Led Zeppelin takes heat over inaccurate tour rumors

OK, let's set the record straight. There will be no Led Zeppelin tour without Robert Plant. And if you've heard otherwise, you've been misinformed.

• It's true that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones are hoping to start up a musical project with Jason Bonham on drums. No plans are firm yet, but they want to go into the studio and record some new material and then take it on the road.
• There have been statements to this effect from Jones directly and from a representative for Page's management. Bonham even commented back in August, when he was ending his commitments with Foreigner, that he was freeing up his time so that he would be well rested if the call of duty ever came from Page and Jones.
  

But nobody has confirmed that the tour will be under the Led Zeppelin name.

• In fact, Page said in September that Led Zeppelin does not exist without all four people. He said that since the reunion concert, there had been jam sessions with Jones, Bonham and himself, but not with Plant. So, that was not Led Zeppelin.
• Then came the comment from the representative for Page's management company, QPrime, to Rolling Stone, that whatever band is in the planning stages is not Led Zeppelin.
• This was shortly followed by a new remark by Robert Plant, who in September had said he was not planning to tour or record with Led Zeppelin for at least a two-year period. Plant now added that he wishes his former bandmates well with their project that won't be called Led Zeppelin.
  

So, of course it should be fairly well established, at least to those who've been paying such close attention to the ongoing drama, that Led Zeppelin will not be touring anytime soon.

The only thing that could change that is Plant having a change of heart, followed by Page, Jones and Bonham welcoming him back with open arms.

But, given the plans that have already been announced to the press, there is no way that Page, Jones and Bonham are planning to replace Plant and go on the road as Led Zeppelin.

Yet that's exactly what Page, Jones and Bonham have been wrongly accused of considering.

Take a look at the words of Jeff Beck:

"I really don't think it's a good idea, not if Robert doesn't want to. I was there at the one-off show at the O2 Arena and it was fantastic. But I think they should just leave it there.
"They will have been offered loads of money and it'll be tempting but that's not a good enough reason to me.
"It would be different if they all wanted to do it and record new material but that's not the case."

Beck probably doesn't read LedZeppelinNews.com and would not have known Page's true motives. So, where did he get his misinformation from? Probably whoever interviewed him and copied down the words. Oh no, did the journalist responsible for this interview misinform Beck?

Paul McCartney attended Led Zeppelin's concert a year ago, and he praises Plant's performance at that show. And in a recent interview, he wonders aloud why he would not want to take it on the road with his more than capable bandmates: "What's happened to Planty? He was great at their gig. It's such a pity." That all makes sense.

But the same article begins with the premise that Led Zeppelin had decided "to reunite without frontman Robert Plant," which is untrue, and that "McCartney has expressed his disappointment at" the decision.

There's no supporting quotation from McCartney on that subject, although it says that the "former Beatle ... concedes it won't be the same without Plant." No need to worry, Paul! It won't exist without Plant!

How about Paul Weller?

"There's no point to it. I don't understand the need for nostalgia. I don't get it. I don't know where it's come from. Someone offered me a ticket to see Led Zep.
"I've no interest whatsoever to go and see people reform, you know. I'm happy with what they've done at the time and the records and your memories and that's it really."

How about forming a new band and recording new material with that new band? Weller has been doing that long since his first big band, the Jam, ended in 1982. But Weller seems to mean he doesn't want to see a Led Zeppelin victory lap, no matter who the singer is. That's just nostalgia, which he doesn't see the need for.

You know who else doesn't want something like that? John Paul Jones! While he was discussing his hopes for touring again with Page and Bonham with BBC Radio Devon, Jones said:

"It's gotta be right, you know. Just trying to recreate -- or just find another Robert, I mean, you could just pick somebody out of a tribute band. I mean, what's the point of that, you know? We don't want to be our own tribute band."

Someone ought to make those statements known to people like Paul Weller, Paul McCartney and Jeff Beck, and ask how they would feel about Page, Jones and Bonham starting a new band with which to record new material and tour.

Would they still feel it would be too much like a nostalgia act for one of the world's greatest guitar players and one of the world's greatest bassists to start a new band with the son of the world's greatest drummer just because they had all already played together in the world's greatest band?

And who can ever possibly take Jack Bruce of Cream seriously anymore?

Back in October, promoter Harvey Goldsmith advised against "a long, rambling tour ... as Led Zeppelin." He said he didn't think it would be right and that he didn't believe it would happen.

That was before the disclosure from the Page camp to Rolling Stone that a Led Zeppelin tour without Plant is not being considered. That disclosure, in effect, proves Goldsmith right.

The longer this drags on without any further announcement from Page, Jones and Bonham as to what their plans are (and aren't!) for recording and touring in 2009, the more Led Zeppelin's name is going to be dragged through the mud by people who don't know what they are talking about.

All the more reason for Page, Jones and Bonham to pick a singer and a new name and announce their new project to the world as soon as possible!