Jimmy Page recently recalled how Led Zeppelin had to fight to play a full-length set for their 2007 reunion, when they were originally supposed to “do a 20 or 30 minute set.”
The show emanated from the iconic O2 Arena in London on December 10th, 2007. It was a benefit concert which was held in memory of music executive Ahmet Ertegun, and Led Zeppelin were the headliners.
The members, vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, and bassist John Paul Jones — were supported by drummer Jason Bonham, the son of Led Zeppelin’s late drummer John Bonham.
It was the last time the three living members performed together. Originally, they were scheduled to perform a short set. However, as Jimmy Page revealed in an Instagram post celebrating the anniversary of the event, they disagreed with this decision and fought hard to lengthen their set:
“The Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert was a benefit event held in memory of Atlantic co-founder Ahmet Ertegün at the O2 Arena in London on this day in 2007. Originally, on the night there were going to be Atlantic bands like Foreigner and some others, and it was suggested that we would do a 20 or 30 minute set.”
“And I thought, I wasn’t going to do that – we needed to do a full-length set, because the energy, power, synergy, and synchronicity would build as the show continued. We wouldn’t have been able to achieve that in 20 minutes. We would have always regretted the fact that we didn’t play another hour at least.”
In the end, the show lasted two hours. Led Zeppelin played sixteen songs spanning their entire career, except for their 1979 final studio album, “In Through the Out Door.” Critics lavished praise on the performance. The New Yorker critic Sasha Frere-Jones wrote that “the failed gigs of the nineteen-eighties and nineties have been supplanted by a triumph, and the band should be pleased to have done Ertegun proud with such a spirited performance.”
Page noted that this show went down in history, achieving a world record for the highest ticket demand for a single music concert. The recording of the concert became a Led Zeppelin live album, and as Page stated, the band wanted to give the attendees the show of a lifetime:
“I just really wanted to go out there, play well, and show what we could do. To stand up and be counted, so that people would leave the concert saying, ‘I expected them to be good, but I had no idea they could or would deliver like this.'”
“According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the show holds the record for the highest demand for tickets for a single music concert: there were 20 million online ticket requests.”
“Eventually, in 2012, there was a concert film that came out called Celebration Day. As a recorded concert, it gave people the opportunity to experience the alchemy of the evening.”
