Beijing Bird's Nest rocks to Jimmy Page's whole lotta love

I returned home last night at just the right time to hear the opening riffs of Whole Lotta Love. What did I see when I walked through the door? Old Man Jimmy Page himself! How cool to see him performing live at the Beijing Olympics' closing ceremony atop a London bus.


My only disappointment: no Robert Plant. Instead, it was Leona Lewis. Moreover, some of the lyrics had to be changed or dropped. For instance, the line "I'm gonna give you every inch of my love" became "I'm gonna give you every bit of my love". Also, the third verse, which includes similar sexual innuendoes, was dropped. But was was sorely missed most of all must have been Plant's pantings, oohs and ahhs and the final blood-curdling scream. How I would have loved to hear it rip across the stadium. Instead, Leona gave the most innocuous version of the song that I've ever heard.

BTW, one of my friends took a look at Page and promptly texted me: "was it Pak Lah playing the guitar?" Pak Page sure looked a lot like Pak Lah from near!