By Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times –
LOS ANGELES — When Led Zeppelin announced five years ago that the band’s surviving members would reunite for the group’s first headline show in 27 years, more than 20 million requests for tickets flooded in. Only 18,000 fans got in to London’s O2 arena to see the performance, but as of Oct. 17, the unlucky millions who were shut out will have another shot by way of limited theatrical screenings, to be followed Nov. 19 by the release of the concert in multiple home video formats.
In addition, founding members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, who were joined at the O2 show by original drummer John Bonham’s son, Jason, will be shown a whole lotta love in Washington on Dec. 2 as one of this year’s recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors.
Led Zeppelin reunited in a salute to record executive Ahmet Ertegun, the co-founder of Atlantic Records, the group’s label in the late 1960s and ‘70s. Despite international clamoring for a reunion tour, the Dec. 10, 2007, show remains Zeppelin’s only latter-day performance.
The “Celebration Day” film of the shows will be screened on more than 1,500 screens in more than 40 territories worldwide, following special premiere screenings in Los Angeles, New York, London and other major cities. Tickets for the public screenings go on sale Thursday at the band’s website.
The film and subsequent home video encompass 16 songs, spanning such cornerstone Zeppelin songs as “Stairway to Heaven,” “Whole Lotta Love,” “Dazed and Confused” and “Rock and Roll,” as well as “In My Time of Dying,” “Trampled Under Foot” and “Nobody’s Fault But Mine.” Specifics on the content of different home video configurations are still to be announced.
