by RMoyer on 12 Aug 2007 21:56
I normally live in lurk mode, but I was talking about this tour with a buddy of mine this weekend. Zeppelin is his favorite band and when he heard about the possibility of this tour, he called me almost instantly.
Personally, I believe they are by far the largest "reunion" tour possible (I use quotes because Bonham won't be there). IF JPJ played with Page and Plant it would easily eclipse The Police. Don't get me wrong, although I enjoy Zeppelin, the Police my favorite band by far.
Just ask yourself a couple questions: How many people, before this summer, have you seen wearing Police t-shirts? In college (for any of you under 35) how many Police posters did/do you see in dorm rooms? The answer to this is very few. Now, if you did the same for Zeppelin, it would easily be more than the Police.
It's not that I feel Zeppelin is that much better of a band, but they have three things going for them that The Police will never have: first, they are tied to the drug culture of the youth. Any kid who starts smoking pot pretty much starts listening to LZ and PF at the same time. I believe that if you were to perform a study of pot use and the initial introduction to LZ, they would have a very strong link. Second, it's "cool" to like LZ. Most people really only know a few LZ songs, but they know that being a fan of Stairway to Heaven and Kashmir makes you a lot cooler than being a fan of Every Little Think She Does is Magic. I'm not going to argue which songs are better, but they definitely wrote "cooler" and "heavier" songs than Sting. Third, LZ is tied to more bands than The Police. If you like blues, rock, or even metal, you can tie any of those genres to LZ. The Police had such a defined sound, they really only fit into the new wave/reggae genre comfortably. Some of the early stuff was definitely "punky," but they were still never as angry or loud as The Clash and Sex Pistols.
I could be completely wrong, but I really doubt it. If the three remaining members of Led Zeppelin got back together, and they did the tour proper (not just a couple shows like Cream), I truly believe it would be the highest grossing tour ever.