LED ZEPPELIN - MAY 24TH

"Dear old Dennis, no artists left in the country - He must be Dazed And Confused"

One of the determining factors in picking the weekend of May 23rd to 25th for Celebration Days, the 1992 Led Zeppelin Fan Convention was Earls' Court. 17 years had elapsed, and May 24th 1975 will always be one of those magical shows to celebrate....

When the history of Led Zeppelin is written, as it has been many times, the date May 24th will always be earmarked as one of THE pivotal dates. A favourite of mine for many a year, largely thanks to the gorgeous bootleg elpees,  volumes 1 & 2, in for the time (and still now) outstanding full colour covers.

From a clean but fairly distant audience source, they picked highlights as best they could given the  constraints of vinyl and commercialism. And for many a year it was the only bit of Earls' Court you could get, alongside the rare as hen's teeth No Quarter Red Devil vinyl that featured a similar track listing to EC1 without Kashmir or the Woodstock sketch from Dazed and Confused.

44 years on all that has changed. Collectors, even curious fans, can take their pick of you tube clips, the whole set can be downloaded from various audience and/or soundboard (aka video soundtrack) recordings. Whod've thunk...

So, what of the show? The fourth night of five, and by now the sound gremlins had been ironed out as much as possible, and nerves had calmed. The previous night, Friday the 23rd was a great show too, the one dubbing them the 'Awesome Foursome' by enterprising bootleggers. On the home stretch, the second Saturday show was the one where most of the boxes were ticked and the planets fell into as near a perfect alignment as you would get with post-73 Zeppelin.

Nicky Horne introduced proceedings, citing his excellent Capital Radio show as part of his introduction. The track listing is -

Rock And Roll/Sick Again, Over The Hills And Far Away, In My Time Of Dying, The Song Remains The Same/The Rain Song, Kashmir, No Quarter, Tangerine, Going To California, That's The Way, Old Man (excerpt, Robert only), Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, Trampled Underfoot (incl Gallows Pole), Rip It Up (excerpt, Robert only), Moby Dick, Dazed And Confused (incl Woodstock), Stairway To Heaven, Whole Lotta Love (incl The Crunge, Sex Machine, Turn On Your Lovelight)/Black Dog.

Wow. The longest show of the summer season thus far. 43 years later it actually stands up pretty well. The opening salvo is muscular, the Jimmy/Bonzo musical cajoling and duelling shapes up pretty quickly, elevating the extended solo in Over The Hills And Far Away into a cloud of frenzied free form improvisation. Fantastic. After that In My Time Of Dying (as featured out of sequence on the official 'DVD'), is startling. One of the main reasons that Zeppelin, for me, were and are the very best. Even on a big stage in a cold unfriendly exhibition centre with a less than high fidelity sound, they play as if in a 12 foot square room getting into it with each other without 17,000 friends getting in on the fun. Robert gives us a hint of 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' before Jimmy's first perfect, incendiary solo. Moments of genius for me!

The second night had a review that cried 'when Led Zeppelin are peaking kiss your skull goodbye'. Time to pucker up....

Kashmir is stunning. It may be missing the pre-ordained drama of Jimmy's 'White Summer' sketch to rack up the tension in the 77-80 period when it closed the 2nd hour and was possibly the show highlight, but here Bonzo counts it in and they just play it. A great song from the new album 1-2-3-4, do it! Jimmy uses a retuned Les Paul and Jonesy sprinkles it all with mellotron fanfares, trying desperately to keep the thing somewhere near in tune.

No Quarter should have been on DVD, or a CD/LP release somewhere. Possibly the best version - certainly up to that point - it has a relaxed yet intense feeling and so many moments of genius it is nigh on perfection. Maybe not as sophisticated as the '77 arrangement and versions like LA June 23rd, but brilliant all the same. The 3 way instrumental is out of this world, as is Jimmy's Theremin/Wah Wah coda. After that we get Robert's time in the spotlight. As master of ceremonies he is of course the focal point, but the reflective and acoustic numbers are where he really shines. He talks and talks throughout,  he commented later that Knebworth was 'a communion with the English folk', and this is similar.

