CELEBRATION DAY FEEDBACK AND RETAIL FRENZY:

Many thanks for all the Celebration Day feedback – Monday was another landmark day in this sequence of events with fans from all over the world enjoying the communal experience of the long awaited 02 reunion concert film release. It was also good to see the presence of the Celebration Day at the forefront of the retail sector as shops racked up what is going to be a key release for the Christmas season. These photos via Krys Jantzen vividly illustrate that Led Zeppelin look like being the saviours of the music retail industry – at least for the next few days.

CELEBRATION DAY MEDIA ROUND UP:

Here’s the excellent Interview with Jimmy Page with Kirsty Lang for BBC Radio 4’s ‘Front Row programme, broadcast on November 16th 2012.

Here are some comments from Jason Bonham via Classic Rock:

http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/led-zeppelin-jason-bonhams-journey-to-celebration-day/

TBL GIFT IDEAS FOR CHRISTMAS:  

It’s that time of year again and if you are fed up with receiving the same old tired gifts for Christmas each year, why not give your loved ones a nudge in the direction of the TBL ordering page and get them to invest on your behalf –let them really know what you want for Christmas or you may well end up with novelty socks and boxers yet again. Alternatively of course you can just treat yourself!

In the first of the TBL Gift ideas For Christmas Guides, here are some recommendations for those perfect Celebration Day companions…

TBL ISSUE 33

THE PERFECT CELEBRATION DAY COMPANION

So you have the Celebration Day DVD/Blu ray/CD all lined up ready to go…

The new TBL magazine issue 33 is the perfect companion to adding yet more enjoyment to this great time to be a Led Zeppelin fan .Once again it’s an action packed affair with exclusive news, views and features.

Here’s what’s instore :

Celebration Day – Press screening preview and press conference report

Nick Anderson’s Illustrated Guide to Led Zeppelin UK Singles

Mike Tremaglio chronicles Zep on tour in the USA 1972–The ‘Forgotten Giants’ tour log.

Barney Hoskyns on the writing of his new book Trampled Underfoot – The Power and Excess of Led Zeppelin.

Warren Grant –‘’My Father was the man who Led Zeppelin’’ – The TBL interview Part 2

Robert Plant – From the Artists Den to Sensational Space Shifting

John Paul Jones electronic noises with Minibus Pimps and Sunflower Jam and more

Latest Jimmy Page news

Glenn Hughes -exclusive interview on BBC’s Afterglow

Jeff Strawman Instrument Analysis/ Gerard Sparaco CD reviews and more.

You can order the single issue now at this link:

http://www.tightbutloose.co.uk/?page_id=15543

TBL 2012 SUBSCRIPTIONS:

The current TBL 2012 Subscription is still active so if you haven’t already done so, you can sign up for the three 2012 issues now. You will receive issues 32 and 33 immediately with issue 34 to follow early in the new year.

The order link is here

http://www.tightbutloose.co.uk/?page_id=1469

IF YOU LOVE LED ZEPPELIN – YOU WILL LOVE THIS MAGAZINE!

All orders will be processed and dispatched as received.

Remember your support of the TBL magazine and book products is fundamental to the continued presence of TBL in all its mediums –many thanks in advance for your support.

TBL PRODUCTS – GREAT GIFTS FOR CHRISTMAS…  

……..

AND FINALLY…

 ELECTRIC MAGIC 41 YEARS GONE:

November 21st is always a bit of a special date in my calander year as it was on this day back in 1971 that I was lucky enough to witness Led Zeppelin live at the Empire Pool Wembley –and as you will read, nothing was ever the same in our house after that…Today I’ll be wading through the Empire Strikes Back Tarantura CD box set to recall the night the Wembley Empire Pool was, as the Melody Maker headline ran  ‘Zapped by Zeppelin…’

Here’s some personal reflections…

Schoolboy wonderment, Wally, Pigs and Plates at the Pool

41 years ago today I first witnessed the pure live power of Led Zeppelin when I attended the second Electric Magic show at the Empire Pool Wembley on the evening of Sunday November 21st 1971. I was just 15 years old –the effect would be a lasting one. Looking back one of the things that stands out from that time is that Zep had a ‘’leaders of the underground’’ stigma about them.

