Been a long time since they rock n' rolled

I'm a little late in writing this and most news stories about the concert have already disappeared off the Internet search engines. But this story will never grow stale in the hearts and minds of their purest fans. After all, 11 million people around the world applied for a mere 20,000 tickets. That is one yardstick to remind the world of the greatest rock n' roll band that ever played.

I'm not going to hide my unabashed adulation for Led Zeppelin, so let this serve as a warning - this article is written with extreme prejudice! But one has to admit - when Jason Bonham, son of the erstwhile drummer John Bonham, bows down to Jones, Page and Plant during the concert as if to say "I'm not worthy", there is an aura of aweness that is created around the band.

For some, this reunion was long overdue. One does not build the Sistine Chapel of music to fade out into nothingness. And when they did come back to give remembrance to the man who brought them to limelight, it got them the whole world's attention. Well before the concert there was speculation about their individual abilities. Page's broken finger brought in more rumors as to whether their live performance could rival those of their glory days. After all, their last gig twenty something years back created bitter tensions among the band members factioning Page and Plant against Jones.

But this concert dispelled all such rumors. When Page pulls out a violin bow for the solo of "Dazed and Confused", there is a certain mystical property attached to the scene. Any doubt of Robert Plant's ability to hit the high notes were quashed when the band played "Since I've Been Loving You". John Paul Jones once again showed himself as the band's most versatile player while on the clavinet in "Trampled Underfoot". Bonham showed his worthiness amongst his elders while hammering at the drums.

When Plant screamed "We did it, Ahmet!" after the most anticipated song in the playlist "Stairway to Heaven", he did not just evoke the emotions of the band but of all their fans around the world. They are a rare coalition of individual talent, likes of which come maybe once in many lifetimes.

Now that the O2 gig is over, the calls are for a reunion tour. Maybe they will come back again or maybe this one concert will serve to remind of their everlasting greatness. But as Kurt Cobain said, "It's better to burn out than to fade away..."