Friday, February 16, 2024

On this day 16 February

 UNDER CONSTRUCTION FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG. I'm working on another (time consuming) project that takes precedence. Note that info on this page has not been fully updated yet and links may not work properly. Thank you for your patience.


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1972 16 February On This Day Led Zeppelin in Perth Australia
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  • 1968 The Yardbirds - London, England at Goldsmith College
  • [1969 Led Zeppelin - Baltimore, MD at Baltimore Civic Center]
  • 1972 Led Zeppelin - Perth, Australia at Subiaco Oval
  • 1975 Led Zeppelin - St. Louis at St. Louis Arena

1969:
I have put the 1969 concert in brackets (above) because some sources say that Led Zeppelin played in Baltimore that night and others (including Dave Lewis) say no. Ads for the show puts Led Zeppelin there as support for Vanilla Fudge. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band was billed as an added attraction.  The Gun, was awarded equal billing with Led Zeppelin (both referred to as the "hottest groups from England"). Two local bands were also scheduled. Quite a night if everyone showed up to perform.

One report's details make it sound quite credible that Led Zeppelin was there:
"My band "Lemon Lime" was the 4th band on the bill. After the death of Martin Luther King the summer before, Dick Klotzman put on a series of 5-band concerts at the Civic Center. Of note was that Zep played well past their allotted time and Fudge was miffed at getting 20 minutes to play before the curfew."


1972:
Long hair. The odd thing about the prejudice against it is that for most of humankind's history, everybody wore their hair long - male and female  Led Zeppelin was supposed to play in Singapore on Valentine's Day but they were refused entry because of local laws about long hair on men.  

Part way through the Australasian Tour tour Jimmy Page shaved off his nearly two-year-old beard. He had it in Melbourne on 20 February, but it is gone two days later. That was that for facial hair for Jimmy Page.

Meanwhile, long hair was associated with the evil of drugs, and so Led Zeppelin's welcome to Australia included a drug raid the morning after the Subiaco Oval show, where there had been rioting outside by fans who couldn't get tickets.
8 am Drug Raid on Top Pop Group
The Daily News
Thursday, February 17, 1972
Four drug special police today raided the visiting English pop group Led Zeppelin. The raid was carried out at a Scarborough hotel where the group was staying. Police woke the musicians and searched their baggage and belongings. No drugs were found. The raid followed last night's riot at Subiaco Oval. The group's lead guitarist, Jimmy Page, said he and the rest of the group were furious. They thought the raid was retribution for the concert trouble. He said the group had not seen the riot, but had only read a report in this mornings newspaper. Page criticised the police for leaving the group unprotected and allowing the stage to be mobbed at the end of the concert. "I'd like to now if today's raid was some sort of a rebuff for last night", he said. "We had nothing to do with any of what happened and then this morning, at some unearthly hour we were pulled out of bed and treated in a totally derogatory manner". He said the group had not got to bed until early this morning and then were dragged out of bed by police about 8:30 am.
Western Australia's Premiere John "Honest John" Tonkin was reported as saying that some aspects of the raid puzzled him and that he would investigate further.  "I am wondering that as they had not been able to find any drugs, what information they had acted on," Mr. Tonkin said about the police.


1972 Led Zeppelin, Perth Australia
1975:
Robert Plant's voice is a little froggy still from his bout with the flue but it sounds good. They all sound good!

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, St. Louis

1975 Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin, St. Louis







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