It was 46 years ago…

Marking the final Led Zeppelin concert with John Bonham on July 7 1980

Here’s my review of the Casino Records 3LP bootleg that was released  in 2020.

My thoughts on…

Led Zeppelin

A Memory Frozen Forever

Casino Records Limited Edition 3 LP 180 gr gold vinyl 350 only.

This is the latest in the Casino Records series of Led Zeppelin vinyl presentations. Previous releases have included This follows their excellent Berkeley Days Second Night package in a limited run of 400, I Told You Baby Long Time Ago – Scandinavia March 1969 limited edition of 450 on clear splatter vinyl and The Night Stalker – LA Forum 1975 issued last October in a run of 400 -1 to 200 on gold vinyl – 201 to 00 on clear vinyl. The first two had excellent content and packaging – the Night Stalker was a little bit underwhelming in the presentation.

By and large this one is much improved in the packaging department.

The cover is a colourful triple fold out affair with mostly relevant 1980 Over Europe tour photos taken from a variety of gigs on the tour and an informative and brief sleeve note. Some of it is based on the text in my Feather In The Wind book.

It also has a facsimile 10 x 8 insert of the look out warden official tour poster (based on a front over of Picture Post magazine). The reverse has an Over Europe ’80 visual with the tour dates – this is not an official poster and it’s shame they did not include a facsimile of the other official tour poster that was sold at the gigs depicting four photos taken from the pre tour rehearsals – this is reproduced on the fold out cover.

The actual labels reproduce the look out warden visual and the outer polythene cover also has a sticker stating the numbered copy in the run –mine is 320 of the 350.

However there is one big clunker. The cover photo of John Bonham is clearly a photo from the 1977 US tour – a real shame as the back cover has a very good Bonzo shot that I know is taken from the Berlin gig. That one surely begged to be on the front cover. On further inspection I’d say one of the inside covers of John Bonham is a 1977 shot. This may be a bit nitpicky but it’s nonetheless an annoying lack of attention to detail.

To the music – and what we have here is an undoubted historical artefact

On Monday July 7 1980, Led Zeppelin took the stage for the final night of the tour – and what would ultimately be the last ever Led Zeppelin performance with John Bonham.

The sound quality is excellent being the soundboard source used for the CD versions. Very pleasingly  and unlike the Night Stalker release, virtually all the in between chat is present and correct. I noticed a slight edit in the intro to Trampled Underfoot. To have lost the in between chat would have been a real shame as Plant’s very upbeat and humorous comments say a lot for the general atmosphere of this last night of the tour. He seems genuinely pleased at to how it has all gone – a fact Peter Grant noticed as on the flight back because he got the nod from Robert that a US tour was now viable. Sadly that was not to be. Aside from Jimmy’s usual intro to Black Dog, he also has a words to say as he tunes up for White Summer – this spiel is also left intact. So it’s full marks for the actual presentation of the concert across these six sides.

Overall, it’s an upbeat and interesting swan song performance. Robert Plant is on excellent form and in a jovial mood. At times they do seem to rush proceedings and there are moments of sloppiness – there is also a bit too much reliance on the vocal harmoniser effect which sometimes clouds the clarity of Plant’s voice. However, there is much to enjoy about this final performance because when it’s good, it’s very good indeed.

Being lucky enough to attend five of the shows (though sadly not this final one) I have much affection for this tour  and I personally love the set list. Highlights here include the opening burst of Train Kept a Rollin and Nobody’s Fault But Mine, the stand alone Rain Song and All My Love with that gorgeous extended outro.

Despite Achilles Last Stand being strangely dropped from the set, this was still the longest performance of the tour notably due to some lengthy extended work outs – Trampled Underfoot is a prime example as Page, Jones and Bonham lock into an incessant groove.

Listening now to what would be there last moments together as a band is a moving experience, not least because of the striking content of the final performances of Stairway To Heaven and Whole Lotta Love -both of which are worth the price of admission alone –  because both are delivered in unique arrangements.

Stairway clocks in at over fourteen minutes, half of which is given over to a rambling and totally mesmerising Page solo. It was easily the longest on the tour. Similarly unusual is the version of Whole Lotta Love, somewhat appropriately the last ever song the original Led Zeppelin quartet performed live as a band.

It begins with Page aping the intro of The Who’s Anyway, Anyhow Anywhere and leads on to a rare, totally medley- less arrangement that clocks in at 17 minutes. A mid-section jam has JPJ beefing up a funk riff over which Page teases with the Theremin and then opens up the wah-wah effects. Plant keeps up the pace with suitable primal screams and Bonzo pounds away relentlessly.

