July 15, 2018 – As much as it’s easy to complain as a rock fan, there’s a lot going on right now. There are rumors that Led Zeppelin will do something, something more than release their planned photo book to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Rumor has it Robert Plant has been in some kind of talks with Jimmy Page and crew, even starting as early as last October. Some say there will be a tribute show – other bands playing Zep songs, and that perhaps the Zep members will join them. Some say they are in talks for something more, a reunion of some type. I hold out little hope I’ll see them as a band though. Tickets will be way out of my league, and then again, it sounds like it will be more of a tribute thing.
Now don’t get me wrong, this tribute thing is really fun. As a present from a wonderful friend of mine, I got to see a tribute concert last night. The concert was a two-tribute act, full sets by each of “The PettyBreakers” – a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tribute band, and Mirage – a Fleetwood Mac tribute band.
I have to say, both had to win me over. They each had the right looks, kind of, but as they played, each won me over, and won me over well. It really is fun to go to a tribute show. What these bands have are good musicians who are having a total blast playing songs from legends. So who knows? Perhaps Robert Plant’s participation in a tribute show might be a good thing. I can’t even image how fun it would have been, impossible as it is, if Tom Petty himself had walked on stage, or possible but completely improbably, if Stevie Nicks had walked on stage. Even fake Tom Petty joining fake Stevie Nicks to sing Stop Dragging My Heart Around was a treat.
Yeah, Robert Plant, perhaps it could be good. But it would be better if Zep, real Zep, with Bonham Jr., would do it for real one more time. Until then, I’m ignoring those kinds of rumors. But hey, I forgot how good that record was, you know “Rumors”? It really was good. And Tom Petty. Tom Petty is wall-to-wall, hours of songs I know every word to. I didn’t know how much of a fan I was until he died, but I really love the songs. His songwriting skills were extraordinary. And I dig his fashion sense too. No black t-shirts on that guy. Even the cover Tom Petty had good style, nice grey cowboy boots, a nice shirt, sure it was black, but it was a shirt. Am I shallow that I appreciate fashion sense in my musicians?
Ummm, yeah, probably.
Speaking of Tom Petty, the real Tom Petty, someone in his camp is releasing a box set, with a release date in September. It’s an atypical box-set, so they are claiming, rumored to contain not hits (there have been many of those sort of box sets, apparently), but unreleased and different versions of songs. Honestly, I think I would like this one. Last week, they released an advance song that actually played on LA rock radio. It’s an unreleased song from 1982, a good year for rock, a good year for Tom Petty’s songwriting, and I like it.
So from the week of rumors and box-set releases, I was left with a total love for tribute bands, for lots of reasons too. For the fact that these players have at least five guitars on stage, each; that makes me feel a lot less guilty about wanting yet another guitar; about how good it is to go to a concert to listen to music one loves, no matter that it’s not exactly the players one learned the music from, but most of all how much fun it must be to play like that. Tom Petty (I’ll call him that, even though that’s not his name) introduced a song. He called it a deep cut, said it was off the Wildflowers album, said we might not know it, but it’s their favorite to play. It was when he was his most authentic Tom Petty. The song, It’s Good to Be King, was one I kept going to over and over in my Tom Petty marathon I had when Tom Petty passed. That album really speaks to me. I guess it spoke to that Tom Petty too. It made me wish to play like that. These people are really having a good time. Sure they may not be the actual Tom Petty, the actual Stevie Nicks, but the smiles on their faces are just the same. And the crowd loved it too. So Zep? There are lots of your tribute bands too. Who knows? Perhaps we don’t even need actual reunions, just box sets and tribute bands.