By Bong-Man (63.148.123.161) on Thursday, June 26, 2003 - 02:46 pm:

I had posted this in the general forum...not realizing this "soulful" place was here.

I'm trying to find out some facts about Led Zeppelin's early appearances in the Detroit area. I'm all geeked up from watching the new DVD. If you ever gave Zep's music even a glance...you MUST see this package. It is outstanding !

Did anyone attend any of the early shows at the Grande Ballroom in 69'?
I'm also trying to find anyone who saw Zeppelin at a show at Cobo on October 16th, 1969...with MC5, Grand Funk Railroad, Lee Michaels. This is the infamous performance where Zep was supposedly blown off the stage by GFR. Any other info about Zep in the Detroit area pre-75 would be appreciated. Thanks ! Zep did have soul ya know !


...I'm always packin'

By SteveS (209.219.207.3) on Thursday, June 26, 2003 - 02:58 pm:

I saw the Grande show. I remember thinking it was pretty bad at the time (don't take this as a knock on LZ, it just seemed that the tour was a bit premature - the first album wasn't even out yet). They took forever to set up and charged way more than any other band that had ever been at the Grande (that's maybe 7 bucks, which sounds pretty ridiculous by today's standards, but the door charge for Hendrix, the Airplane, the Who etc. etc. was never more than 5 bucks). That bothered a lot of people then, because they were a completely unproven act. Lots of effects (Page did his violin bow bit, which didn't come off too well - Spinal Tap must have studied footage of that show). They didn't really have many tunes together, so they jammed on stuff like Train Kept a Rollin, but they definitely did do some Zep tunes.

By Bong-Man (63.148.123.161) on Thursday, June 26, 2003 - 03:08 pm:

Steve...Have you seen the DVD yet ? My god...Bonzo's in the living room with me ! They should have just named it the John Bonham Tribute DVD. No wonder they didn't want to carry on after he died. You should hear this in 5.1 surround...it is truly amazing.

By Jim G (64.12.97.7) on Thursday, June 26, 2003 - 07:01 pm:

I too 'saw' the Grande show, but unlike SteveS my clarity of recall is somewhat blurry.
I do remember the band sounded pretty sad, my pals and I thought maybe they were too high.
They sounded like they hadn't played together for quite a while.
I think it cost me several 'cigarrettes' to get in, and it definitely wasn't worth it.

By FRANCIS T (195.92.67.76) on Sunday, June 29, 2003 - 01:32 pm:

It might be of interest to know Robert Plant is a bit of a soul fan.He comes into my store (very} occasionally and his purchases have included CD,s on Garnet Mimms,Dee dee Warwick, and similar.He also likes some of the old style Northern Soul.A While back he booked myself and deejay partners ,to support his then band Priory of Brion at Wolverhampton.We stood on stage with RObert and friends to one side giving "thumbs up" of approval to our records and the audience of rock Zep fans generally unimpressed.WE enjoyed it though.
I suppose WAY DOWN INSIDE he,s got aWHOLE LOT OF SOUL!!

REGARDS FRANCIS T

By David Meikle (62.252.128.6) on Sunday, June 29, 2003 - 05:05 pm:

That is interesting Francis.