to be mystic about. … Everything will develop as it develops.  All doors are open.  All phone lines are open. I don’t hear from anybody.  Talk is cheap. … But I just think everything has to be new.  Then you can incorporate history.”