Led Zeppelin News

The Pulse of Radio reports that Robert Plant and Alison Krauss recently wrapped up a few U.S. shows and are headed off to tour Europe in May. They’ll return this summer to kick off another U.S. leg and are being joined onstage by producer and musician T-Bone Burnett. He tells The Pulse of Radio we can expect a variety of songs at the show, including some Led Zeppelin songs. “We’re doing ‘Black Dog’. I think we’re doing some more obscure ones too. We’re doing a couple of B-sides. We’re doing ‘The Battle of Evermore’, which is just mind-blowing. And that’s something that Led Zeppelin never did live. So it’s a great chance to do it now with Alison singing the Sandy Denny part. And of course she just kills it.”
http://www.pulseofradio.com/default2007.htm

Robert Plant is scheduled to appear on June 27, 2008 at London’s Hyde Park for a concert celebrating Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday.

What is interesting about this article is that “Robert Plant and special guests” will perform. Of course, this is mere speculation as to whom these special guests might be.

Also scheduled to perform in London are Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart, Bono and The Edge, Bryan Adams, Eminem, Eric Clapton, John Mayer and Buddy Guy, Jay-Z and Beyonce, Jools Holland, Joss Stone, Keane, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Lenny Henry , Paul McCartney with Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Queen with George Michael, Paul Rodgers with Robbie Williams, Razorlight, Roger Waters, Sheryl Crow, Spice Girls, Sting, Tina Turner, Vusi Mahlasela and Will Smith.

http://www.queenzone.com/queenzone/news_view.aspx?news_id=4677

As their impeccable band swung into “Rich Woman” with an easy flourish, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss took the stage Saturday night at the Louisville Palace to the first of several standing ovations.

Plant, still the god king of rock ‘n’ roll, strolled out with a quietly confident swagger, his hair in that tangle of curls so familiar to Led Zeppelin fans. Krauss looked like she was headed to a prom in her pink dress, maybe one with “Stairway to Heaven” as its theme.

And when they began singing, it was clear they still felt the chemistry so evident on their “Raising Sand” album, his well-traveled yowl blending perfectly with her pristine voice. There were a few goose bumps, and not the last.

This was the first night of the “Raising Sand” tour, but both the singers and the band sounded fully warmed up. Krauss didn’t hit a bad note all night, almost flaunting her perfect pitch, and the band, led by T Bone Burnett, was nearly flawless. Plant was Plant, and that was plenty.

Krauss and Plant performed nearly all of “Raising Sand,” a handful of Led Zeppelin classics and a couple of songs associated with Krauss’ solo career. They also threw in a George Jones cover just because they could.

As expected, the Zeppelin songs drew a huge response — one guy screamed “Led Zeppelin rules!” barely five minutes into the show — but they weren’t the highlights (although “Black Dog,” with the world’s spookiest banjo, was pretty amazing).

“Fortune Teller” was better, with drummer Jay Bellerose exploding the song from the inside out, and Krauss broke every heart in the place with “Through the Morning, Through the Night.” “Killing the Blues” and “Trampled Rose” were also contenders.

But the most unexpected song might have also been the night’s finest. Krauss, backed by Plant, Buddy Miller and Stuart Duncan, soared through an a capella version of “Down to the River to Pray,” from “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” that was so beautiful it sucked the air out of the room.

Everyone who went back for yesterday’s second sold-out show should be so lucky.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/NEWS01/804210430/1008/NEWS01

That’s according to the rumour mill, with Immigrant Song being groomed for a summer release.

Led Zeppelin have been in contact with Pendulum to remix their classic track Immigrant Song, to be released at some point over the summer.

However, what’s not clear is just how the Pendulum remix will be used. Led Zeppelin have so far not commented on the news, whilst the PR for Pendulum revealed: “We just know they wanted someone cool to do a remix for some stuff they’ve got coming up.”

So far three rumours have surfaced as to the reason behind the Immigrant Song overhaul.

Firstly, it’s believed the song could be used in the build-up to announcing yet more live performances.

Secondly, the remix could be used to promote the DVD release of last December’s O2 concert in London.

And finally, and by far the strongest rumour, is that the Pendulum remix will form part of the package that sees Immigrant Song released as the band’s first single. The remix has already been previewed on BBC Radio 1, were Pendulum appeared as guest DJs.

http://www.twistedear.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1754&Itemid=33

Foo Fighters, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Beck, Manu Chao, John Fogerty, David Byrne, the Raconteurs and the Mars Volta are among the top acts booked for this year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival, set for the city’s Zilker Park from Sept. 26-28.

