Monday 10/12/07 Led Zeppelin, Paolo Nutini @ O2 Arena, London

Fans around the world thought they hadn’t woken up properly when news broke that Led Zeppelin would be playing a one off date at the O2 arena - even fewer could believe their luck when they were told they had won a hallowed passcode. Music lovers from all around the world started to plan their journey to London for the 26th November only to find the Led Zep curse to strike again in the form of none other than a bizarre gardening accident! Jimmy’s finger would take a further two weeks to heal. Hotels, flights and arrangements were moved at any cost. This Sunday was similar to crossing an international border, the queues lasting anything between two and five hours to be met by a vigorous identity check which would give you the golden ticket to see rock’s finest ever export perform at the one-off memorial concert for Atlantic Records late founder Ahmet Ertegun.

The O2 was half filled when an unassuming looking Paolo Nutini graced the stage, playing alongside other support acts Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings, Foreigner and Paul Rodgers who played his own Free favourite ‘All Right Now’. After the supports had finished there was a video montage of interviews conducted with Ahmet Ertegun which included some of the bands which he signed ranging from their first signing of Ray Charles through to Ahmet’s last signing Paolo Nutini, it included footage of Crosby Stills and Nash, Chic, The Drifters, Blind Faith as well as the mighty Led Zeppelin themselves including late manager Peter Grant who duly received a loud cheer from the crowd.

At 9pm rock titans Led Zeppelin finally took to the stage. They came out to some old news footage of themselves which told the viewer how they had broken Beatlemania’s records for numbers at a concert - and this was just the first stadium of their US tour. As the footage ended and the stage lit up they were straight into ‘Good Times Bad Times’ much to the hysteria of everyone inside the arena, they did not let off any steam playing through ‘Ramble On’ and ‘Black Dog’ coping with some mild feedback throughout the first two numbers. Sadly, the sound levels didn’t improve until four songs in and only then did you truly feel the momentous hurricane force that a Led Zeppelin concert brings. Robert Plant clearly pleased to be playing with his band-mates once again wished the crowd “Good evening” much to the delight of everyone inside. This would be the start of an astounding night.

The four piece tore through a set list filled for aficionados and celebrity passive fans alike. John Paul-Jones showing off his skills as an amazing multi-instrumentalist on ‘Trampled Under Foot’ and looking the freshest member of the band, who are clearing showing signs of wear and tear physically, but not instrumentally. Notably, despite fears before the show, Robert Plant was able to hit the high notes throughout the set. The revised line-up with Jason Bonham (John Bonham’s son) were clearly playing as one unit able to improvise through the classic track ‘Dazed and Confused’ before delivering to the ecstatic crowd fan favourite ‘Stairway to Heaven’ with Jimmy Page powering out the chords on his double necked guitar, to which Robert Plant joked at the end “Ahmet we made it!” Before set closer ‘Kashmir’ he stated “There are people from 50 countries here, this is the 51st”. After a massive standing ovation they returned to play a one song encore of ‘Whole Lotta Love’, clearly not quite enough, they were forced to come out one last time and perform a song that perhaps sums up everything this band is about, pure ‘Rock and Roll.’

The O2 has held some exceptional concerts since it opened, however I seriously doubt that there will be anything that compares to the occasion of seeing Led Zeppelin reforming and blowing away the 20,000 fans that were inside. The question that will arise after tonight’s beast of a performance will surely no longer be ‘will they reform for a full tour?’ but ‘when will they play London again?’ Absolutely spellbinding. 

The full set-list was as follows:

Good Times Bad Times
Ramble On
Black Dog
In My Time Of Dying
For Your Life
Trampled Under Foot
Nobody's Fault But Mine
No Quarter
Since I've Been Loving You
Dazed And Confused
Stairway To Heaven
The Song Remains The Same
Misty Mountain Hop
Kashmir
Whole Lotta Love
Rock And Roll

CLICK HERE to see all the celebrities arriving at the event