Led Zeppelin: No Spring Tour, But Maybe Belfast, and Save Those Ticket Stubs

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Robert PlantAfter Led Zeppelin’s “triumphant” reunion show at London’s O2 Arena last Monday, the rumors of an upcoming tour were inevitable. E! reports that a set of dates in early 2008 seemed possible, and that a headline slot at Tennessee’s Bonnaroo festival in June was also rumored. But alas, it’s not meant to be: Robert Plant has set aside May for a European tour with Allison Krauss, with whom he made the critically-acclaimed album Raising Sand. Plant is also rumored to be the one Zep most opposed to the idea of continuing the band’s successful tour, telling the Sunday Times that “a cavalcade of merciless repetition is not what it’s all about.”

But now the Belfast Telegraph is reporting that a local promoter is negotiating to bring the band back to the Northern Ireland city, where they played “Stairway to Heaven” for the first time in public. While that legendary show was at the Ulster Hall, the promoter says that venue is “too small” and that they would likely play an arena.

And finally, if you were one of the lucky fans who scored a ticket to the aforementioned O2 Arena show, don’t throw out that ticket stub: NME reports that the crumpled scraps are going for up to £125 ($250) on eBay.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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