Led Zeppelin, Page on the reunion: “We had to show who we were”

It was December 10, 2007 when Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones found themselves together on stage to bring the music of Led Zeppelin back live in one last, memorable and unrepeatable concert. The occasion was the tribute event to the late Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun. For that only session, the three still living members of the historic band were accompanied on drums by Jason Bonham, son of the historic drummer of the British group John Bonham, who passed away in September 1980.

As per tradition, Jimmy Page shared new memories and thoughts related to the 2007 event with a post shared on his Instagram profile, now a sort of diary of memories. The guitarist thus recalled the emotions of the day following the Led Zeppelin show. “Originally, Atlantic bands like Foreigner and a few others were supposed to perform that night, and it was suggested that we do a 20 or 30 minute set,” recounted Page, who added:

“I thought I wouldn’t do it: we needed a full-length set, because the energy, the power, the synergy and the synchronicity would grow as the show went on. We would never be able to get all this in 20 minutes. We would always regret not having played at least another hour.

I just wanted to get on stage, play well and show what we could do. Putting your face on it, so that people left the concert saying: ‘I expected them to be good, but I had no idea that they could – or knew how – to give a performance like that'”.

In his message, Page then recalled that “according to the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’, the show holds the record for the highest demand for tickets for a single musical concert.” In fact, 20 million people around the world participated in an online lottery to try to purchase tickets. Obviously, only for a few it was actually an unforgettable evening. For others, fortunately, the audio and video testimony of the Led Zeppelin reunion in 2007 was then published. In 2012 the film and live album “Celebration Day” was released to “give the public the opportunity to experience the alchemy of that evening”, as written by Page.