According to Telegraph.co.uk, the recent Led Zeppelin reunion gig at the O2 Arena in London has sparked Led Zeppelin fever throughout the UK. The recently released Best Of album Mothership, released in November, is already platinum in the UK (300,000 units), and sales of the band’s back-catalogue rose 500% in the day since the concert, according to an HMV spokesman.

This is all well and good, and certainly bodes well for a slumping industry that could use a holiday boost. But guess what — not only will it not last, but it’s a relative blip in the radar compared to how far off overall sales numbers are from last year.

Expect a big drop in overall CD sales from 2007 to 2006, and expect big retailers to cut shelf space as soon as the numbers come in. It’s (still) the beginning of the end for the CD.

UPDATE: The Sun [via Blabbermouth] reports that after the gig the bandmembers were overheard discussing a three-night set at Madison Square Garden in New York City sometime in 2008. According to the report, the consensus was “Why not?” It’s inevitable, folks!

-VN

Last night’s Led Zeppelin reunion gig will surely be one of the more buzzed about topics on the Internet this morning (don’t tell the fools who paid thousands for tickets that the band is planning a 2008 tour with The Cult opening! sssssshhhh!). Here’s a pro-shot video from last night of the band performing “Black Dog:”

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/a8v_Rqi4B-E" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

The setlist, which I believe Kip W. will share his thoughts on later, was as follows:

01. Good Times, Bad Times
02. Ramble On
03. Black Dog
04. In My Time Of Dying
05. For Your Life
06. Trampled Under Foot
07. Nobody’s Fault But Mine
08. No Quarter
09. Since I’ve Been Loving You
10. Dazed and Confused
11. Stairway To Heaven
12. The Song Remains the Same
13. Misty Mountain Hop
14. Kashmir

Encore:

15. Whole Lotta Love
16. Rock and Roll

-VN

With only 20,000 lucky winners out of over 1 million registrants, ticket scalping is rampant for the upcoming Led Zeppelin reunion show in London. Despite the best efforts of anti-scalping tactics, auctions for passcodes to buy tickets are being hawked on eBay for as much as £500 (that’s over $1,000!). The Led Zep reunion is cool and all… but come on, really? So we’re wondering what our U.S. readers think, taking into account the insane £ to $ conversion rate and the need for airfare and hotels: what is the Led Zeppelin reunion show worth to you? Our U.K. and other international readers should feel free to chime in with comments as well.

-VN