Dave Lewis Diary »
To Bristol on a very wet and dull June Friday for Robert’s Plant’s opening date of his Strange Sensation summer extravaganza.
This one was always an attractive proposition although as usual the logistics to fit it it all in were of military precision – not least the not inconsequential taks of working a massive shift over Wednesday night to install the Virgin Megastore new sale offer (Price Blitz to you and full of great bargains you should investigate as soon as!).
With that task signed off, I hooked up with Mr Foy …
Dave Lewis Diary »
”We’ll call this gig Bonzo’s birthday … Bonzo’s Birthday party”
Those were the first words spoken onstage by Robert Plant at the Inglewood Forum on the night of May 31 1973 that came out from my record player around six months on from that gig on as I eagerly listened to my latest Led Zeppelin underground LP acquisition – a double album set on the Trade Mark Of Quality label titled Bonzo’s Birthday Party.
That is some 33 years ago – sadly longer than John Henry Bonham lived in his lifetime.
For today …
Dave Lewis Diary »
Three enjoyable days out in the last couple of weeks. Two weeks ago it was to the Esquires Club in Bedford to attend ex Free / Bad Co drummer Simon Kirke’s gig. The show was excellent with Simon on acoustic guitar and keyboards and very soulful vocals backed by Larry Oakes and doing absolute justice to a clutch of Free / Bad Co faves – amongst them My Brother Jake , Weep No More and Shooting Star. Later he played drums on the climax of the well impressive Free tribute …
Dave Lewis Diary »
30 years ago this weekend, Led Zeppelin performed a pair of memorable shows at the Richfield Coliseum on their 1977 US tour – later to be immortalised on the Destroyer box sets.
To commemorate this Zep milestone all roads lead to the Knights Templar pub in London on Saturday for a special fan gathering. These events are always great social occasions as we emerge from our respective dens to communicate with like minded enthusiasts on the subject that continues to inspire us.
So was this 1977 US tour better than 1975?…what exactly …
Dave Lewis Diary »
And the 1977 tapes keep rolling. As part of my research for the extensive coverage of the 1977 US tour in the next Tight But Loose, I’ve been wading through a crop of live CD’s from that celebrated period. One performance that always stands out is the version of Over The Hills And Far Away as captured on the last night of their six show Los Angeles Forum stint.
It commences with a series of tantalising warm up runs from Jimmy before he embarks on that revolving intro which is guaranteed …
