Get The Led Out

The clock is ticking to Led Zeppelin's Dec. 10 reunion concert in London, and J.I. is proud to announce that Billboard retail correpondent/Zeppelin superfan Ed Christman will be in the house to provide us with all the juicy details. We've resisted attempts to create our "dream" sets list but the anticipation has finally taken over.

So, here they are, from a host of Billboard staffers (and a staffer's well-credentialed husband). We're not going for historical accuracy here, as we understand Zep isn't going to play any material it previously eschewed back in the 1970s. And we're limiting it to 20 songs, since the boys are probably only going to play a two-hour set. Instead, these are, indeed, our "dream" lists. We welcome you to chime in with yours.

JONATHAN COHEN:

"In the Light"
"Immigrant Song"
"Misty Mountain Hop"
"Communication Breakdown"
"Black Dog"
"Over the Hills and Far Away"
"Rock and Roll"
"What Is and What Should Never Be"
"Four Sticks"
"Kashmir"

Acoustic set:
"Going to California"
"Poor Tom"
"Bron-Yr-Aur"

"The Rain Song"
"Out on the Tiles"
"Heartbreaker"
"The Ocean"

Encore:
"No Quarter"
"Stairway to Heaven"
"Whole Lotta Love"

ED CHRISTMAN:

"In the Light"
"Immigrant Song"
"Good Times, Bad Times"
"The Song Remains the Same"
"Black Dog"
"Hots on for Nowhere"
"The Wanton Song"
"What Is and What Should Never Be"
"Four Sticks"
"Tea for One"

Acoustic set:
"Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp"
"Poor Tom"
"Tangerine"
"Bron-Yr-Aur"

"In My Time of Dying"
"Out on the Tiles"
"In the Evening"
"The Ocean"

Encore:
"Achilles' Last Stand"
"Ten Years Gone"
"How Many More Times"

CHUCK EDDY:

"Dancing Days"
"How Many More Times"
"Out on the Tiles"
"Immigrant Song"
"Dazed and Confused"
"Rock and Roll"
"Boogie With Stu"
"Trampled Underfoot"
"Wanton Song"
"Going to California"
"Hats Off to (Roy) Harper"
"Hot Dog"
"D'Yer Maker"
"The Ocean"
"The Rain Song"
"Fool in the Rain"
"Carouselambra"
"When the Levee Breaks"
"Whole Lotta Love"
"Communication Breakdown"

RAY WADDELL:

"Ramble On"
"Rock and Roll"
"Black Dog"
"Thank You"
"No Quarter"
"Misty Mountain Hop"
"Going to California"
"What Is and What Should Never Be"
"Immigrant Song"
"The Lemon Song"
"I Can't Quit You Baby"
"You Shook Me"
"Gallows Pole"
"Trampled Underfoot"
"Achilles' Last Stand"
"Kashmir"

Encore 1:
"Good Times, Bad Times"
"Whole Lotta Love"

Encore 2:
"Dazed and Confused"
"When the Levee Breaks"

RICK FROBERG (Drive Like Jehu/Hot Snakes singer/guitarist):

"We're Gonna Groove"
"Communication Breakdown"
"How Many More Times"
"Ramble On"
"Friends"
"Out on the Tiles"
"Four Sticks"
"Going to California"
"Rock and Roll"
"Kashmir"
"White Summer"
"Over the Hills and Far Away"
"In the Evening"
"Achilles' Last Stand"
"Dazed and Confused"
"What Is and What Should Never Be"
"Poor Tom"
"Heartbreaker"
"Houses of the Holy"
"When the Levee Breaks"

The Best Time At Your Party

J.I. is well aware that the extremely brown sounds of Ween are not beloved by all. So if the Pennsylvania duo isn't your bag, feel free to stop reading. If you want to know why they slayed the sold-out crowd at the first of two nights at New York's Terminal 5, stay with us.

How about 32 songs in a two-and-a-half hour set that hit most of the high points of the group's massive catalog, as well as several unexpected rarities and some of the greatest guitar playing J.I. has seen east of Eddie Van Halen a couple weeks ago? Add to that about a dozen good buddies, plenty of beer and assorted wacky individuals and you have a fine night out indeed.

The boys really got cooking during "Voodoo Lady," the seventh song of the set. Other outrageous jams enlivened the "X-Files" soundtrack gem "Beacon Light" and the ultra-creepy "Zoloft," an endurance tester that often separates the true fans from the casual observers. Guitarist Mickey Melchiondo was on fire most of the evening, taking the mic for the sing-a-long "The Blarney Stone" and the ultra-uncommon "Strap on that Jammypac," a trademark awesome/annoying oldie.

