Celebration Day

It's been a while but life has gotten in the way.....or life has taken place and the things in the way had to move over.

I went to watch the screening of Led Zeppelin's Celebration Day. The show was sold out at the Scotiabank Theater in Downtown Vancouver. The Blu Ray will be out soon but I had to see this on the big screen.

Essentially it's just concert footage of  "Led Zeppelin's" performance in 2007 in tribute to the late Ahmet Ertegun: founder of Atlantic Records. Almost the original Lineup consisting of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and the late John Bonham's son, Jason.

I have never seen Led Zeppelin live but I've always wanted to. You know that if they were to tour today with that lineup, it would be thousands of dollars for nosebleeds. This was my one chance to see them up close and personal via the big screen.

I've seen The Song Remains the Same but this was so much better. Just concert footage. No extras. At least not in the theater. The picture is crystal clear and in many ways it's far better than I could ever hope to experience in a real concert. So much detail that I would never be able to see from a seat in the bleachers or from the floor for that matter.

Performance wise, I swear they are in better shape musically than they have been in a very long time. Not since the early eighties when Page was doing his thing with The Firm and Plant had his own band. True, Plant couldn't hit those high notes as easily anymore but his technique was impeccable.

Admittedly, Page has lost a bit of edge. It took him a little while to warm up. His playing was a bit stiff at first. Attributed to arthritis I would have to assume but once he got warmed up, he was unstoppable. There were a few points where he was blatantly out of key but he slipped back in just fine. This wasn't a jazz "out". They were mistakes but dealt with skillfully. Professionally.

Jones was and is an amazing musician. It's hard to imagine how Zep would sound without him. Not just his bass playing but his keys and mandolin. He's an incredible multi-instrumentalist. The movie just cements this fact. There would be a large hole in the sound without him. It just made me appreciate him even more.

Jason's not his dad. He doesn't pull off those super fast triplets like his dad. He cheats using a double bass pedal. Nevertheless. His father would be proud. He's a worthy substitute.

You'll have to watch the movie yourself to really appreciate how good they really are as a band.

What was really interesting was the showing. For the first twenty minutes of the show, the volume was really low. I mean we were whispering and it was louder than the sound of the movie. People were complaining. Every few minutes there was the chanting of Turn It Up!

Eventually they stopped the film and the manager came out and tried his best to explain to us that they had the sound cranked and that the quality of the digital file was just bad. That's right, Jimmy Page(producer) and John Paul Jones(producer) who had a cumulative career spanning nearly eighty years were able to produce this fantastic movie but were not able to make it loud enough. "The audio quality is just bad" said the manager. What?

Then the audience started chiming in on what they thought the problem was. Some guy behind us saying that they didn't master it properly. Yeah, what would John Paul Jones know about mastering? He's only been producing for the past three decades. What would he know.

There was obviously something wrong with the speaker system. I had the suspicion that they had a problem with the surround sound. There was no sound from the side and rear speakers and the sub woofers were out as well. I looked over at my wife and said "when they get the surround sound going the volume will be back".

The manager was very apologetic and  offered everyone two movie passes but they would continue to play the rest of the film. About thirty people left the theater. After about ten minutes into the show, the volume was suddenly dramatically louder, there was sound from the concert audience behind us and reverb from the sides. Surround sound was back up and all was good. Now, I'm not saying that I was dead right but I don't think I was far off.

That all being said, I have to question if it was a mistake at all. The movie passes don't cost the theater anything. In fact, if we do come back for a movie, we'll be paying the outrageous prices for popcorn and drinks. I mean that's almost the same as the price of the movie! Popcorn and a drink is nearly eleven dollars.

Was it a mistake? If so, someone got fired that night. If not, smart marketing.