Three-day passes are available for $170, including fees and a print-at-home option, at ACLfestival.com until sellout or show time. Sponsors are AT&T, AMD, Dell, Austin Ventures, WaMu, BMI, H-E-B, Heineken, Blackstone Winery and Sweet Leaf Tea.

The ACL festival was the fourth-ranked festival in the world in 2007, based on its gross of $11.3 million and attendance of 225,000 from three sold-out days, according to Billboard Boxscore.

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003789438

British rocker Robert Plant and U.S. singer Alison Krauss won a prize for their video “Gone Gone Gone” at the CMT Awards ceremony in Nashville Monday night.

The pair’s song earned the wide open country video award, which honors a song and video that push the boundaries of country music.

“I’d like to say how peculiar it is to be here,” Plant, former lead singer for Led Zeppelin, told the crowd. “But it’s a great honor.”

“It’s a great honor to have made a record in Nashville that sounds so good. I’d like to thank Don and Phil Everly for getting me through my teenage years, and I’d like to thank Alison for helping me get through my late 50s.”

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Entertainment/2008/04/14/rocker_robert_plant_wins_cmt_award/5736/

A post yesterday on the For Badgeholders Only mailing list said that Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham were in a rehearsal studio last week in London.

No word yet if any vocalist joined them or would be joining them.

Stay tuned on this gem!

John Paul Jones will be the guest of Robyn Hitchcock at this year’s Bergenfest in Bergen, Norway. They are scheduled to perform at the Hotel Norge Bankettsalen at 21:00 on April 30, 2008.

Tickets may be purchased at the Bergenfest website.

Thanks to suzepchick

http://www.bergenfest.no/?location=concert&id=67&day=20080430

Forget $50 for a day pass or $150 for an annual pass. One Horry County woman is paying $654 - more than $4 per second - to ride the signature roller coaster at Hard Rock Park.

Cindy Ennis, 45, said she is the top bidder in a charity eBay auction for seats on Led Zeppelin - The Ride’s first public run.

The park this week auctioned off 15 seats, and Ennis said she snagged four - two in the front row, two in the second row - for a total of $1,829.

“I’m not a roller coaster enthusiast,” she said. “But it was just the idea of being so close [to the front of the ride], and being the first of something - that’s really what did it.”

Plus, she said, the money would go to charity.

The first public ride will be held April 15, when the $400 million, 55-acre park off of U.S. 501 will open to a paying audience for the first time.

All told, the auction appears to have raised $5,002.48 for the Sara Goodwin Memorial Foundation, and park CEO Steven Goodwin has said he will match the top bid.

Park spokeswoman Megan Winnett said she could not confirm the winners until later this week. Ennis said she has already paid her tab, and the name of her real estate and property management business - Ennis Properties - was the name of the winning bidder on eBay.

Though Ennis doesn’t consider herself an experienced eBay user, she had a strategy: Watch the tickets closely, and bid right before the auction closes.

“I [bid] probably 10 seconds before it was actually going to expire,” she said. “Luckily, it held.”

Ennis had already bought annual passes and taken a behind-the-scenes tour.

She plans to give the other tickets to her children, Robert Ennis, 19, and Kelly Rosenthal, 29, and her son-in-law, David Rosenthal.

The one tough decision left to make: Who will sit where?

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/business/story/410307.html

A tapestry made in William Morris’s workshop and owned by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page went under the hammer at Sotheby’s.

The Pre-Raphelite work, by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, which was expected to sell for £1 million was auctioned but did not reach its reserve price.

For now the 24ft-long tapestry, called The Attainment: The Vision of the Holy Grail to Sir Galahad, Sir Bors and Sir Perceval, will stay as part of rock star Mr Page’s collection.

It was woven for Stanmore Hall in Middlesex in 1893 and Mr Page is only its third owner - he bought it himself at auction in 1978.

The 24m-wide weave is considered to be a seminal work of the Arts and Crafts movement. It was the star item in a sale of more than 130 lots in a showcase stretching from the Gothic revival of the 1840s through to post-war design of the 1960s.

A spokeswoman at the famous Bond Street auction house said she could not say if it would go on sale again.

http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/topstories/display.var.2146345.0.walthamstow_william_morris_tapestry_fails_to_sell_at_auction.php