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THE TBL CELEBRATION DAY COUNTDOWN DAILY NEWSLETTER : TBL LONDON OCT 21 SCREENING MEET/JPJ AT SUNFLOWER JAM/BCC ANNOUNCE UK GIG/ COUNTDOWN COLLECTION NO.2

17 September 2012 8,118 views 12 Comments

Countdown to the Celebration Day…30 days to go.

To mark the impending momentous worldwide screening of the Led Zeppelin Ahmet Ertegun 02 reunion concert on October 17th, we are counting down to the day with a daily Celebration Day Newsletter post. This will feature relevant news and updates plus the TBL Countdown Collection – a daily celebration of Zep moments, memories and artefacts.

CELEBRATION DAY SCREENING –TBL MEET VUE CINEMA ,WESTFIELD CENTRE WHITE CITY LONDON SUNDAY OCTOBER 21ST:

As mentioned yesterday, alongside the Bedford showing of the Led Zeppelin Ahmet Ertugen 02 reunion show, I have singled out a further screening for a TBL Meet. This will be at the Vue Cinema ,Westfield Centre White City  London’ on Sunday October 21st. This is 2.30PM screening and we look forward to seeing all that can make it along. Ticket details via this link

http://myvue.com/latest-movies/info/film/led-zeppelin-celebration-day

SUNFLOWER JAM 2012.

John Paul jones was on stage at the Royal Albert Hall last night for the annual Sunflower Jam. TBL’s Graeme Hutchinson files this first hand report:

Photo credit Neil Lupin / neillupin.com

The sixth annual SUNFLOWER JAM took place last night at the glorious ROYAL ALBERT HALL with a stellar line-up of rock and roll talent on show to raise money for their great cause helping to provide holistic care and support for people with acute and chronic medical and emotional conditions.As we went to our seats we were able to catch the end of the charity auction that was taking place for the dinner guests in the middle of the hall. One of the last items was a light blue Fender Stratocaster signed by Jimmy Page, JPJ, Tony Iommi, Slash and lots of other famous rock guitarists. It sold for £6500. Overall the auction raised almost £70,000 for the Sunflower Jam Charity.

Jeremy Irons stepped up to introduce the evening followed by Planet Rock DJ Nicky Horne to announce the evening’s line up and to make a special mention that the evening was dedicated to Jon Lord who recently passed away and was a staunch supporter of the Sunflower Jam. Interestingly both Jeremy and Nicky have a strong Zep connections as Jeremy Irons is a patron of ABC Trust, the charity that Jimmy page founded over ten years ago, and Nicky Horne of course introduced Led Zeppelin at the Earls Court concert on 24th May 1975. T0 open proceedings a modern dance group called Miss Kitty took to the stage in suspenders, stockings and basques with a raunchy routine to the classic Whole Lotta Love. It was fantastic to hear this song pumped out of a big PA system at decent decibels. Makes my mouth water for the soon to be seen Celebration Day cinema screenings where it will be loud!

Next up were a new band to me called The Temperance Movement and a very classy act they are. They remind me of a mixture of Free and The Faces with a truly first rate singer. Well worth checking out again. Margo Buchanan stepped up next to do an acoustic version of The Who’s Substitute which was followed by an introduction to the rest of the house band which included, amongst others, Micky Moody (ex Whitesnake), Brian Auger playing Jon Lords Hammond, Paul “Wix” Wickens (Paul McCartney).

Vocalist Sandi Thom was up next performing “Wheels On Fire”, a blues number whose title I didn’t catch and an acoustic version of November Rain (at least I think that’s what is was). Straight afterwards ex-Scorpions guitarist Uli Jon Roth took the stage to join the house band but not before a brilliant performance of the Scorpions  classic Sails Of Charon. Uli was a revelation. He warned us at the start “it might get loud” and it did and his guitar playing on this tune  and throughout the night being stunning. He gave it all and was one of the hi-lights of the night.

Things were starting to buzz at the RAH and then Alfie Boe was announced. I wasn’t sure what to expect….Nessum Dorma perhaps? I don’t think so….the opening drum riff was unmistakable and soon we had Alfie rocking the Albert Hall to Zep’s Rock and Roll. Simply brilliant. What a voice. Maybe JP and JPJ should have tapped up Alfie back in 2008 when Robert said “no”.  The mood changed as Alfie next took on Foreigners “I Want To Know What Love Is”. This is a notoriously difficult sing to sing but Alfie nailed it and got a very deserved standing ovation. AWESOME.

Brian May and Kerry Ellis were up next to perform a couple of acoustic tracks; Born Free (yes the Matt Monroe song) and Like A Butterfly, which was truly beautiful. Violinist Anna Phoebe and vocalist Steve Balsamo are next with a moving tribute to Jon Lord. Steve had worked with Jon over recent years and made a very moving speech. They then performed a song written by Jon called Pictured Within which must have had most of the audience in tears. Another deserved standing ovation.

A choir of men and women who had all suffered serious illness stepped up next. Known as The Big C they performed an enthusiastic “Something Inside So Strong” and Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life” to another standing ovation.

To follow, Level 42 bass man Mark King enters the stage and plays an implausible bass riff. How does he do that! A simply brilliant bass player…but not my favourite that nightJ Mark goes on to play Something About You and Lessons In Love which go down surprisingly well for the Albert Hall’s classic rock crowd. To finish off he mentions how hearing Cream at the RAH had inspired him in his youth and went on to perform Sunshine Of Your Love with Uli Jon Roth, who Mark says is his new best mate and favourite guitarist. Not a partnership I would have predicted but they were brilliant.

The big guns are about to take the stage with Bruce Dickinson first up and performs Thin Lizzy’s Emerald and The Who’s Behind Blue Eyes. The sound got a bit rough during his set which was a shame but he was still great. That man has one hell of a pair of lungs.