These final moments sees them drifting off into their own little world, almost oblivious of the audience. It was as if some sixth sense intuition was telling them that this would be the very last chance to play together and they didn’t want it to end. The camaraderie of recent weeks seems to will them to keep the flame burning for as long as they can on this tour. It triggers a nostalgic throwback to the experimental Zeppelin of the early 70s.

These impromptu performances are clear indications that far from being washed up, the 1980 Led Zeppelin still had that unique creative spark to improvise at will -and to make that improvisation a development rather than an indulgence  –  something that had been in their make up right from the start.

Sadly it all had to end.

“Eye thank yew. Thank you very much Berlin. Thank you very much everyone who’s worked for us and put up with us and all those sort of things, and er… goodnight!”

Summary: It strikes me had they have had the energy for it (and they clearly didn’t) this would have made a very welcome final live official album perhaps for release on the first anniversary in 1981.

As it stands, this is an equally welcome unofficial release that captures on record for the first time a very significant and historic performance. This final night in Berlin is a timely reminder on this 46th anniversary that Led Zeppelin still had new ground to cover and places to go…

Dave Lewis – July 7  2026

TBL 1977 Retro Archive: A week for Badgeholders – 49 years gone – June 1977: Part 2

To commemorate those epic six Los Angeles Forum shows of June 1977 of 49 years ago last month, here is the second part of a lengthy overview of the 1977 tour that first appeared in TBL issue 9. The pre-amble sets the scene on the state of play inside Led Zeppelin at the time and leads on to a summary of three of those June performances as heard via the legendary Listen To This Eddie bootleg plus the two Last LA Forum sets issued back in the mid 90s.

Thanks to the late Mike Millard’s superb audience tapes, we can hear lasting evidence of the sheer excitement of the 1977 Led Zeppelin, capturing a week where the sense of on the road fun was never more evident. Read this…and get those 1977 CD remnants on your player…..

TBL 1977 Retro Archive:

….But the LA story doesn’t end there. By the wonder of more silver rarities, this time via two double packages on the Badge holder/Great Dane Italian label, we can continue the progress of the tour and enjoy two more nights at the Inglewood California venue. Allegedly taped by the same guys that did the opening night, ‘The Last LA Forum 2 Days’ contains similar quality audience tapes of the complete performance on June 25 and 74 minutes of the last ever LA Forum show on June 27 – spread over a pair of double disc sets with similar grey graphics, reproducing the No Split In Zepp’ November ’77 NME Jimmy Page interview headline.

So once again we can imagine we’re front row centre as Page stalks the stage in white dragon suit, firing out the chords that will become ‘The Song Remains The Same’. Fresh from a day off and having survived a Keith Moon encore three days previously, the whole band sound on a crest of a touring wave. In general, this fourth night at the Forum is every bit as exciting as the ‘Eddie’ set and the fact that this particular gig contains three additional songs not performed on the opening night is the veritable icing on the cake. So by the time they have romped through the urgent ‘Song Remains’ and a muscular ‘Sick Again’ and Plant has observed that “It’s Saturday night” . . and driven the band through a tough and cooking ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ (and, yes, Bonzo is still all there . . .) we can enjoy the first of the set alternatives. In place of ‘Over The Hills’ the boys opt for ‘In My Time Of Dying’. Not that this is any old version of ‘In My Time Of Dying’. It opens perfunctorily enough but it’s soon clear that, as Luis Rey observed in his log, Page is definitely on! So much so that when Plant reaches the “Oh My Jesus” refrain and begins a completely spontaneous version of ‘Rip It Up’ (“Well it’s Saturday night and I just got paid” . . .) Page is immediately with him backed by Bonzo and Jonesy as they skit around this 50s fun for a few seconds before returning to the original theme. Then Robert throws in lines from both ‘You Shook Me’ and Let That Boy Boogie’ (“So many roads”) at the finale. Yes, it’s one of those nights.

