Topping of the year of ageing rockers' comebacks, Led Zepplin
rounded off the year in early December with a joyous return to the
stage in London 27 years after the band broke up in 1980 after
drummer John Bonham died.
Most fans had assumed they would never take the stage together
again -- but in September they announced the reunion for a tribute
to Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who signed the band four
decades ago and died last year.
The Police surprised by announcing their reunion after more than
20 years apart, though most fans believed personal resentments at
the heart of the group would prevent a comeback.
Singer Sting and drummer Stewart Copeland once came to blows
during a tour of the United States and had reportedly refused to be
in the same studio together while recording a "best of" album in
1986.
Phil Collins got together with his Genesis band mates again
(minus Peter Gabriel) for a giant tour, Lou Reed was back
performing, and Van Halen announced concerts for the first time in
22 years with original singer David Lee Roth.
The Sex Pistols played a concert in London on Nov. 8 and Black
Sabbath under the name of Heaven and Hell and The Eagles were also
part of the so-called "heritage act" revival.
Sly and the Family Stone, The Who, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and
what remains of The Doors, also headed once more for the road,
drawing fans to often expensively priced concerts for an
opportunity to relive the past.
Alexis Petridis, chief music writer for Britain's The Guardian
newspaper, summed up how former stars upstaged newcomers this year
with his thoughts on Britain's Glastonbury festival, one of the
biggest music events in the world.
"There was something troubling about returning home with the
knowledge that the most exciting, unpredictable, iconoclastic thing
you saw all weekend was not a thrilling new artist, but a
sixtysomething heritage-rock act," he wrote.
(Agencies via Xinhua December 29, 2007)