"Everything is possible!"

Astbury: Cult Will Open For Zeppelin In '08
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
Not only is Led Zeppelin going back on the road in 2008, but they've selected the Cult as their opening act. That's according to Cult frontman Ian Astbury, who blabbed the news Nov. 17 during a show in Cincinnati.

According to an MTV.com report, Astbury told the crowd, "We'll be back next year because we're opening for a band you may have heard of ... the name starts with an 'L' and has a 'Z' in it." After a fan shouted, "Led Zeppelin," Astbury nodded and raised his arm in the air.

A spokesperson for the Cult had no comment on Astbury's remarks. A Led Zeppelin spokesperson could not be reached at deadline.

However, there is growing speculation that Zeppelin, who will perform a one-off Dec. 10 show in London in tribute to the late Ahmet Eretgun, will indeed tour next year, with or without the Cult.

It is understood that conversations have already taken place to gauge the willingness of surviving bandmates Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones to hit the road, and there are unconfirmed reports that U.S. venues have already been approached about holding summer dates.

For his part, Page isn't doing much to quash speculation about Zeppelin's future. He told Guitar World that just one show would amount to a huge tease for the legions of Zeppelin fans dying to see the band live. "If that's it, we probably shouldn't have taken the genie out of the bottle," he said.

Then, Page told Reuters the band would play a never-before-unveiled song during the London gig, which he would describe only as "really intense."

"I think really we'd need to see how we got on in every respect," Page told Billboard in 2003 when asked about a Zeppelin reunion. "I mean, it's all very well. I know everyone would love to see us play together, but the reality of it is, if you start doing that, you commit to a period of time. And you've got to make sure that the music is jelling, and the personalities are jelling. But you know, who knows? Everything is possible!"

"Let's be positive and say that maybe it could be," he added. "It certainly wouldn't be because anyone had gone ahead and booked dates for us. No, no, no, no, no. That wouldn't be the case at all. It would be because we felt like we'd like to do it."


I told Chris that if Led Zeppelin hits American soil I am going. I don't care where, or how much, I will make it there somehow. Who would have thought it was possible to see such greatness in our lifetime?!