“Tonight is the annual general meeting of the LA Badge holders”, Plant tells the audience, sustaining the in-joke theme of the famous ‘For Badge holders Only’ June 23 LA concert. This was a sketch whereby Robert referred to the tour entourage as being privileged badge holders – no doubt equipped with Led Zeppelin United States of America 1977′ tour laminates and passes. Following a no-nonsense delivery of ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’, Robert introduces John Paul Jones. “This features a man who has a badge holder in the wings who we haven’t quite got the spotlight trained on yet . . . for John Paul Jones’ badge holder – ‘No Quarter’.” Following that particular opus, Jimmy can be heard tuning the Telecaster in preparation for Ten Years Gone’ which is duly delivered tight but loose with the man pulling out some undeniably beautiful lyrical guitar phrases. This performance of the song reinforces my opinion that the decision to play this most difficult of on-stage arrangements made for one of the most ambitious and ultimately moving parts of their post ’75 concerts.

The acoustic set unfolds and tonight Plant enigmatically follows the “They say she plays guitar and cries and sings” line in ‘Going To California1 with the comment “And I saw her last night”. Another LA set bonus occurs with the inclusion of Trampled Underfoot’ (previously employed as an encore number on the first leg of the ’77 tour), which is slotted in after ‘Kashmir, a space reserved for ‘Heartbreaker’ on the opening LA night. Robert precedes it by enlightening the audience on the song’s source of reference – namely Robert Johnson’s ‘Terraplane Blues’. “Anybody heard of Robert Johnson? Does anybody remember laughter? Well, Robert Johnson was one of the first guys to liken the automobile to the actual physical side of love making and he recorded a track called Terraplane Blues’. This is a sort of 1975 version equivalent . . . it’s called ‘Trampled Underfoot’.”

Moby Dick/Over The Top’ is graced with the usual cryptic intro though not as extensive as the epic opening night’s lengthy sketch. “As the atmosphere builds in this building I think it’s only right that we should introduce the main stay ot the whole driving force behind sleeping with Led Zeppelin . . . John Bonham Over The Toppppppp!”

And finally to a very reverent Stairway’, complete with typically reverent Plant speech. “So amidst the confusion that surrounds all of us in our lives … as life takes its course (people adjust snare drums and bass drums), yes, it’s all the same . . . having a nervous breakdown . . . who knows? Here’s a song that has the opposite effect of ‘Communication Breakdown’.” Enter Page s opening chords accompanied by an exploding firecracker. The reference to ‘Communication Breakdown’ is not without substance, as, come the encore, instead of the ‘Whole Lotta Love/Rock And Roll’ customary medley, they instead come out of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and blitz into a short punchy rare ’77 version of ‘Communication Breakdown’ with Robert putting all that Manticore rehearsing with the harmoniser to good effect. “Thank you very much LA. Good Night!”

Just another night on the road? Hardly.

But then it never was just another anything when Led Zeppelin hit Los Angeles. As can be seen by their insistence to throw in the odd set variation, the four experienced a spontaneous rapport with their Califoiamian audience that ensured a high energy performance every time.

From there we move to the final night of the LA stint with disc 2 of the second The Last LA Forum 2 Days’ containing 74 minutes of highlights from another high energy performance.

The action commences with yet another quite awesome Over The Hills And Far Away’. It’s preceded by a tantalising warm up from Jimmy before he embarks on the revolving intro (guaranteed to send shivers down my spine every time). The solo is just out of this world. A series of staggered ripples from the Gibson that swoop and dive across the speakers. It brings to mind that story from the beginning of the ’75 tour when Jimmy informed Robert he was tired at one of the shows and to expect short solos – only to extend Over The Hill to eight minutes – a direct response to the surge of energy created between the band and its audience. In fact ‘Over The Hills’ is nigh on nine minutes on this final LA night. A fitting Swan song.

‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ is next up (dedicated to JJ Jackson, the US DJ), with Bonzo providing another colossal climax. Then it’s to the acoustic set. And not just any old acoustic set. A skit through ‘I Just Can’t Be Satisfied’ sets the scene for the unorthodox nature of the proceedings. “Here’s a song that’s very reminiscent of somewhere we’re going to be in about 24 hours time, it’s a place called England” Plant tells the audience before “The Battle Of Evermore”. Following a delicate ‘Going To California’ (complete with supporting bird whistle from the crowd – “Who’s got that fucking whistle – I think we’ve had enough of that now thanks”, says Plant), we hear one of the most remarkable moments of the tour. The medley of ‘Black Country Woman’/’Bron Y Aur Stomp’ is extended to some 14 minutes to take in a lengthy acoustic solo that develops into ‘Dancing Days’. Yep ‘Dancing Days’ a long deleted live chestnut from the 72/73 era. This version has Bonzo beefing up Jimmy’s acoustic lead and Plant merging the lines of the opening verses to create a spontaneous delivery unique to but a handful of dates on this tour. “How about that. We ain’t done ‘Dancing Days’ for five years. I don’t think we will again” he jokes.

