REVIEW: Led Zeppelin Celebration Day premiere

Five years ago, Led Zeppelin took to the stage at London’s O2 arena to perform an epic two-hour finale set to the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert – their first headlining appearance together in 27 years. Joined by the late, great John Bonham’s son Jason on drums, the three surviving members – Plant, Page and Jones – rattled through 16 of the band’s biggest hits to a lucky audience of 18,000 people, disappointing an estimated 20 million other fans who failed to get tickets.
Celebration Day is the hugely anticipated film of that gig, and may be the closest Led Zep fans will get to the real thing. It premiered in New York on October 9 and at the Hammersmith Apollo on October 12 in London. Emma Cooper, Managing Editor for Rhinegold Education, attended the London premiere, and you can read her review of the event in full online on the online magazine site The Upcoming.
The crowd at the Apollo screening was an eager mix of old and young; die-hard fans and recent converts keen to get as close as they possibly can to seeing the legendary Led Zeppelin perform live, and not just through cinematic celluloid. Ultimately, Celebration Day succeeds in being a faithful replay of the O2 Arena performance from start to finish.
If the recent comments by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page are to be believed, further reunions may not be forthcoming. Those who were present at the O2 could well turn out to be the witnesses to Led Zeppelin’s last ever live concert.
The set list for Celebration Day is as follows:
Good Times Bad Times
Ramble On
Black Dog
In My Time Of Dying
For Your Life
Trampled Under Foot
Nobody’s Fault But Mine
No Quarter
Since I’ve Been Loving You
Dazed And Confused
Stairway To Heaven
The Song Remains The Same
Misty Mountain Hop
Kashmir
Whole Lotta Love
Rock And Roll
Celebration Dayfilm trailer: