It was good to see a fair amount of media fare acknowledging the 25th anniversary of Live Aid this week.
So where we you on that esteemed day?
Bizarrely I actually have You Tube evidence of where the good lady Janet and I were on the afternoon of Saturday July 13th 1985.
After watching Status Quo open the event on TV, we took a trip into town for a drink or two – it was a lovely hot day and we wandered into one of our local pubs The Bear in Bedford High …

Robert Plant and The Band Of Joy play their first date at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis today which has been declared ‘’Robert Plant Day’’ in the city.
Here’s a round up of a press conference Robert gave yesterday at the venue, plus a question and answer session conducted with with Lindsey Miller of The Arkansas Times.
TBL welcomes reviews and feedback from the tour – email your reviews etc to garyfoy at
garyfoy@live.co.uk
You can also use the comments section at the bottom of this piece to file your first hand reviews.
Robert Plant …

The TBL 2 GF and DL meet with another fully paid up member of the Black Country Communion – Marble Arch London July 5th 2010
Last Monday was a bit of a whirlwind day as aside from the evening’s Them Crooked Vultures gig, Gary and I had a lunchtime rendezvous with Glenn Hughes.
This was to conduct a follow up interview with Glenn regarding the Black Country Communion album. As he had been on the phone from LA back in February, Glenn was a fantastic interviewee.   Accommodating, friendly, lucid and incredibly positive, …

DL with a fully paid up member of the Black Country Communion –  London June 29th 2010
Let’s get this one out of the way.  England’s exit from the World Cup was indeed a bitter pill to swallow. I know we were poor overall, but I can’t help thinking if the goal that never was had been rightly allowed it might have all been a different story. It’s all history now though and we are left with the aftermath, the recriminations and inquests.  Can’t get too excited about the rest of …

England out – Lampard’s goal that never was is  a bitter pill to swallow and could have changed the game – but at the end of the day we were just not good enough – in fact woeful in the second half.  Forty years of hurt…as the song says ”We’ll keep on getting bad results”……A low ebb at the Totnes Arena…beers are needed…..DL 5.25 PM June 27th
The valiant USA went out of the World Cup last night in a 2-1 defeat to Ghana.  Overall they can be well proud of …

Above: Cologne June 18th 1980:  A pensive DL after realising that nothing was going to shift those posters and thoughts of  an ebay nest egg  30 years on fading fast…
World Cup Update June 18th:  Oh dear…Bonzo was right after all…football is a load of bollocks – when it’s played like that.  An uterly dismal performance tonight that leaves us hanging on for a win on Wednesday or it will be all over. Yes we have been here before -1986  and 1990, but we really are running out of time and …

Twenty years ago today on Monday June 4th 1990 I awoke with the prospect of a couple of Robert Plant gigs ahead over the next two nights. These were the London dates Robert was playing in support of the Manic Nirvana album.
Tickets were sorted, arrangements made – I was going with my good friend Terry and a couple of the boys I worked with and planned to hook up with Gary Foy and the TBL crew in Hammersmith..
The good lady Janet was pregnant and our first born was due in …

Turning the clock back:  Saturday May 17th 1975:
Ticket: Gallery Block 72 Row L Seat 34
Ticker price £1
May 17th a dull rainy Saturday. Left Bedford around 4pm on the train and met then girlfriend Fiona in London for the long awaited return. I’d been counting the days down since March and now here we were hours from seeing and believing. We were inside the arena from around 7pm and the next hour was a slow one – I’d brought a programme and t.shirt.The programme with the illuminating text from Tony Palmer …

Photo: Copyright 2010 CelebrityLIFE/PSmylie
Move over Gordon Ramsey tell Jamie Oliver the news – what’s all this then? Robert Plant caught readying an appearance on Celebrity Masterchef or Hells Kitchen? Will he be squeezing those lemons till the juice runs down Gordon’s pan? Alas all is not what it might appear  and before Jamie gets into a chorus of ‘Save me a slice of  your custard pie’’ let me explain – this candid photo found Robert in jovial mood before his appearance on the BBC One Show a couple of weeks …

May is here and in my calander, it’s always an important month. Not least of course because it triggers memories of former May Days and in particular the May Daze of 1975 – it’s the 35th anniversary of Led Zeppelin at Earls Court and I’ll be duly commemorating this milestone with a series of retro features on the TBL site – as you can see from today’s first TBL Archive post.
Being such an auspicious anniversary is also reason enough for me to commence a daily ritual of playing at least …