An edited Achilles’ (inspiring visions of that great ’77 cine film excerpt of the track), and a tremendous ‘Stairway To Heaven’ closes the main proceedings. Before that Plant offers up a closing speech. “It’s most peculiar to walk away from the microphone one minute and come back and find it covered in honey. Obviously it’s the last night of the tour! It’s been great. 6 days, 6 nights in LA. It’s been a mindbender”. This particular version of ‘Stairway’ reminds me of the majesty the piece carried back then. The whole Rolf Harris syndrome has rendered the song into laughable parody these days … In 1977 it really did still mean something with Robert’s impassioned delivery (“Bonzo’s got some good news”), and Jimmy performing a meandering solo to match.

We then experience all the craziness of the LA wind up as the band return amidst firecrackers and chaos for one final surge – and Robert gets in another speech. “Before we continue we’d like to thank you for being a great audience. Sincerely, no bullshit. Bunch of geriatrics like us. It’s really hard work, yer know. We’d like to thank all the members of the full supporting cast … the sound and light crew, Showco, a very good sound system as you know. Every night the acoustic set’s no good but the rest has been great. Benji Lefevre, the man from England, for all the funny noises, Ray Thomas from Scotland who can’t tune guitars, Mick Hinton who was a bus conductor in Cambridge and can’t tune the drums, Brian, who’s covered in 7-Up and all the people in the wings who’ve been making rude gestures for 6 days. And most of all the badge holders of California!” Cue ‘Whole Lotta Love’ in to ‘Rock And Roll1 and it’s all over.

And just as they usher themselves offstage and into the limos, there’s one final telling and now poignant comment from Robert to the LA faithful. “Thank you very very much. Never thought we’d come back but we did. And we shall come back again … I think . . . we should all know you all by first names by now but we don’t. . . maybe next time.” Then it was off into the limos into the night and a return to the English sanity. Nobody knew it at the time, of course, but Led Zeppelin’s 8 year old love affair with Los Angeles was at an end.

Reliving the 1977 live experience courtesy of these very enjoyable CD sets, demonstrates how inventive and exciting the band could still be, despite the madness of the touring charade that surrounded their status as the biggest draw in the world.

The plan of course was to hit the major US stadiums in the late summer, culminating in an appearance in front of 95,000 at the JKF Stadium in Philadelphia (ironically the scene of the first public Plant/Page/Jones reunion some 8 years later at Live Aid). Unfortunately they never got that far. In late July at the Oakland Stadium, violent off-stage Incidents would vastly overshadow the on-stage action and those events in turn were rendered almost inconsequential when the tour was promptly halted with the news ot Robert’s family tragedy.

Musically, there can be little doubt that had the tour continued on the wave of optimism that surrounded the June dates, new peaks of creativity would have been scaled that would have led to an equally creative bout of recording for the next studio album (tentatively titled Tight But Loose’), which was scheduled for the end of the year. There was every indication following the cancellation of the tour that the final chapter in the Led Zeppelin story had been written. Despite Page’s autumn round of interviews to dispel the split stories, for a long period Robert had confided to close friends that he would not perform with the group again. Slowly a period of rehabilitation did take place. Initially, they got together at Clearwell in May 1978 and from there it was to Sweden’s Polar Studios, and on into the grand comeback at Knebworth and the rejuvenation attempt in Europe in 1980 before the ultimate tragedy would dictate the final end.

And that’s exactly the reason the music preserved on these LA CD’s is so vital. Along with soon to be issued June 23 ‘Badge holders Only’ set, ‘Listen To This Eddie’ and ‘LA Forum The Last 2 Days’ offer an invaluable record of a series of concerts that alongside the early Fillmore stands and the Earls Court season, rank as some of the most outstanding of the band’s entire career. They really do document, to paraphrase an old Yardbirds’ bootleg, the last hurrah. An era when Led Zeppelin, like the gods of antiquity, still seemed so utterly immortal.

1977 and all that. . . and evenings with Led Zeppelin. Relive them at your earliest convenience.

Dave Lewis 1993. First published in TBL issue 9

Dedicated to all who used to frequent the Saturday Camden and Victoria Record Fairs in London during the early 1990s (Hi Julian, Eddie, Gary, Dave Linwood , Nigel, ,Simon, Tony, Keith, Mark Phil T, etc) where we used to eagerly snap up the latest Zep CD’s in abundance and then swap stories, compare recordings, read Phil T’s excellent Led Boots guide and drink a beer or two in the nearby pub. Great days…

…and of course remembering  the late much missed Andy Adams…

Dave Lewis

The Rolling Stones in Hyde Park – it was 57 years ago: 

The Rolling Stones and me and a week in July 57 years ago…

I can remember quite a lot about the days that led up to The Rolling Stones performing that famous free concert in Hyde Park all of 57 years ago on Saturday July 5 1969.

On Tuesday, July 1 all our school converged on the main hall to watch the Investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in Caernarfon Castle in Wales. Later in the week on Friday July 4 I awoke to see the headlines in the newspapers that Brian Jones, the recently departed Rolling Stones founder member, had been found dead in somewhat mysterious circumstances in the swimming pool of Cotchford Farm home.

The Stones were due to play that massive concert just two days later. On that Friday afternoon of July 4, I walked from school into town – my destination was the WH Smith book shop in the High Street, then known as FR Hockliffe.

A quick aside – little did I know that afternoon in 1969 that in a mere five years, I would be working at this shop behind the record department counter commencing a 35 year career in music retail.

The reason for the visit was for me to select a book of my own choice as a school prize. I had done pretty well that first year in the Silver Jubilee secondary modern school and had been awarded the merit prize. I spent some time wading through the books settling on a Billy Bunter book by Frank Richards. I loved the Bunter books – whilst there I also bought a copy of Tom Brown’s Schooldays. Reading was already a big passion – my regular other choice reading was the New Musical Express – aka NME – the huge selling weekly music paper.

As mentioned in a previous post, back in the spring of 1969 aged 12, I had got right back into music after hearing The Beatles’ Get Back single.

I was now immersed in the world of pop and rock and I knew from reading the NME that The Rolling Stones Hyde Park free concert was going to be a very big deal.

After buying my books at FW Hockliffe I returned home to watch the TV coverage of the Wimbledon Ladies singles final. Our own Anne Jones making it are British triumph by beating Billie Jean King 3-6,6-3 6-2. This piece of sporting history was also enjoyed by The Beatles. The July 4 entry in Mark Lewisohn’s remarkable book The Beatles At Abbey Road reveals that on that same afternoon, The Beatles were at work in Abbey Road Studios recording Golden Slumbers/ Carry That Weight. The studio engineers has been listening to the live BBC Radio 2  coverage of the Anne Jones -Billie Jean King final and had relayed it to the three Beatles, Paul, George and Ringo through the mixing console.

Whilst in town earlier that afternoon had I ventured to the popular local record shop Carousel ( which I often did), I may well have seen copies of the new Rolling Stones single Honky Tonk Women on sale as it was released that same day. I may also have seen the new John Lennon/ Plastic Ono Band single Give Peace A Chance which also came out that day. At the time the eight shillings and sixpence asking price for a single was way out of my league. However in the coming weeks I would subsequently hear them both many times on the radio and on the local juke box at our local café.

On Saturday July 5, Radio One broadcast regular updates of the gathering crowds in Hyde Park to which I avidly listened to. Oh to be there but I was far too young. Seven years later I did make it to the free concert Queen gave in Hyde Park.

I read all about the Hyde Prk concert in the following weeks issue of  NME and gazed in wonder at all those amazing photos – Jagger looked incredible. In September, I watched the Granada TV documentary Stones In The Park when it was screened on ITV.

By then, I had deemed The Rolling Stones as my favourite group – just edging it over The Beatles. That would all change of course in a few months when I heard Whole Lotta Love by a group called Led Zeppelin.

I loved the Honky Tonk Women single – with its dramatic intro and bluesy chorus. I also loved the B side You Can’t Always Get What You Want. This was often played on the local café juke box. The B sides of popular singles would often get an airing on that juke box. Actually there was an exception to that. There wasn’t much call for the B side of Give Peace A Chance – Remember Love sung rather softly but not that sweetly by Yoko Ono.

Around 1973, I acquired an audience recording of the Stones Hyde Park show on a bootleg LP. Years later, when it received an official release on DVD I eagerly snapped it up. It’s a superb documentary and very much of its time and takes me right back all of 53 years to that memorable week in July when in much schoolboy wonderment, I soaked up all the remarkable events that were unfolding on the music scene.

