Soundcheck

Eight years ago today, just about now (allowing for the time difference and when you read this), the final O2 rehearsal/soundcheck was happening.

Tickets for the show itself, available through a lottery system, had been snatched up by some 16-18,000 lucky devils, with literally millions of us losers sobbing about it.

Some lucky suckers had gotten access to the rehearsal/soundcheck, too.

2007 Led Zeppelin O2 rehearsal

Meanwhile, back home millions of us remained crying into our beer (or wine, in my case), not having won
one of those precious concert tickets or an invitation to the soundcheck. But we were not idle. No we were not. We were searching online for every scrap of information, any report - first or second hand, or even rumor. Anything at all.

Much had been kept secret, but in this day and age, there are always leaks. What was out there was hard to distinguish from rumors, but you had to find trustworthy sources and, well, trust them. Early feedback from Cameron Crowe (who was not there but had heard from someone who was) was that the soundcheck was thrilling.

The few hundred or so blessed witnesses to this penultimate performance were not allowed to record, but yes, that happened anyway.

The setlist for the sound check included:
 Good Times Bad Times

 Ramble On

 In My Time Of Dying

 No Quarter

 Nobody's Fault But Mine

 D'yer Mak'er

 Communication Breakdown

It was already common knowledge that the band had been practicing For Your Life, a song they'd never played live before.

Afterwards, some of the blessed met up at the Pilot Inn/Pub for a Led Zeppelin fan club meeting arranged by Dave Lewis, who, after all was said and done, referred to the whole experience before, during and after, as inhabiting Planet Zeppelin.

Amazingly, after all these years I'm still upset that I wasn't there and I'm still green with envy even as I type this blog post. So go ahead, ticketholders.  Torture me. Post your story of O2 in the comments.

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♪  Rock and Roll (Shepperton Studio, 05 December 2007) YouTube

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube

On This Day 09 December

Here comes the brilliance!

1964 09 December On This Day Jimmy Page at Brill Building
AUDIO: Here Comes the Night (Lulu)  Soundcloud

• 1971 Led Zeppelin - Coventry, England at Coventry Locarno Ballroom
• 1983 Jimmy Page ARMS Charity Concert Tour - New York at Madison Square Garden (day 2)
• 1984 Jimmy Page The Firm - London, England at Hammersmith Odeon  (day 2) 

1964
The Brill Building is famous for its music industry tenants.

Text from Jimmy Page's website:

I visited the Brill Building in New York.

I arrived in New York today in 1964, in transit to Los Angeles as a guest of Bert Berns and his wife Ilene. It was my first time in the US. Bert was a legendary R&B producer and songwriter for Atlantic Records who was responsible for countless hits including The Isley Brothers' Twist & Shout, Irma Franklin's Piece of My Heart and Solomon Burke’s Everybody Needs Somebody. During my stay Bert took me to the legendary Brill Building and Atlantic Records where I met Jerry Wexler, Nesuhi Ertegun and Tom Dowd. When people visit America, the very first port of entry always has a lasting effect on them. It certainly did for me, feeling the energy of New York and being introduced to these musical icons.

I had first met Bert when he came over to England. Atlantic Records were being distributed by Decca in the UK at the time. It was a pretty unique situation to have a producer come over from the States to work with in-house artists. One of the sessions that Bert did in London was Here Comes the Night with Lulu, which he was also to produce with them. Lulu’s version was recorded in Decca Studios in Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead. She sings a really credible version, which is worth hearing. I played guitar on this and also did some guitar overdubs on it.

1971

The show is interrupted after the first three songs by an IRA bomb scare.  Although authorities attempted to clear the building, many in the audience just took it as an opportunity to score closer positions to the stage.

Later, during Dazed and Confused, Jimmy Page lost his grip on his bow and it flew out into the crowd.

1983

"On the ARMS tour I realized the fans wanted me back."

~ Jimmy Page, as quoted by Dave Lewis

How could he have ever thought otherwise?  

1983 Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, ARMS MSG

1983 Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, ARMS MSG

1984
Full Circle, written by Gene Clark in 1972, refers to a wheel of fortune and the unpredictable nature of fame and fortune. It was released initially by Clark exclusively in The Netherlands, but is probably more known for its inclusion on the Byrds' 1973 reunion album, and has been covered by a number of musicians.

We'll be coming around to a full circle in 2016.

1984 Jimmy Page / The Firm Hammersmith Odeon London

2007
What exquisite torture it was waiting for this concert. What frustration it was if you were one of the many millions who couldn't be there.

