Bibek Acharya
The idea of a reunion tour can be both the best and worst thing that any band can take on. It might be the equivalent of a high school reunion, seeing everyone back together again and playing like the old days. However, for every band that comes back strong and leaves their fans with nothing but fond memories, many fumble everything on their first show. While Jimmy Page might be one of the few advocating for getting something going with the remaining members of Led Zeppelin, it was never going to be that simple.
First of all, the idea of anyone replacing John Bonham was already impossible. Jason Bonham has done an admirable job filling in for his father on many different occasions, but the minute that any other percussionist sits behind the drum stool, it feels like the band always felt like they were jamming rather than breaking any new ground like they did in the early days. But having any legitimacy to a reunion means more than getting the drums right.
After all, John Paul Jones and Robert Plant were irreplaceable as well, and no matter how many times they liked to jam with other artists like Myles Kennedy or Steven Tyler in their downtime, having someone else take the place of ‘Percy’ and call themselves Led Zeppelin would be the highest treason anyone could pull.
And it’s not like Plant was particularly unhappy in his solo career. The rest of his bandmates may have been leading quieter lives than him in terms of solo material, but after uniting with Allison Krauss for a couple of records, he was more than happy to continue on the path of folk rock than have expected to break out those same Howlin’ Wolf shouts that he had in his prime.
So, for a while, Plant always looked like a stick in the mud when it came to a Zeppelin reunion, but it could go both ways. He never ruled out performing with his bandmates again after their reunion at the O2 in 2007, but Plant remembered calling up his old guitarist and getting a cold response when he asked him if he wanted to do any acoustic shows akin to Page and Plant in the 1990s.
Compared to how they worked in their prime, Page knew that he couldn’t try to match what people expected from him, with Plant saying, “Jimmy’s like a clockmaker. A couple of years ago, I said, ‘If you’ve got anything acoustic, let me know. I’ll give it a whirl.’ It was hands across the water. But he walked away. Just walked away. But we couldn’t do anything proper. The weight of expectation is too great.”
That also might have to do with Plant’s years of experience in the medium. Page has been playing seemingly nonstop for years, but since the frontman had music like Raising Sand under his belt, it didn’t make sense to reform with a guitarist who had been firmly in the realm of hard rock for so many years.
That’s not to say that the idea of any kind of Zeppelin reunion is completely snuffed out. Both Page and Plant might be on different creative pages at the moment, but all they would need is Jonesy, Jason, and one bulletproof idea to quit teasing and start working out a touring schedule. No one’s expecting a full record by any stretch, but having another chance to see them while they’re still standing is everything most classic rock fans are looking for.
