Led Zeppelin's music isn't the easiest to cover, especially the high pitched vocals of Robert Plant and the drum beats of John Bonham. But on the whole they were very good playing a good mix of well known hits such as Whole Lotta Love, Rock and Roll and of course, Stairway to Heaven while at the same time playing a few lesser known tracks.
Being a Led Zeppelin fan (along with virtually every other band to have existed in the 70s!) this is probably the only time I'll get to hear their songs live with the chances of a reunion tour slim and having not tried to get a ticket for their London gig in 2007, something I think I will always regret. And it was an excellent evening, with Whole Lotta Led being a vast improvement on the Queen tribute band I saw last year. The only downside was them not playing Kashmir or Black Dog but you can't everything. The set list was good enough.
Listening to these songs being blasted out live though made me think. Can any bands out there today claim to have as larger impact and influence on music as bands such as Led Zep? True they perform some great songs but are they as good as those from even further back in time?
I'm not sure they will. Many bands today point to the same artists again and again for inspiration with groups such as Queen, The Clash and Led Zep often being the source of much inspiration.
Brandon Flowers from the Killers recently hit out at Americans for still listening to Led Zep and Nirvana rather than his band. There's a very good reason for that. They're better. They were bands who write classic tunes that albums that will forever be remembered. The Killers still have a long way to go in my opinion. And if they could ever come with a song as good as this, or a performance as memorable as this, then they could have a slightly bigger claim. Not much bigger but still a bit bigger.
I get teased for my music tastes being old fashioned but I do feel it is significantly better than a lot of what is released today. Of course there are modern bands I listen to as well. Kasabian, Franz Ferdinand and Manic Street Preachers are just three bands I enjoy listening too and all have produced or are producing albums this year.
But if I had a choice of eras to listen to, the 70s would always win it for me.
