Photos: METALLICA, KISS Members Attend LED ZEPPELIN 'Celebration Day' After-Party In New York

Jem Aswad of Billboard attended the after-party for LED ZEPPELIN's "Celebration Day" at New York's Monkey Bar, which followed the official U.S. premiere of the concert film at Ziegfeld Theater. The event featured appearances by KISS' Paul Stanley, METALLICA's Kirk Hammett, Joan Jett, Stevie Nicks and LED ZEPPELIN members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. Check out a report at Billboard.biz.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, a slightly testy LED ZEPPELIN met the press on Tuesday at New York's Museum Of Modern Art following the screening of "Celebration Day". Although John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham were respectful to the writers and reporters, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were clearly annoyed that they genuinely wanted to know if the band is considering any new work or concerts. Page and Plant would respond to any reunion questions by staring the reporter down — Plant alternately pretended to snore and even called a reporter from The Associated Press a "schmuck" for asking about the future of LED ZEPPELIN.

Page and Plant — who, while hawking their five-year-old reunion concert CD/DVD — couldn't be bothered to honestly answer the press, who tried gamely to play along with the fact that they were supposed to ignore the 300 pound gorilla in the room, which was that LED ZEPPELIN were right in front of them and NOT making music. At one point Page tersely answered a reporter's reunion question. "Well, look; at this time four years ago, we'd have been rehearsing to get to the O2," he said. "In December it'll be five years since the O2. So, that's a number of years that pass in between, so that seems unlikely, if there wasn't a whisper, or a hint that we would get together to do something or other. I'd say even two years ago, or whatever. Seems pretty unlikely, that's what I think."

Rock writer Bill Flanagan, the editorial director MTV Networks, served as the moderator and gently coaxed Plant into finally answering the reunion question with a bit of respect for the reporters in the room. "We were so happy that we were actually gettin' it right [coughs] and taking it beyond what we thought we were about that night," he said. "There were moments in it where we just took off and pushed off in some place. The responsibility of doing that four nights a week for the rest of time is a different thing. 'Cause, we're pretty good at what we do; the tail should never wag the dog. If we're capable of doing something in our own time that will be what will happen. So any inane questions who are from syndicated outlets [laughs], you should just really think what it takes to answer a question like that in one second, y'know? We know what we've got."