31 years ago today, Led Zeppelin performed their first show in the UK for four years when they made a triumphant comeback at Knebworth.

To mark the occasion here’s the second of our TBL Archive Knebworth Specials:

SEEING WAS BELIEVING:  THEN AS IT REALLY WAS….

Think of Knebworth and the images remain vivid:  The campsite, Tommy Vance’s Friday night rock show filling the air, chants of ‘’Zeppelin’’,’’Zeppelin’’ ,the early morning rush for the gates, the long wait during the day ,Skynyd’s Tuesdays Gone fading from the PA. the screen unfolding…and there performing The Song Remains The Same, Led Zeppelin live before our very eyes

Thousands of eyes that still hold thousands of memories.

The reasons are manifold. It was for a majority of fans, their first and ultimately only opportunity to see Led Zeppelin perform live. It was also many fans first experience of attending a major rock gathering. Many of them traveled long distances to be there, and suffered varying hardships to endure it all.

And as an event, from the build up, the tension, the speculation, the giant screen, the laser effects, it was pure Zeppelin theatre. And let us not forget that musically it was also a valiant renaissance. Not perfect by any means, but then Led Zeppelin live was never about perfection. There were undoubtedly some stunning moments that proved the 1979 Led Zeppelin was alive and well and still had new places to go. Examples?

Quite a few: The majestic opening double whammy of The Song Remains The Same and Celebration Day, the stop start dynamism of Nobody’s Fault But Mine, the emotion of Ten Years Gone, the swagger of Sick Again, the white  heat and white light of Achilles, the drama of  the violin bow solo into In The Evening, the ever reverent Stairway, the revamped Whole Lotta Love , and the pure adrenalin rush of Communication Breakdown the final ever track performed by Led Zeppelin on homesoil.

Some of the intensity of 1975 and 1977 may have been missing, but there was more than enough evidence at those shows to indicate that the muse was returning. It would all have come back given more road work. Over Europe assisted that process and the 1980’s touring campaign would have surely cemented it. Getting back to their audience in the UK with say a string of dates at  London’s  Rainbow, Newcastle City Hall, Manchester Apollo etc, would have been the beginning of yet another era.

Knebworth would then be viewed not as a glorious end but a glorious rebirth.

Somehow though like Michael Jackson’s ill fated O2 shows, it was never destined to be. Knebworth will forever remain in the heart and soul of Led Zeppelin fans as the last hurrah in the UK.

As the Then As it Was book reveals, the memories remain intact. From long coach journeys made from the north east and beyond causing much parental worry, mysterious cries of ‘’wally’’ on the campsite, the crush to gain entry, sleep and sanitary deprivation, the sheer wonder of seeing the band on stage, right through to the rather unfortunate story of a young lady who took a short cut coming out of the show and ended up quite literally in the s***.

All this for the love of Led Zeppelin

Writing the book was a cathartic experience for me. In these days of huge uncertainty there was strength to be gained in relieving the more innocent times of 31 years ago. Reading through the many recollections submitted had me laughing out loud and often moved to tears. They are a  stark reminder of how events in our youth shape our thoughts for years to come. Yes back then we were mere kids and our sense of responsibility rarely wandered beyond the next pint, the next album, the next gig.

But events like Led Zeppelin at Knebworth defined who we were and what made us tick. Yes it’s just a band and some songs as I sometimes try and remind myself…. but in truth it’s so much more.  Being at Knebworth in 1979 was a way into a world of empathy and communication. Empathy for the music of Led Zeppelin and communication with like minded souls who’se love for the band knew no bounds.  Both those ethics are still very much intact.

Then As It Was is therefore a book about empathy and communication that occurred a long time ago. In a world that has changed beyond recognition.

But its subject matter is still so important to so any people.

Of all the many words written by fans about their experiences the final thoughts of Peter Anderson from Stockport stand out ‘’The journey back was a nightmare’’ he writes, ‘’with our first real hangovers kicking in but it didn’t matter. We were kicked out of the car at 6am and crawled to bed thinking we had witnessed history.’’

‘’Thinking we had witnessed history’’. That line says it all

That’s exactly how I, and thousands of others felt too.