His long speech before Tangerine is heartfelt and emotional, something he's been throughout the shows. Shame Jimmy is very out of tune on this, his solo in particular is strained and dissonant. The acoustic set is however, a triumph, and one of the main plus points of these shows. After that 'Trampled Underfoot' is nothing but astonishing. As the last century drew to a close I managed to get hold of footage of this and previewed it to a few friends before we showed it to the Zep fans at an Anniversary Daze event in Shoreditch, London. Stunning. One of the top performances by Zeppelin EVER. 100%. Find it, watch it, let it take you over. It's what rock n roll is all about. Seriously. Like 'Stairway', Jimmy chose the version from May 25th for 'DVD'. A couple of mistakes for me.

After that, Bonzo's showpiece was a bit of an anti-climax. I've got nothing but admiration for him and his talent, and for me watching it it's great. Just at the time, being there, 20 minutes after two hours including a long No Quarter, was maybe pushing it a bit. Having said that, it's a stunning solo from John. To see him working like this close up, the syncopation, the independent limbs layering and weaving beats and fills into one storm after another is priceless. Not as wild as the magnificent Royal Albert Hall footage but close.

I remember a review of one of the early USA '75 shows or maybe it was paraphrased in one of the Steven Davis Goodfellas meets Jackanory pulp fiction paperbacks. Anyway, the gist was that the in house security, largely Vietnam vets, were sneering and unimpressed by the sluggish show until Moby Dick when one turned and hissed to another 'Geez, they oughta let him play by hisself all nite'.

When Jimmy's finger turned his genius into mere mortality and Robert was croaking like Tom Waits duetting with Captain Beefheart, Jonesy would impeccably steady the ship and the star of the show was Bonzo. Alone he could get 20,000 plus kids up and shaking. Love Robert's introduction in San Diego '73 - '175 pounds, full of shit and speed' - and the tongue in cheek Listen To This Eddie LA muse 'Aah, so that's the Quaalude stagger...'. The best. Please sit down with a cuppa and have a look at my Bonzo appreciation.

Dazed is next, and although a bit sluggish and deliberate, it does include the magical 'Woodstock' insert, which is priceless. Always loved the coda on the 75 versions too, Jonesy knitting heavy plotted notes tied to Bonzo's bass drum while the stars fly into the cosmos. By now, as Luis Rey so rightly observed, the 'improvisation' was a little too rigid and it had reached the end of it's time.

 Nigh on 3 hours in we get to the set climax - Stairway To Heaven. What a version. Despite Robert not being in the high register it grows and soars, leading to possibly one of Jimmy's finest solo's, duelling with Bonzo as they reach a stunning climax.

The encores are a celebration as usual, with some James Brown impressions and a great sonic tight but loose Theremin interlude before the pyro and Black Dog. Like Dazed, it's a bit weary at times, but the Theremin frenzy still manages to summon up much power and the usual sonic dissonance. Then, with the huge neon LED ZEPPELIN sign burning brightly, it's over.

 It's been a very long trip (man), and most bands would be happy to play an hour 30, hour 45. Not Zeppelin. The expansion of the set, with 4 new (and long) numbers being added plus the marathon showcase pieces added to the lack of desire to drop anything from the last set. In fact only 4 were missing from the 'standard' Houses Of The Holy set, but by the time the acoustic set was slotted in the set length was getting overwhelming.

But, these gripes aside, it feels right for 1975. The dinosaur was striding the rock world like a colossus, the healthy undercurrent of new bands playing short, punchy material like Dr Feelgood and the up and coming rockers like Thin Lizzy and UFO, the next breed of Heavy Metal bands like Judas Priest, Scorpions and the prog edged Rush ensured a great balance. Of course, within two years punk had reared it's media fuelled head and many bands were to fall on their swords. Not Zeppelin. but, after this grandiose summer season in West London, things would never be the same again.

So there we have it, a legendary night. The bootlegs have a lot to do with it, that this was the night half the show was available on vinyl way back in 1975 plus the myriad of reviews too. Of course the other nights shouldn't be forgotten or overlooked, there is magic to be found in every one for sure. This just happens to be the one where more boxes are ticked than the others.

ALSO ON MAY 24th

1969. Led Zeppelin play the second of two nights at the kinetic Playground, Chicago, IL.  

1970. Robert and Bonzo guest with Cochise at Mothers' Club, Erdington, Birmingham. A country style 6 piece, Cochise released  LP's between 1970 and 1972, and two members - Rick Wills and John Wilson - later worked on Dave Gilmour's first solo LP. Singer Stewart Brown was also a member of Bluesology, cutting his musical teeth with a young Reg Dwight.