We also have to shout out to keyboardist Glen McClelland for his truly demented solo during the middle of "Pandy Fackler." What started out sounding like music from a Holiday Inn cocktail lounge in 1982 wound up in outer space, with Ween expertly returning to the main theme without a hitch.

Oddly, there were only three songs from the new "La Cucaracha" ("Your Party" suffered for the lack of the saxophone from the album version). But we'll be back again tonight. Dare you?

UPDATE: On Saturday, judging by the show of hands when Melchiondo asked how many people had been to the gig the night before, 80% were repeat customers. And they were rewarded handsomely: only one repeat from the night before (the fake game show theme "Fiesta"), and it was naturally played to both open and close the performance. Saturday night treats included a sick jam on "Roses Are Free," a four-song acoustic set led by "Tried and True" and "I Don't Want It" and a brain-frying main-set closing take on "Fat Lenny."

Backstage afterward, Melchiondo insisted that one day the Philadelphia 76ers would be good again, although he was more interested in making it back to his local bar in New Hope, Pa., for last call.

Love At The 'Cross Roads

From the Department of Better Late Than Never, we've recently become enamored with London-based duo Alberta Cross. Maybe its this soft spot we have for tunes unabashedly informed by Southern Rock, but the group's debut EP, "The Thief & the Heartbreaker" is, well, heartbreaking.

Petter Ericson Stakee's soul-filled and wailing vocals perform the task of telling a story and dotting the rootsy atmosphere with perfectly layered echoes, ooos and ahhhs. The effects and the grungey guitar rhythms will certainly please the My Morning Jacket or Band Of Horses fan; the uptempo number "Hard Breaks" resonates the Byrds or Crosby Stills And Nash; "The Devil's All You Ever Had" makes us very sorry but happy that the devil is all we ever had.

Stereogum summarized the group very well: "The worst you can say for the tunes is that they aren't exactly original, but Alberta's got the dusty, gospel-tinged Americana rock thing down."

"The Thief & the Heartbreaker" was released in September and fans can expect a full-length come spring.

Also, one of the dudes looks like Tom Petty and Kid Rock mixed. Thank you and goodnight.

Vedderology

So J.I. is trying to control how happy we are that Eddie Vedder is all up on the cover of Billboard this week (with his director buddy Sean Penn). We know we've got a pronounced affinity for all things Pearl Jam, we can admit it. Jonathan Cohen unpacked all the Vedder/"Into the Wild" interview goodness that would not fit in the magazine in the online version here. But the mag cover made us geek out all the more because EV's giving quiet props to a couple of things if you look closely enough at the buttons on his lapel...

The button on the left with a red star on it is Easy Street Records, an indie store in West Seattle where PJ did a live record a couple of years ago called, er, "Live at Easy Street." The button on the right says "77" and is a low-key nod at the Talking Heads: 77 album. But hey, we already knew he was a Heads fan. He covered "Love Goes to Buildings on Fire" way back in '99.

Right. Like we said. We're geeks.

Fujifilm Party: Freebies & Faint Praise

J.I. is an unrepentant Us Weekly fan, and always enjoys the pictures of B-list stars posing on the red carpet at launch events for products. When we attended the launch party for the Fujifilm FinePix Z10fd camera last night (Oct. 25) at Irving Plaza, we found out why those celebs seem drawn to those parties like moths to a flame. The line at the door was organized, the booze and snacks flowed freely, and pretty people hung around listening to palatable alternative rock.

J.I. was promised all sorts of famous people sightings, but our best Gawker Stalker moment came earlier in the evening, when we saw Moby at SoHo bookstore McNally Robinson. Our only brush with fame at Irving came when the dude who plays Chuck Bass on "Gossip Girl" (Ed Westwick, pictured) stood in front of us and asked if he was blocking our view in his delightful British accent. He can try to get in our pants on a rooftop anytime.

As far as the music went, J.I. only managed to catch openers Locksley, and found them quite pleasant, if ultimately forgettable. They play the type of accessible rock music that makes for nice background noise, and covering the White Stripes was certainly an interesting, out-of-left-field choice. J.I. had to split before the boys with curious hair of the Bravery hit the stage, but sources tell me they were solid.

As far as the camera the party was supposed to celebrate, we thought it looked spiffy enough. Then again, J.I. is a luddite who has never owned a digital camera and only uses a cell phone cam to take pictures of perverts on the subway, so our opinion on this matter holds very little weight.