What none of us were aware as we came away from the park that night, was the fact that there would be precious opportunity to be in Led Zeppelin’s company in the future.  Of course in retrospect we now know we had witnessed history.

The recollections of fans who were inside that field, as retold in the book, are a lasting testament to that statement and the whole legacy of Led Zeppelin at Knebworth

Then as it was… sadly it can never be again.

The memories of those golden August days of an English summer 31 years ago grow ever precious with each passing year.

Dave Lewis

Bedford, England. August 4th 2010

With thanks to Gary Foy and Gary Davies.

RECOLLECTIONS FROM OUT IN THE FIELD:

MY KNEBWORTH

Joseph Whiteside

Vancouver,Canada

‘’This is a small little up-tempo ditty, that we’ve been asked by some people in Vancouver – It’s all there in the end baby….  It’s called Trampled Underfoot’’

‘Robert Plant from the Knebworth stage August 4th 1979

‘’Some people from Vancouver’’

My friend Roger Grais won the radio station competition on CFOX-FM our Vancouver rock music radio station. Although we had only got to know each other that summer he told me I was going with him as I met the two requirements – I was over eighteen and I liked Led Zeppelin. His girlfriend met neither requirement.

So two weeks later we head to London for a week, airfare, hotel and two concerts tickets in hand. Roger even got a passport on three days turnaround. We arrived on August 1 probably and spent two days doing the tourist thing and visiting as many pubs as possible. We lost count of the number of Green Man pubs in the environs of our hotel – The Whitehouse near Regent’s Park.

On the Friday afternoon we took the Tube to train station and headed out to Stevenage station where we got off( I think). We were loaded with three dozen beers, food, binoculars, a blanket and a crummy portable cassette recorder. Grabbing bootleg t-shirts we headed into one of the massive campgrounds. We wandered about chatting with people who couldn’t believe how we made it to Knebworth from Vancouver, Canada. As darkness fell we guzzled beers and chatted with two lovely girls from Leeds. After midnight we discovered that people were already gathering near some huge wrought iron gates. Around 4:00am the gate came down and the mad rush along dirt paths began to the main concert site. I lost a shoe and nearly lost Roger in the scrabble and charge but we made it and survived the jostling for what seemed like hours before we got in arounf 6:30 AM. Roger refused to surrender his ticket stub and retains his complete ticket to this day.

We charged down the hill and found a good spot, we thought, slightly stage right and well in front of the mixing board. The cool day (who said it was warm?) past quickly as we absorbed the building tension. Hopes of a mid afternoon acoustic set sadly evaporated. Fairport were excellent especially Swarbrick’s violin playing and Rundgren in his yellow jump suit was quite good we thought. And then dusk came on, the gradual darkness engulfed the area illuminated by torches, matches and camera flashes.

Our anticipation was so tense as we watched the myriad of stage hands finalize the stage prep and the light and video crew ascended the ladders to the upper light trusses.

9:30PM and the cheers and applause kept building as we awaited the event. I had seen Zeppelin in Seattle on the ‘77 US Tour but this would be even more special.

9:40 and the hand held torches signalled stage activity. Guitar notes and drum rolls sent us into a frenzy and then the opening sustained note of The Song Remains the Same began and what seemed like every light came on and bang there they were, our four heroes on stage again at last and sounding awesome. Plant dressed in black and Page in slacks and the soon to be sweat-drenched shirt.

The massive backstage screen was amazing as close ups of Page, Plant Bonham and Jones flashed across.

Plant’s quip about Jimmy doubting people would come at all was warmly received.  For us the early highlights of ‘Over The Hills And Far Away’, ‘Black Dog’ and ‘The Rain Song’ were special indeed.

‘Hot Dog’ was well received as the first new number but when they brought out the stool and Jonesy’s triple-neck I knew what was next. ‘Ten Years Gone’ was amazing and Jimmy’s phrasing on the overlays was sublime.  Regardless of the beer cans and wine jugs flying in our area we were all rivetted to the stage and the stunning audio and visual spectacle before us. Roger snapped pictures frequently, and I tried my best to keep the lousy mike in the air to record it all.

