35 years ago this month, Led Zeppelin performed what would be their last indoor performances in England.
When the band undertook the series of five shows at London’s Earls Court Arena in May of 1975 they were at the very peak of their creative powers. Spurred on by the critical and commercial success of their sixth album, the double set Physical Graffiti, each show they played took on event-like proportions. The 17,000 capacity Earls Court afforded them the luxury to showcase in the best possible setting, the sheer enormity of their …

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 …

Boot Led Zeppelin successfully revived the spirit of Led Zeppelin’s Earls Court 1975 shows with a marathon performance at the Shepherds Bush Empire last Saturday. 
Radio One DJ Fearne Cotton introduced the band on stage to a very enthusiastic crowd. For the next three hours, Boot Led Zep looked the part, sounded the part and even spoke the part –singer Luke Ward adapting Robert Plant’s between song intros and patter from the original Earls Court shows. This added yet more authenticity to a performance that celebrated the 35th anniversary of those …

The first time I remember discussing the new band being formed by Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and John Paul Jones, was in the back of the car as we travelled to the Lytton Arms for the Knebworth book launch last August. My good friend Tom commented it could be a band worth ‘’pitching up for’’ to use one of his expressions.
Indeed it has been.
These past few months tracking the progress of Them Crooked Vultures has been an absolute  joy – and in a parallel perhaps to that of Robert’s Priory …

Led Zeppelin (on film) at the Granada Bedford January 1977. No prizes for guessing where this poster was llikely to end up!
 
33 years ago today I was about to commence a seven night stint in the company of Led Zeppelin….or to be more specific their film The Song Remains The Same.
The newly released celluloid masterpiece was on general release and doing the rounds nationally and cue fanfare…had rolled into my home town of Bedford.
Yes Led Zeppelin alive on film in the quaint market town of Bedford for seven nights only and …

UK tribute band Boot Led Zeppelin will be celebrating the 35th anniversary of the famous Zep Earls Court shows with a showcase gig on Saturday March 27th. The venue is the Shepherds Bush Empire in London. Boot Led Zeppelin will be recreating the magic of Zep in ’75 with a special Earls Court set list and TBL will be in attendance on the night – more details to follow. This is shaping up to be a great way of marking the 35th Earls Court anniversary. Ticket details and info via …

DL back at Earls Court 30 years to the day -May 18th 2005. For non badgeholders only.
After last week’s flurry of Zep related activity it’s been down to work with a ton of planning to do for this year’s TBL schedule.  Not that the news input has slowed too much with Jimmy’s appearance at the Show of Peace press conference bringing official word that he will be one of the main attractions  at the event on April 17th – and the presenting of his United Nations  Pathways To Peace award. 
 
It’s …

 
 
Here’s the latest TBL back issue extract from the TBL archives. These archive pieces highlight the depth of detail to found in the TBL magazine.
Subscribe now for future issues and you will never miss out.    
In keeping with this week’s 1975 theme, this TBL archive extract from issue 15 published in 2001, focuses on a series of dynamic performances as Led Zeppelin barnstormed there way across the US in early 1975. A band at the very top of their game…and a prelude to what the UK would revel in at …

It was back to the scene of those halcyon May days of 1975 last week when I attended the London Trade Book Fair at Earls Court.
The treasured old building still looks much the same from the outside though with the addition of the adjoining Earls Court 2 arena it has increased in size. It was comforting to see that the white surround that separates the tiers was still intact and the big old clock is still in place. Probably not the one of course that seemed to visibly slow as …

SATURDAY MAY 17 1975
Ticket: Gallery Block 72 Row L Seat 34

The first night – met then girlfriend Fiona in London for the long long awaited return. When the stage burst into action following Bob Harris’s intro just after 8pm well it was the moment my life switched into colour after the previous 18 years had been viewed in grainy black and white!
We had a good view high up to the right looking down towards Robert’s side. They were a little nervous and it was evident Jimmy was having lead …