At last the new “house band” take stage. Ian Paice on drums, Brian May, Brain Auger and of course JPJ. Bruce is still on vocals and they break into Deep Purples Black Night. To be honest, it was a bit of a train wreck but I loved every minute. They were having fun, jamming to a great rock tune and Brain May might have screwed up the ending but who cares? Kerry Ellis takes the mike from Bruce and it’s straight into Rainbow’s Since You’ve Been Gone. It was simply fantastic though I bet you never thought JPJ would be playing this kind of stuff. Alice Cooper is next on vocals and to rapturous applause. His first song is a version of Chuck Berry’s Nadine which was terrific. After this JPJ leaves the stage to be replaced by the house bass player Nick Ffyfe as Alice band perform Elected and Schools Out. The RAH is thumping with these two classics. Spectacular stuff.

Finally everyone is back on stage for a rocking and very long verison of Smoke On the Water, although surprisingly only Mark King and Nick Ffyfe on bass. JPJ has returned to play the cowbell of all things. JPJ…man of multiple instrument talents!

By 10.45pm it’s all over and it has been truly memorable and fun evening of entertainment from some of rocks finest. It’s my first SunFlower Jam but it won’t be my last. Already looking forward to next year.

Graeme Hutchinson

 BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION UK SHOW ANNOUNCED

Black Country Communion, have announced what is billed as their only UK show at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Saturday 5th January 2013.

Planet Rock, will launch an exclusive48-hour ticket pre-sale from  Wednesday 19th September. Tickets will then go on sale to the general public at 9am onFriday 21st September from the 24 Hour ticket hotline 0844 478 0898, www.thegigcartel.com

From Wednesday 19thSeptember, Planet Rock will also offer a free download of the new BCC track Confessor

Visit  www.planetrock.com

Here’s the link for the BCC gig info

http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/blackcountrycommunion/ukshow2013.htm

The BCC third album Afterglow is due out October 31st.

CELEBRATION DAY TRAILER:

After four days of the Celebration Day Trailer being released, the current Youtube viewing counter stands at 544,244 hits, an amazing total you’ll agree, lets see if we can get to a million by the end on this week. Keep watching:

Finally…

THE TBL COUNTDOWN COLLECTION: NUMBER ONE WITH 30 DAYS TO GO:

Number 2 in the countdown to Celebration Day:

Today’s choice is Mudslide by Led Zeppelin –an original red vinyl bootleg on the Trade Mark of Quality label. This was a second version of a bootleg titled PB one of, if not the first Zep vinyl bootleg. I purchased this for £3 in early 1973 from the bootleg mail order company in Kent I was dealing with a lot back then. Appropriately enough this was recorded on March 21 1970 – on the opening date of the first of two US tours in 1970. The venue was the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. This single LP of highlights from a full show (I have the CD Ultimate Mudslide with more of this great night) was and is the essence of bootlegs because it told me much more than I already knew about the band. Not least that they performed something called We’re Gonna Groove, a track I’d certainly not heard before that would eventually release on Coda. A stirring Thank You, a version of Communication Breakdown with lines from Ramble On in the middle was yet more aural delight to leave this then 16 year old in awe. Playing it today not much has changed –it still sounds fantastic

Until tomorrow…keep on celebrating…

Dave Lewis/Gary Foy

September 17 2012

Don’t forget 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

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12 Comments »

  • Dave Lewis (author) said:

    Jeffrey -great to her from you!

    Lee and Richard -look forward to seeing you!

  • RichardG said:

    Another “out-of-towner” Westfield attendee here! Looking forward to seeing everyone and making up for missing out on an actual O2 ticket…(almost!)

    Watched the Work In Progress DVD this evening and even that was sending shivers down my spine so goodness knows how good the real thing will be…4 weeks today, can’t wait!

    RG

  • Lee said:

    Booked up my VIP seat for Westfield, maybe the TBL crew can take over the whole area? Looking forward to meeting up with the gang for refreshments before/after the movie. This will be my third viewing…or fourth if I can get into the London premiere!

  • Jeffrey The Old Wilson said:

    Dear Dave and all who are going.It was Dave in the early 80’s rekindled my faith in this the best band ever.We met at an exhibition in a Hotel in London.It was thanks to him I got all the info on 1st gig of P & P in Paris.
    So all who are going to the movie have a great time.
    I never thouight they would release it before I k—-d the b—-t
    Lol
    Convinced Zeppophile

  • Dave Lewis (author) said:

    Gary that sounds a good plan!

    Would welcome your piece on 02 experiences!

  • gary wade said:

    Dave
    Solved my double booking, got a sunday afternoon showing at Cheshire Oaks, Ellesmere Port so the whole Wade family is going as youngest is now a journalism student at Chester Uni. But me and Josh will have the ‘i was there’ t shirts on – if they still fit 🙂

    ps did i write you a piece about the o2 a few years back? if not i’ll get onto it.

  • Graeme said:

    Dave…you have some fine vintage boot vinyl on show mate. Lovely stuff.

  • Dave Lewis (author) said:

    Ian all good!

  • Ian Avey said:

    I’ve also just booked a VIP seat for the Westfield on 21st, as well as Nottingham on the 17th, exactly 1 month today! 🙂

  • Dave Lewis (author) said:

    Andreas -look forward to seeing you!

    Richard – this is a gig by any other name!

  • Richard said:

    Looking forward to the Glasgow screening. I have never seen a film like this at the cinema before…i wonder what the ettiquette will be in terms of noise and movement??!! 🙂

  • Andreas said:

    nice, just booked 2 vip seats for the westfield gig. would have been a shame not to share this momentous occassion with you. see you there.

    Andreas

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