Two days ago, everybody with a good sense of taste and musical history was freaking out about the rumors that Led Zeppelin might reunited to play this year's Desert Trip (affectionately referred to as 'Oldchella').
The speculation began when Robert Plant's website was updated to a plain black page with a line of white text that simply read "Any time now…" – and fueled by additional rumors from Feel Numb (a site I'd never heard of before this story) that says sources told them Plant agreed to the reunion. We all began saving up for the Desert Trip, as this would have likely been our last chance to see the surviving members of the legendary rock band and then Billboard.com had to go and burst our bubble:
Gary Tovar, the founder of AEG’s Goldenvoice promotion unit, told The Guardian in an interview last month that “we’d like to bring up the Led [Zeppelin], if you know what I mean,” fueling the rumors even though Tovar is no longer part of the company.
But there’s no deal in place to get Led Zeppelin’s surviving members — Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones — back together, sources say, while AEG hasn’t announced another Desert Trip festival for this year.
The promise on Mr. Plant’s website, meanwhile, is more likely a tease to a forthcoming album than to an upcoming performance, sources tell Billboard.
So it sounds like, once again, everybody is on board but Robert Plant. Plant does not shy away from playing Zeppelin material live, but only with his own backing band.
I would still choose to believe the rumors have some weight to them. The Billboard story is likely the truth, there is no deal in place – but could that mean there won't be a deal in place? Maybe there is some negotiating happening right now, and perhaps one of the sides, in a way to gauge interest, leaked the story, to encourage the other side? AEG clearly sees the value in this proposition, and the trajectory of these rumors are very similar to how the Guns N Roses reunion started two years ago – and eventually, once the touring did happen, began grossing over $250 million dollars.
So let's keep our fingers crossed that these dang millionaires can work out a deal so we can see this legendary band take the stage one last time.