Then our special moment arrived. Plant said this next song is for “some people from Vancouver”. We were ecstatic – our request had gotten through. The radio station had given us Danny Urweider of Atlantic Records as a contact if we needed help. We phoned him as a courtesy and he asked what he could do. So as Zeppelin had not played ‘Trampled Underfoot’ in Seattle, I asked if he could ask them to play it for us. Special thanks forever to Danny for getting the request passed on and to Robert who remembered us – Two guys from Vancouver.

So with “a ready Mr. Jones” it began and Page’s solos on ‘Trampled’ were amazing indeed. ‘White Summer’ segued into ‘Kashmir’ as every light came on as that opening ‘Kashmir’ note was struck and there was the sway back from the audience and ‘Kashmir’ just blew us over.

Page’s violin bow solo heading to the drum intro for ‘In The Evening’ was another highlight. And then probably the best song of the show a truly unbelievable Achilles Last Stand. Bonzo’s drums on that one were in a different class, and Page by that time joyous but exhausted, just kept pushing it on. There is smile from him mid point on that song that just exemplifies for me Page at his best.

And then ‘Stairway’ with the clock now well after midnight.

To get three encores was astounding and as Plant over 100,000 people in a chorus of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ is was spine-tingling.

So after a final bow from a clearly very satisfied band, the stage lights changed, ‘Communication Breakdown’ came over the sound system. We gathered our stuff, and bid farewell to the people we shared the day and the experience with and headed toward the exits. Surprisingly we met up with the two girls from Leeds who somehow and ended up a short distance from us. They invited us back to their tent but we thought it best to head to the train station – big mistake in hindsight.

After train delays we headed back to London and talked about the show with everyone. Roger a drummer raving about Bonham’s powerhouse effort and me revelling in Page’s guitar genius. Into London late Sunday morning we then staggered into our hotel -dishevelled, lacking sleep, and me hobbling on one foot as the other lacked a shoe. We slept and then phoned the radio station to report on the best concert ever.

We enjoyed our last few days in London talking through highlights and listening to our terrible recording. On knowing we were going, we promised ourselves a visit to the Marquee Club to see some band – any band. Luckily it turned out that that Monday August 6 was Simple Minds first London gig. Our music tastes have always been very broad and to the see the best band ever – Led Zeppelin, and a very good up and coming band was great.

We returned to Vancouver with great memories of a great time. Roger and I remain steadfast friends and music compadres. We have been to hundreds of shows since (from the Grateful Dead to Dream Theater), but nothing has come close to that wonderful August night in a field in England.

It was special indeed, and to see video of it today brings back so many good memories. With a special thanks again to Danny Urweider and to Jimmy, Robert, John Paul and John (so sadly missed) thank you thank you.

By the way, who were all those lucky people on the stage riser to the left of Jimmy’s amplifiers? They must have been deaf by the end of the night.

Joseph Whiteside and Roger Grais

“Some people from Vancouver”

MY KNEBWORTH:

Dave Lewis, Bedford

Last year when I was researching the Knebworth book ,I came across the old Memorex cassette I recorded the first part of the August 4th show on.  It’s a remarkable remant not least for the fanatical enthusiasm it captures as they come on to the stage. You can hear my mates Tom,Dec  and myself completely losing all sense of perspective as they appear before our very eyes….but that’s the effect Led Zeppelin’s performance at Knebworth had on me  and thousands of others at that moment.  This You Tube clip was created to mark the launching of the Kneworth book.

Tonight, Tom and I will be reunited at the Totnes Close TBL HQ watching all this unravel again on screen. And around 9.40 pm we will be ringing Dec in London to remind him of the Bedford three’s exitement at that precise moment on Saturday August 4th 1979. The neighbours need to be warned – the ladies of this house Janet and Sam are wisely going out  – so it will be cranked up loud!

As this clip vividly demonstates  -this band was simply part of our lives – and it still is.  Heres the proof as captured 31 years ago today…..

The announcement of Knebworth was my first (and certainly not last) experience of the perils of magazine deadlines. I’d wrapped TBL 2 in the first week of May. Repeated calls to Swan Song had revealed nothing in the way of gig news in that early Spring. They were being tight lipped about any thing at that time. Under the headline “No news is bad news” I stated that Swan Song have no details to reveal on gigs or the new album. Adding that “Surely it can’t be too long before something is decided”.