Later in the month there would be more awe inspiring events to take in when Neil Armstrong made that first step on the Moon.

Ahead lay Woodstock and the Isle of Wight festival’s, the release of Abbey Road and an album titled Led Zeppelin II

It was 57 years ago and my musical landscape was being broadened by the week…oh for a time machine to relive it all again…

The above thoughts are based on text for the work in progress DL Memoirs

Dave Lewis 

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My thoughts on The Lighting Seeds/Deacon Blue

Bedford Park – Thursday July 2 2026

To Bedford Park for the first of the annual Summer Sessions concerts sponsored by TK Maxx – a Pad Presents line up featuring

The Lightning Seeds and Deacon Blue.

Ian Broudie’s Lighting Seeds lit up proceedings from the off. Plenty of bangers here to soak up, notably Life’s Too Short, Lucky You, The Byrds cover You Showed Me, Perfect, Pure and Life of Riley.

Add in a timely Three Lions (‘’it’s coming home – maybe!’’ as remarked Ian.) this was the perfect opening set to put the crowd in the mood for more of the same.

Deacon Blue opened with a cover of The Hues Cooperation Rock The Boat that segued into Late 88. Queen of the New Year and Wages Day set the template for a truly uplifting performance.

Circus Lights, Loaded, People Come First and Chocolate Girl were early highlights. The also threw in a cover of the Eric Church song Springsteen which tells the story of young romance tied to memories of listening to Bruce Springsteen’s music.

On the home strait, The Great Western Road, Real Gone Kid, Dignity Fergus Sings The Blues and a lovely finale of Bacharach/David’s I’ll Never Fall in Love Again rounded off a superb set.

Front man Ricky Ross galvanised the audience throughout (his comments about seeing Bedford’s embankment was a nice touch) and Lorraine McIntosh brought relentless energy to the stage.

Deacon Blue just love what they do and their passion is infectious, as was emphatically demonstrated on this first night of the Summer Sessions season.

Dave Lewis – July 4 2026.

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My thoughts on Coda – a tribute to Led Zeppelin – Bedford Esquires Saturday July 4 2026:

I’ll let the two set lists do the talking first:

Good Times Bad Times/Ramble On/Over The Hills And Far Away/Nobody’ s Fault But Mine/No Quarter/Since I’ve Been Loving You/The Song Remains The Same/Moby Dick/Black Dog

Second set: Immigrant Song/Heartbreaker/How Many More Times/Ten years Gone/Trampled Under Foot/Achilles Last Stand/Kashmir/Stairway To Heaven/Whole Lotta Love/Rock And Roll

Come on what’s not to like?!

Not having seen them for a good while, I had forgotten just how good Coda are – it took just few bars of Good Times Bad Times to be reminded…

The chemistry of vocalist Pete Byrne, guitarist James Yorke-Starkey, Rob Deery on bass and keyboards and Jess Dann on drums was instant. They have every nuance and move of the real thing well and truly nailed.

So many highlights – the delicacy of Over The Hills And Far Away impeccable played, the stop start dynamism of Nobody’s Fault But Mine, a mesmerising No Quarter and a simply phenomenal Moby Dick drum solo from Jess.

And there was more in the second half: An authentic Zep I delivery of How Many More Times with Oh Rosie and The Hunter, an emotional Ten Years Gone , a frantic Trampled Under Foot and a truly epic Achilles Last Stand.

A final run through of Kashmir, Stairway To Heaven and encores of Whole Lotta Love and Rock And Roll left the audience breathless – it was a non stop Zep assault on the senses.

Final thoughts: It was great to see so many younger people well and truly getting off on one of the rock catalogues of all time and I must single of drummer Jess who really is a revelation – and hats off to the Esquires team for great sound mix.

Coda continue to uphold the legacy of Led Zeppelin with such blistering effect. Be sure to catch them if they are in your area…

Dave Lewis – July 6 2026

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Sunday July 5:

With Pete Byrne and Rob Deery of the Coda Led Zep tribute band at Bedford Esquires last night – they were brilliant!

Communal pic tonight with Paul Steve Livesley Janet me Andrew Pepworth Lee Abrahams Jon Lane Anne Marie, Sarah and more – all here for Paul Weller at Bedford Park summer sessions – this is what it’s all about – sharing the music on a hot summer Sunday night!

Monday July 6:

Monday July 6:

Mexico 2 England 3  – Sensational!

Tuesday July 7:

Tom Locke three years gone today…much missed and always loved and remembered…