Heaven for Led Zeppelin fans at reunion gig

THE newest member of Led Zeppelin was given the honour of kicking off the band’s reunion last night, pounding out the beat before the surviving founders joined in on a near-perfect “Good Times Bad Times”.

After the lights went down at London’s O2 Arena, and with thousands of fans worked into a frenzy, drummer Jason Bonham, son of the late John Bonham, began thumping the skittering beat, soon to be joined by guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones and singer Robert Plant.

The song, rarely played live in the band’s heyday, proved a perfect starting point for this performance: “In days of my youth, I was told what it means to be a man,” sang Plant, showing no trouble reproducing his trademark wail at 59. “Now I’ve reached that age, I’ve tried to do all those things the best I can... No matter how I try, I find my way to the same old jam.”