( Rolling Stone ) -- At one point in `` Celebration Day , '' the new film of Led Zeppelin 's 2007 reunion concert in London , the camera stays long and tight on Jimmy Page 's hands as they execute the introduction to `` Stairway to Heaven '' on the six-string neck of his double-neck Gibson guitar . It is one of rock 's most iconic riffs , played in full and close-up by the composer , at one of his band 's greatest and most important shows . `` With Led Zeppelin , it has always been that mystique of how the music is done -- how it works , why it works , '' Page says on the phone from London a couple of weeks before Celebration Day 's worldwide theatrical premiere on October 17th . `` The closer you can get in on that and the more lingering it is , the better . '' `` Celebration Day , '' which will be commercially released in various audio and visual formats on November 19 , is nothing more or less than Zeppelin 's entire two-hour performance on December 10 , 2007 , at London 's O2 Arena . The concert , a benefit and tribute to the late Atlantic Records chief Ahmet Ertegun , was the first full Zeppelin show by Page , singer Robert Plant and bassist John Paul Jones since the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980 . Bonham 's son , Jason , took his father 's place for the night , which is shown without backstage footage and includes minimal shots of the ecstatic audience . Instead , director Dick Carruthers -- who shot the concert with more than a dozen cameras -- provides extended close-ups of the band members in action : Plant in bluestrance moan during `` Since I 've Been Loving You '' ; Jones threading the folk-rock gallop of `` Ramble On '' with low-end countermelodies ; everyone turning to Jason in admiration during his volcanic solo at the end of `` Rock and Roll . '' `` Celebration Day '' is `` almost like being onstage with us , '' Jones says . `` We always had that interaction , '' he adds , referring to Zeppelin 's legendary concert prowess in the Seventies . `` But nobody could see it , because the lighting was n't there . '' Before the O2 show , Jones notes , `` I remember Dick saying in one of the early meetings , ' I 'm going to need 14 cameras . ' Everybody went , 'What ? ' It paid off . '' Page recalls walking off stage after the reunion concert feeling `` really high . That 's the truth . It was a serious test , and we passed it , all of us . And we had an extraordinary communion on the stage . That 's alive and well when you see it . '' But it was quite a while -- Page ca n't remember how long -- before he saw a rough cut of Carruthers ' footage ( `` We did n't rush into the editing suite to have it out for Christmas '' ) . In fact , Plant and Jones viewed that cut first . `` We came away raving , '' Jones says . `` It was very fitting to the experience . We called Jimmy and said , 'You 've got ta see this . ' '' The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time : Led Zeppelin . `` The thing about Led Zeppelin was that it was always four musicians at the top of their game , but they could play like a band , '' Page says . `` Even in the first couple of rehearsal days , running up to the O2 , we were playing pretty good . But we really wanted to shine as a band . '' He cites the set list 's opening sequence -- from the surprise opener , `` Good Times Bad Times , '' from 1969 's Led Zeppelin , into `` Ramble On '' and the tortuous crunch of `` Black Dog . '' `` I wanted people to feel , 'They 're taking this seriously . ' `` And I have to tell you , the rehearsals were all quite different , '' Page says , `` so much in that Zeppelin spirit and character . '' To prove it , a deluxe edition of the DVD will include footage from the band 's only full-scale production rehearsal before the O2 concert . `` You get the urgency of that night , but also the determination that was in rehearsal . '' Inevitably , Celebration Day has set off more reunion talk . At a London press conference announcing the film , Plant raved about the O2 performance : `` To get back in the middle of that music was a spectacular experience . '' But he and Page evaded questions about additional shows . When asked if the movie marks the end of Zeppelin , once and for all , Jones -- who is busy writing an opera and collaborating with Robyn Hitchcock and the Norwegian group Supersilent -- responds , `` When I move house , I never look back at the house and go , 'Oh , that 's the last moment I 'll see there . ' I always move forward . '' `` That 's a good answer , '' Page says , laughing . But he is more direct . `` I think if there had been any more concerts to be done , we 'd already be talking about them . So I do n't see it . '' Celebration Day , he adds , `` is a testament to what we did in 2007 . There it is . '' Copyright © 2011 Rolling Stone .
`` Celebration Day '' will be commercially released on November 19 . The film is a remake of the Japanese movie " Tokyo Olympiad '98 ", which was also directed by Hayao Miyazaki and features his son Goro Miyazaki. `` Celebration Day '' is `` almost like being onstage with us , '' Jones says .