Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day (2012)

Not a masterpiece, but definitely a show worth seeing Word is that zeppelin never formally rehearsed for it, and occasionally it shows. They are not as tight as they could be and some of Pages guitar work is a bit muddled because the levels have not been perfectly balanced, but still most of the hits land. Trampled underfoot and Kashmir would have to be the shows highlights, while stairway to heaven sounds a bit too grungy and Page kind of mails in the solo.Jason Bonham to his credit summons the muster of his father (and sometimes even more). Even when the other guys are seeming a little on the slow side, Bonham's drumming is able to compensate and keep the drive going. Minus a bit of lung capacity, Robert Plant still maintains all the showmanship he had thirty years earlier (including the microphone lasso), and John Paul Jones has all the grace on the keys and jazzy dexterity on the bass.Sent from my iPhone

For anyone who hasn't heard of Led Zeppelin, these talented, British dudes (who reigned supreme throughout the psychedelic 70s) were, at the height of their careers, the undisputed Gods of Heavy Metal/Rock'n'Roll, bar none.Back in those days of songwriting glory, Led Zeppelin's concerts broke world records for attendance and their albums sold-out by the millions.Now, in 2007 (nearly 40 years after their inception), Led Zeppelin reunited at 02 Arena, London, to treat their ever-loyal fans (young & old) to a trip down memory lane as they delivered 16 of their best remembered tunes (including Stairway To Heaven) to an enthusiastically cheering crowd.With the 3 remaining original members of Led Zeppelin now being 60+ years old, I honestly have to say that I found their performance on stage to be noticeably tired and lacking in any youthful vitality. Even though Plant, Page & Jones were obviously well-rehearsed for this concert (and Plant even got a new perm just for the occasion), I couldn't help but notice that (between all of the robotic, rock-star gestures and posturing) there was a decidedly bored look on all of their 3 faces.This, in turn, made it quite difficult for me to watch these dudes with any real enjoyment while they (rather listlessly) strut around on stage like peacocks at only half mast.Anyways - I'd say that this DVD titled "Celebration Day" was at least worth a view. But, personally speaking, I'm one who prefers to remember Led Zeppelin as they were in the days of their youth, rather than as I saw them now as stiff, old men trying (desperately?) to retain an image of who they were 30+ years ago, that has long ago faded away into the past.

Well past their prime and minus their iconic drummer, I didn't expect LZ to sound nearly as good as they did here. They play a great song set and perform them extremely well. One nitpick -- I didn't like the way the director sometimes fast froze the camera for short spurts; ditto for the color filtering. I'm guessing that the aim was to emulate a concert snap shot, but that just looked fuzzy to me. It isn't done often enough to be annoying though. Other than that, the camera work is pretty solid. The film works best when it sticks to alternating between in focus closeups with crowd perspective shots of the entire stage, including the back screen video. Well worth a look and a must for Zeppelin fans.

Just returned from seeing Led Zepplin's celebration day at Hammersmith Odeon. The film is simply phenomenal, the sound out of this world. Thank you to all involved for blowing the mind of a man who thought he'd seen and heard it all. Thank you to Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones for showing up to introduce the film. Will definitely be going again and again to see this one. Visually the camera work and editing leaves nothing to be desired although I wouldn't have used those square CGI's; they were an unnecessary distraction. The film is emotionally charged right out the gate and caused my eyes to well up through the first two songs. Throughout the film I sat with my hands together as if in prayer, my body occasionally moving in time.The sound mix is near perfect, I wouldn't change a thing although there was one song I would revisit where the guitar was noticeably lowered to accommodate Robert, this could be more subtle. (I'd have to see it again to be sure though) Actually the mix is perfect. It is brilliantly thought through with incredible attention paid to the emotional value of Led Zeppelin. My hat is off to all involved, you should all be tremendously proud of creating a master piece which will, for all time, set in celluloid the legend of Led Zeppelin.