Indeed it wasn’t. Copies of that primitive TBL were still being despatched when the announcement came. And where was I went it came through? – in the pub! Tuesday night was football training followed by a drink in the local. When I got home after 11pm that night my dad mumbled to me that “Your group has been mentioned on the programme that has that whispering man on”.

Anxious to find out exactly what was going on I called fellow TBL crew member Tom Locke who luckily knew the details. During that evening’s edition of The Old Grey Whistle Test Annie Nightingale had announced that Led Zeppelin were to top this year’s Knebworth Festival in August.

This was truly momentous news causing little sleep that night. In the morning I called Swan Song and sure enough the details were confirmed. The music press duly announced the event – the NME deployed the biggest news headline I’d ever seen them use to proclaim “Zep Are Back”.

I was actually a little surprised they had decided on Knebworth and just mildly disappointed that it was to be only one show and not a tour. Plus the sheer size of Knebworth would make it quite difficult to see them in anything like close proximity. Still, as Peter Grant would tell me years later, if they were still the best band in the world what better way to prove it than by playing to the biggest audience possible.

The next quest of course was the tickets. Nowadays tickets for a major festival are available on a variety of websites online or at  the dial of the credit card booking number. Not so back then. There was a mail order facility but the TBL Bedford crew needed to be certain. Tickets were going on sale at various Harlequin Record shops across the country from Sunday June 3. After a Saturday night pub crawl, Tom, Dec and I made the trip to Cambridge to stake out at the Bridge Street location of Harlequin (incidentally, many years later the shop traded as Our Price and then V Shop the retail outlet I worked for). When we arrived at 2am there were about 60 fans already camped out. I got around three hours sleep, woke with a raging hangover, sold a few TBL’s and waited anxiously in line for the 10am opening. The tickets themselves were a superb design – it was great to come away with something so tangible to the event – not like the computer printed designs of many of today’s tickets.

The following Saturday, June 9, I listened excitedly to Radio One’s afternoon Rock On show. They aired the first Robert Plant interview for two years conducted by Trevor Dann backstage at a Dave Edmunds gig. His statement that “Heroes were in books… old books” could have come down on a stone tablet from Mount Olympus such was its impact on this particular junior TBL editor. Knebworth was going to be the big one.

In the weeks leading up to it, events hurtled along… various changes of bill: Out went Dire Straits, Joni, Van Morrison, Marshall Tucker. In came Commander Cody, Todd Rundgren etc. A second date was added (we got tickets by mail order for that), the new album, as yet untitled, was scheduled for release around the time of the shows. I had planned a pre-Knebworth TBL3 but decided to wait until after the gigs. I had a flyer to distribute at the shows using South Bound Suarez as the likely title for the album – I’d got the track listing of the album and had a hunch that may be the eventual title – I was wrong!

So it was we found ourselves in front of the stage in a pretty deserted Knebworth arena on the morning of Thursday August 2nd. The game plan for the TBL Crew being to get there early (three days early!) and stake out for the soundcheck and get the best possible spot in the arena for the show.

Sounds simple enough but it was not to go entirely to plan. The early copies of NME, Sounds, Melody Maker and Record Mirror were on sale in Stevenage – all carried major Zep stories. In this Internet driven instant communication ’90’s age it will come as some surprise that this was the first I’d heard about them playing two warm up dates in Copenhagen the week before. Swan Song had given nothing away on that one – curses! If I’d known I would have made an effort to get over there, thus keeping up with my new found principle – if they’re playing somewhere, anywhere, I want to be there!

“I wonder what on earth they’ll be wearing?” enquired Dec during one of our speculative pre-gig conversations. A hint was on hand with the first publication of the official Knebworth photo call shot in the NME. And hey, they looked cool… somehow contemporary and looking well ready for action.

We were able to see just how Robert looked when by sheer chance we happened to be at the Knebworth house car park when he drove in for the soundcheck at 6pm. He asked us the way to the backstage area. We duly obliged wishing him well. He looked on top form with his hair styled in a way that made him look younger. Bonzo sped in soon after.

