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Celebration Day

A few weeks ago, I took in a screening of Celebration Day, the (possibly) last-ever performance of Led Zeppelin. Thankfully, I never wished to hit the fast-forward button during its two-hour running time.

I say this because there was a time in my life when I ate up a 25-minute rendition of "Dazed and Confused." Those were my high school years when I had a desire to soak up an experience like The Song Remains the Same. I never watched it under the influence, and I don't regret that.

Given all the music I dig as an adult, I don't really feel the need to listen to The Song Remains the Same again and again. I'll take the studio albums over that any day, no matter my mood. That said, the production and the performance quality of Celebration Day is exactly what I enjoy as an adult. The editing is spot-on, the performance is nothing short of powerful, and the song selection shows the best of the band's sound.

I didn't watch Celebration Day under the influence either. But I did watch it on a friend's new home theater system, which includes a screen that took up almost an entire wall. Certainly was the closest to seeing the performance in a theater.

None of the songs felt long to me. The greatness of the band's material is on display here; not the excesses of their shows in the 70s. This is probably a better document of the band in a single performance, though I'd say the Led Zeppelin DVD is a definitive look at all of the band's time together.

So, whenever Amazon runs their special deals on DVDs, no matter how cheap they'll sell The Song Remains the Same, I'm more than likely to go for Celebration Day.

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