Contrary to what you might expect, contrary to what I might expect, I'm glad Robert Plant is putting the kibosh on any further Led Zeppelin concerts. There are reasons the December 10, 2007 reunion show had to happen, and reasons it should be left at that.

Among their many milestone achievements, Led Zeppelin attained something almost no other band in their league has attained: a perfect career dismount. With the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980 they bookended their career, knowing he was the foundation of their sound and success. Unlike The Who, there were no soggy shows with a lukewarm replacement. Unlike The Rolling Stones, their all-platinum catalogue wasn't watered down with a couple of decades' worth of filler-ish, for-the-hell-of-it albums. They never had the opportunity to film regrettable videos for MTV, or to accidentally have a hit with a love ballad that was loved by 12 year old girls and repellent to their male audience. From start to finish, from I to the appropriately-titled Coda, it was all done right.

Officially, anyhow. What might have been, and fortunately never was to be, was depicted at 1985's Live Aid concert. Oh, the humanity! The Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert regrouping would be a chance to set the record straight, and for Jason Bonham, John Bonham's son, to show the world the drum DNA remained intact from father to son. But...oh, no! More humanity! Surely they would get it right for their induction into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, right? Not if a noticably drunken Jimmy Page had any say over it.

In the `90's there were further ill-advised moves. Page and Plant snubbed John Paul Jones, the secret weapon of Led Zeppelin, for some flaccid remakes of their old songs on the MTV Unledded special and CD. Then there was the Walking into Clarksdale disc; I'm so glad this didn't have the Led Zeppelin logo on it. Then, of course, there was also a couple of tours that, while successful, mostly gathered acclaim on the fumes of nostalgia. John Paul Jones' absence could be felt at the live show, and now that I hear a couple of bootlegs from that time, it remains clear whoever rearranged this stuff for the orchestra succeeded in draining the flow and life out of the songs that would've brought them across in an arena.

So in one fell swoop on that December 2007 night Led Zeppelin righted the ship and restored the legacy to the status to where it was at the time of Coda's release. The clunky Live Aid, Atlantic anniversary and Hall of Fame performances were outshined, the snubbing of John Paul Jones and lukewarm Unledded and Clarksdale records were reduced from final chapters to footnotes, and Jason Bonham proved his drum kit doesn't sound like pie tins.

Now that all is right with the universe, they need to stop. Further shows only provide opportunity for more Live Aids and Atlantic anniversary-style blunders, which leads to a need for more corrective shows, creating a vicious circle. We got to see the Zeppelin take flight here in the age of Starbuck's and iPods, so let's leave it at that.

EDIT: They also turned in the definitive live performance of "Kashmir."

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