Bush Review: Observer Newspaper

[rdavies@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

>From the Observer 29 March 1998:

ON STAGE
PAGE AND PLANT: Zep live again
By Barbara Ellen

'They'd make a hardened feminist want to dance in a cage in a fur bikini'

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's uncharacteristically intimate show at the
Shepherds Bush Empire turns out to be a hot ticket.  To get in I have to
stand out side for an hour with horrible, hairy people who smell of cheap
dope and resemble sprouting vegetables.  When I eventually fight my way in,
Led Zeppelin (as Page and Pant remain, despite being squeamish about using
the name) are already crashing into their set like Vikings on a pillaging
spree.

I spot Plant immediately.  He is the one balancing the mike stand on his
index finger.  At first, Page is not so noticeable- he could be any guy
opting to have  his mid-life crisis on stage.  Then suddenly he bends
creakily at the knees, and performs one of his notorious noodling guitar
solos.  Throughout the venue there is the sound of shattering spectacles
and beer coming to the boil.  As Plant's vocals blaze over the top, I start
wondering if I 'm going to get through the gig without my hair catching
fire.  Business as usual then.

Only a fool would turn to Page and Plant for delicacy.  They are rock panto
dames, who have always charged towards their destiny with all the subtlety
of bulls asking the way to the nearest china shop.  All of which would be
intolerable if they were playing in their habitual stadium setting.  Here,
though, the combination of  rock'n'roll bomabastics and small venue
intimacy is rather charming and intriguing-  like watching a dinosaur
trying to make itself at home in a dolls house.  Old classics like Gallows
Pole, Tangerine, and Whole Lotta Love are thrown into the pot alongside
cuts from the new album.  Indeed, Page and Plant seem happy to play their
old material.  It also goes on just a *little* bit.  At one point I have to
queue at the bar for half an hour, but when I get back, I've only missed
one song.

On the plus side, Robert Plant looks better than a man of his age has any
right to in leather trousers.  They fit him like a second skin (they fit
him better than his own skin).  In fact Plant gives such good trouser that
if I were a guy I would have a homosexual crush on him.

I share this thought with Billy [Fletcher of Glasgow], a hardcore fan, who
turns out to a mine of information when I get stuck,  ('this isn't called
The Old Top Of The Pops Theme Tune, it's called Whole Lotta Love' and 'No,
Kashmir isn't about sweaters.  Billy is very hurt by the suggestion that e
has impure feelings towards his idol [!!!!!].  His attitude seems to be
that he doesn't want to have sex with Robert Plant, though he wouldn't mind
having some of the sex he's been having over the years.  Arguing this I
almost miss Page sawing away at his guitar with a violin bow for How Many
More Times.  It sounds fine of course (Page's solos could open a tin can at
50 paces), but you can't help wondering what the point is, apart from Page
showing off.

Moreover, as the mainly male crowd cheer and sway, I start feeling a bit
left out.  After all, the music of Page and Plant doesn't exactly fall over
itself to display its feminine side.  It is real (male) rock music for real
(male) rock fans, who would probably quite like to have real girlfriends,
but are happy to settle for  masturbatory rock in the meantime.

Women tend to be e more ambivalent towards the Zep.  All that stuff about
their past satanic connections is scary.  And I'm not amused by reports of
abusive behaviour towards groupies.  That said there is something about
their music that makes even the most hardened feminist want to dance in a
cage in a fur bikini.  Fair enough.  All rock music should make you feel
like that.  Just make sure you're tied to a chair when you're feeling it.
                   -------

[Note: Barbara Ellen isn't a dedicated music reporter, the last time I saw
the Observer she was writing in the Style section and had a page in the
magazine with her photo at the top.

So don't get too worked up about the more cynical comments above (some of
us might have more cause than others), just be amused.]

Rob Davies
Nr Ipswich
UK