At this point things went a bit pear-shaped for us. We must have looked a bit too conspicuous hanging around by the stage. We were asked by JB – one of the key Zep security man to leave the arena while they tested the PA. Everyone, bar officials and the crew were also asked to leave. So it was we heard only a muffled version of the soundcheck from a few fields away. It was then into Stevenage for a much needed drink and an overnight sleep in the car.

Friday was just incredible. Watching the camp site gradually fill up was just awe inspiring. All those people who had come so far… all here for one group. Repeated chants of “Zeppelin, Zeppelin” filled the air. When Tommy Vance played The Rover as part of his Knebworth serenade Friday Rock Show a tremendous roar went around the site. I can still remember the feeling of immense pride as if it were yesterday.

Originally the gates were due to open at 8.30am. As it was around 3am the fences began to go down and a huge crush developed around the turnstiles. We hastily picked up our gear and ran to the barriers. Looking back now in this post Hillsborough era of crowd control, there could have been a major disaster at the front of the crush similar to the 1989 soccer ground tragedy. I for one was feeling the strain down the front and had to be pulled out by a security guard. It was a frightening experience. Thankfully the turnstiles opened and we were able to run down to a very strong vantage point near the front of the stage.

I do remember one rather unfortunate mishap in the drama to get in. I somehow lost the bag of leaflets I’d got prepared to hand out – missing out on informing 200,000 potential subscribers of this new found platform of communication. Oh well. Dent’s Road would never have coped with the rush of post!

From there on much of my Knebworth memories have been well chronicled in TBL3 and The Final Acclaim book. That particular review earned me the rose tinted glasses label from Sounds writer Hugh Fielder. Looking back now it was incredibly gushing in it’s praise but let’s face it, we were mere kids really and to see your favourite group and in that sort of setting… well it made an amazing impression. I stand by what I wrote back then – it was some of my most passionate prose and to understand all that, well, you really you had to be there.

Be there when that screen flashed on and that opening chord of The Song Remains The Same cried out. I taped the show on my cumbersome Phillips portable – unfortunately the batteries ran out by half way through but I still have the first part, that tape captures our manic excitement as they came on including Tom bellowing “They’re on the fucking stage!!!” If I ever need to explain why it meant so much to anyone, well, one listen to that moment they came on as captured on this old Memorex tape would surely go some way to demonstrating the effect it had on their audience at the time.

Little did I realise that years later that same Phillips portable would capture the voice of Peter Grant as he told me personally what he thought of that period and many more in the two days I spent interviewing him.

And to be there when that shot of laser light exploded from Page’s violin bow, the incredible drama of In The Evening, the first inkling of the new Led Zeppelin… and of course, there to hear that “It’s been like a kind of blind date” Plant’s speech before Stairway… and be there when we all erupted into You’ll Never Walk Alone”.

“Thanks for eleven years.”

Then it was all back for a repeat performance the next week. The ensuing days inbetween found me on a high comparable to that Indian summer week of May 17 to 25 four years earlier. We didn’t go down on the second date until early on the Saturday morning – again after a night of Friday night revelry. We still managed to get fairly close to the front. The day was slightly marred by the endless delays between acts and the long wait for the New Barbarians. There was less anticipation than the previous week, although they and us were a lot more relaxed. Whilst not carrying quite the same emotional highs as the first date it was a hugely enjoyable show rounded off by a vibrant Communication Breakdown. Plant’s final comments as he left the stage are etched in my mind for all time

.“We’ll see you again soon… very soon. I don’t know about the Marquee, but somewhere soon.”

As we exited from the field in under the Hertfordshire moonlight little did we know that we had just witnessed Led Zeppelin’s UK Swan Song.

When I got back to Bedford an advance tape (thanks Russ!) of the album awaited. The excitement did not let up for months…years…decades…

Looking back 31 years on there’s no doubt in my mind that that whole summer of 1979 was one of the best times of my life.  Central to that was a band and some songs…and a few thousand like minded people out in a field.

And yes they were outstanding in that field…and 31 years on they still are.

All text copyright Dave Lewis – not to re-produced without prior permission.

Taken  from the book Then As It Was –Led Zeppelin At Knebworth 1979 (Tight But Loose Publishing)

MORE RECOLLECTIONS NEXT WEEK