2007 09 December - getting ready for the concert of the century

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♪  Cadillac (Jimmy Page/The Firm, Hammersmith Odeon 1984) YouTube
♪  The Full Circle (Jimmy Page/The Firm, Hammersmith Odeon 1984) YouTube
♫  Pre-show, interviews, concert footage (Jimmy Page/The Firm, Hammersmith Odeon London 1984) YouTube

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube

On This Day 08 December

"It's nice to be back.  Especially with friends like you."
~ Jimmy Page,  ARMS MSG 1983

1984 08 December On This Day Jimmy Page with The Firm at Hammersmith Odeon

• 1972 Led Zeppelin - Manchester, England at Hard Rock Concert Hall
• 1983 Jimmy Page ARMS Charity Concert Tour - New York at Madison Square Garden (day 1)
• 1984 Jimmy Page The Firm - London, at Hammersmith Odeon

1972 08 December Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Manchester (Frank Mullin Photo)

1972 08 December Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin Manchester (Frank Mullin Photo)

1983
"The stage goes dark after Becks set and when the lights come on Jimmy Page is onstage which causes the crowd to go crazy".
This was a quote from someone who was at one of the Cow Palace shows - I meant to share it a few days ago but forgot.

1983 Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck  ARMS Madison Square Garden

1983 Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page ARMS Madison Square Garden

1983 Jimmy Page ARMS Madison Square Garden (Michael Brito photo)

1984
"...and Tony Franklin on hair and bass."
I'd have liked to have been a fly on the wall listening to some of the cracks that must have been made about Tony's hair back then.

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♪   Over The Hills and Far Away (Led Zeppelin, Manchester 1972) YouTube
♪  Jimmy Page, ARMS MSG 1983 YouTube

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube

On This Day 07 December

1997 07 December On This Day Page & Plant at Café de Paris, London
Audio: Ramble On

• 1972 Led Zeppelin - Manchester, England at Hard Rock Concert Hall
• 1984 Jimmy Page The Firm - Middlesbrough,North Yorkshire,England at Middlesbrough Town Hall
• 1991 Jimmy Page with Long John Baldry - Vancouver, Canada 
• 1993 Jimmy Page inducted into Hollywood RockWalk of Fame.
• 1997 Page & Plant - London at Café de Paris, Benefit for Children's Goal & War Child

1991

On This day Jimmy Page joined Long John Baldry in Vancouver for a 30 minute jam, Got My Mojo Working.   In 1961 Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies formed Blues Incorporated in London, with an ever-changing band membership.  John Baldry was a singer for the band with Jimmy Page occasionally sitting in.   Baldry moved to Canada in the 1970s.  He died in Vancouver in 2005. 

1993

Jimmy Page was inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk of Fame at Guitar Center in Hollywood, putting his handprints in a block for the walk.  The event was attended by Peter Frampton, Dweezil Zappa and Eddie Van Halen among others.

1993  Jimmy Page and Eddie Van Halen (Robert Knight/Getty photo)

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♪  Ramble On (Page & Plant, London at Café de Paris 1997) YouTube
♪  Over the Hills and Far Away (Page & Plant, London at Café de Paris 1997) YouTube



♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube

On This Day 06 December

1991 06 December On This Day Jimmy Page at Little Mountain Studios
Audio:  Feeling Hot (Soundcloud)

• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Chatenay-Malabry, Paris at L'Ecole Centrale Chatenay-Malabry
• 1983 Jimmy Page ARMS Charity Concert - Inglewood, CA at The Forum (day 2)

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♪  Feeling Hot (Coverdale-Page) YouTube

♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube

On This Day 05 December

1984 05 December On This Day Jimmy Page with The Firm at Hamburg

• 1983 Jimmy Page ARMS Charity Concert - Inglewood, CA at The Forum 
• 1984 Jimmy Page The Firm - Hamburg, Germany at Audiomax

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♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube 

On This Day 04 December

Led Zeppelin.  The end of an era of greatness but never the end of the Magick.

1980 04 December On This Day Led Zeppelin disbanded 

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Lima, OH at Springbrook Gardens Teen Club
• 1972 Led Zeppelin - Glasgow Scotland at Green's Playhouse (day 2)
• 1980 Led Zeppelin disbanded
• 1984 Jimmy Page The Firm - Ludwigshafen, Germany at Pfalzbau

1980

To "disband" is to break up an organized group; to cause the break up and end the functioning of an organized group. The word is even more apt when applied to a musical group - a band.

Disbanding is not the same as saying the members of the group can't keep going on individually.  They can "reband", they can soar on their own, they just can never go back to what they were.

The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not "get over" the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same nor would you want to.

~Elisabeth Kubler-Ross & David Kessler, On Grief and Grieving

1984

“The main aim is to play some rock ‘n’ roll and have some fun.”

~ Jimmy Page

1984 Jimmy Page The Firm - Ludwigshafen, Germany at Pfalzbau

1984 Jimmy Page The Firm - Ludwigshafen, Germany at Pfalzbau

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♪   Full set (Led Zeppelin, Glasgow 1972) YouTube

♪  All the King's Horses (The Firm, 1986) YouTube
Note that Paul Rodgers was married to Machiko Shimizu when this song was written

Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube (beginning with this post)