Zep, Key Changes, etc.

The biggest reunion in the history of rock n' roll took place the other night when Led Zeppelin played a show at O2 arena in London. Like The Police reunion earlier this year, I wasn't sure how to feel about it. The surviving three Zepsters performed a couple of times in the 80's with disastrous results, and the Page/Plant tour in the 90's got mixed reviews. But I'll have to admit that the thought of Page, Plant, Jonesy and Jason Bonham got me more than a little psyched. The show went off with a bang and the initial reviews were positive. Then I saw the You Tube clips.

One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to live shows is the inevitable key changes of songs. As rock vocalists age, their voices lose range, resulting in an alteration in the songs that enable a singer to not make an ass of himself trying to hit notes he can't possibly hit anymore. It totally ruins the song but most people don't notice the difference anyway. However, I do and it pisses me off. Just take a listen to the latest live Elton John or Genesis tracks on iTunes - they're friggin' horrible. And as much as I hate to say it, the posted songs from the Led Zep show the other night are horrible as well. Some songs like "Good Times Bad Times", "Stairway" and "The Song Remains The Same" were at least a whole step down (in musicspeak), making them virtually unrecognizable. So what's the solution? Don't fucking play the songs. Or just don't play period. The fact that Zeppelin hasn't given in and toured in the past 25 years has only added to their mystique.

Bob Lefsetz said it best - "We revere retired baseball players, but we don't want to see them take the field and play nine innings. We don't want our memories fucked with. What would Jesus do? Well, he's NEVER come back. Maybe that's why people still revere him so!"