This was the latter period of the UK underground scene –the famous Oz obscenity trial was a only a couple of months before and on that November night there hung a heady atmosphere as London’s counter culture elite came out to see them. This feeling of being amongst the counter culture was enhanced by the presence of a large stall within the Empire Pool for Virgin Records Richard Branson’s newly inaugurated discount record retail operation. They were proudly selling the new Led Zeppelin album in that mysterious sleeve. There was also the famous Electric Magic poster on sale for all of 30p which now changes hands for upwards of a grand. I wish I’d brought more than one!

This was the night Home and Stone The Crows were the support acts and during both sets their respective guitarists took out a violin bow and briefly did a ‘’Jimmy’’ in mock respect for what would occur later. The in between entertainment was provided by the infamous performing pigs that didn’t and the plate spinner Olley Gray who also didn’t fare too well. Warm up records played by DJ Jeff Dexter included Redbone’s Witch Queen Of New Orleans and Isaac Hayes’ Shaft – both hits of the time (Page would insert the riff of Shaft into their version of Dazed And Confused the next week in Manchester.

There were frequent cries from the audience of ‘’Wally’’ a gig going tradition sparked by a roadie at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. Never around when needed, the road crew cries of ‘’Where’s Wally?’’ was taken up by the festival audience – and ensuing audiences at big name gigs such as this one.

Then it was time for the main event. Promoter Ricky Farr introduced them and it was evident how loud it was going to be from the moment Bonzo rattled around the kit and Jimmy flexed the Gibson. Then 1 -2-3-4 …Blam!

I was watching Led Zeppelin perform Immigrant Song in front of my own eyes…and nothing was ever the same again.

And nothing was ever this loud. The sheer force of the riff physically pushed me back. After the initial shock of that moment, well the rest of proceedings for this particular schoolboy were just awe inspiring. I watched it all with open mouthed wonderment.

So many vivid images remain from that first stunning exposure to the grown up music world. The immediate upturn of seeing this thing in the flesh was that my interest increased manifold. The scrapbooks became more meticulous, the hunger for knowledge about them more intense and the need to follow their every move a virtual means to an end. It was a year of waiting before they returned to the UK and I saw them at Alley Pally and then came five glorious nights at Earls Court and more. By then journalistic reporting of Zep in the Melody Maker and NME by the likes of Roy Hollingsworth, Nick Kent and Charles Shaar Murray had inspired me to put pen to paper myself and the seeds of Tight But Loose were being sown.

Ultimately it was that night back in November 1971 that sparked the insatiable belief in their music that has stayed with me ever since. It was a night of true Electric Magic and the intervening 41 years have done nothing to diminish its impact.

Back then at 15 years old, I knew I had witnessed something very special –but little did I realize that many years hence at age 56 Led Zeppelin, – as can be vividly seen by the events of recent weeks, would still mean so much to me and countless millions across the world.

Then as now… they still hold the (Electric) Magic….

Dave Lewis – November 21st, 2012.   

Above – the teenage DL – little did I know in four decades time the effect of that initial night of Electric Magic would still be resonating…

Above – the decidedly middle aged DL with Alan Stutz playing back Celebration Day DVD on Monday November 19th 2012 – the Electric Magic still as astonishing as it was that night 41 years ago… 

Until next time…. keep reading – keep listening…

Dave Lewis/Gary Foy

November 21st, 2012

Don’t forget that you can follow Dave Lewis/TBL on Twitter – LedzeppelinTBL

and view additional photos etc at the Tight But Loose Facebook page (add us as a friend) at

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1611296783