Why Jimmy Page Got ‘Jittery’ the Night After Led Zeppelin Reunion
Jimmy Page explained why his nerves were a wreck the night after Led Zeppelin’s one-off reunion show at London’s O2 venue in 2007.
In a new interview with Classic Rock (via Music-News.com) the guitarist recalled rehearsing with John Paul Jones and the late John Bonham’s son Jason in the period leading up to the single performance.
“We'd had a lot of fun up to that point in the rehearsals, because mainly it was the three of us,” Page said. “There'd be Jason, John Paul Jones and myself playing together, so that Jason felt really part of the band, as opposed to like he's there because he's John's son. He was there because he was a damn good drummer, and it was right that he should be sitting in that seat. But he needed to know that.”
He acknowledged there was talk about a tour to follow, which didn’t materialize because singer Robert Plant didn’t want to pursue the idea. “But then there has not been any discussion about any tour ever since – nor will there be,” Page noted. “It’s just one of those weird, odd things in the world of Led Zeppelin, really, another part of the Led Zeppelin phenomenon.”
Page also said “a lot of rehearsals” took place because the band’s previous two reunions – for Live Aid in 1985 and Atlantic Records’ 40th-anniversary concert in 1988 – failed to live up to expectations.
“The idea was that we would do a half-hour set [in 2007],” he explained. “But I said, ‘I’m not rehearsing to do a half-hour set! We've got Live Aid ... and the Atlantic 40th.’ I thought, ‘We're gonna go out there and stand proud,’ you know? So that means we've got to do a proper set. And that's what we did. So, yeah, a second night would have been really, really good.”
Page added: “In fact, the following day I started to get really jittery at 7 o'clock, and I thought, ‘I know what it is, it's because I’d paced myself towards doing the O2, and now there isn't an O2 to do.”