I was one of the lucky thousands who made it to see Led Zeppelin’s concert on August 4th at Knebworth, home of the Street Rod Nationals for the last two years. Yeah that was right they took all your "ticket". Such a memorable part of my life, except meeting Jimmy in a catering line at the Bellafield Festival when I was on tour with R.E.M. An unforgettable day - proud and privileged to have been there. Message to Led Zeppelin - tour again. They also spoke to a generation of kid's who were not sure who they were (nuclear weapons, Vietnam, etc) and presented four sterotypes that allowed each of us to feel good about ourselves - Robert Plant the high pitched 'some would say girly' Love God who filled his jeans extremely well, Jimmy Page the slightly framed weaver of magic - often reported as 'sickly' but a collosus on that Les Paul whom nobody would mess with - or could equal when playing with the other three, JPJ who stood quietly at the back and thundered away underpinning the Page and Plant show, and last but definately not least - Mr John Henry Bonham - the greatest goddamn drummer that has ever lived (sorry Jason) and I don't just mean the obvious numbers like Moby Dick and Montreaux - listen to the whole catalogue - he is always there providing the heartbeat (and clealry the erection in Whole Lotta Love). One of the highlights of my life Led Zeppelin at Knebworth park. It turned into an impromptu party. Go to the 11th for a review for that show if interested. They debuted a couple of songs from ITTOD at the first Knebworth performance. Happy Days!! Hot Dog is Hot Dog and finally a little magic appears with the Rain Song. The guitar solo was unbelieaveable (I can still see the lasers swirling around Jimmy Page). First things first then, tickets – when and where? Left off the their last tour, tonight this version sparkles and I just love the reverb off the 12 string. I soon found a spot with some guys from the USA, who seemed well up for it and some Punk Rockers from London who looked completely out of place, but seeing as I was playing bass in a punk band at that time it was no great surprise, to me at least, that they were there: they obviously had great taste and a sense of history: this was the 'first' LZ re-union gig on British soil. I remember camping out all night outside the record store in Camberley, Surrey - the nearest venue to stock tickets for the show. 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[{"parent":{"title":"Get on the list! “I came armed with a presentation of how Showco might approach this and the associated six-figure costs,” recalls Calmes. Next year, "il Dirigibile" says "ADIOS". The Aug 04 Knebworth was and still the concert highlight of my life. Suddenly, he raised the bow and a dazzling green light appeared at the end of it, next a pencil beam of green laser came from the light and he waved it through the arena and into the sky. I was 17 and had only passed my test a few months before. OK I figure a week should do it! It's a bit difficult to explain to someone who doesn't 'get' it just how important this gig was for a lot of us. Nobody's Fault is also an improvement as Page is starting to find his groove. I'm still held in awe by some of my younger friends and colleagues because I was actually there and saw Led Zep at their prime. Customize your notifications for tour dates near your hometown, birthday wishes, or special discounts in our online store! I came from North Italy to see the Concert. Remember a fantastic atmosphere - impossible to walk anywhere, it was so tightly packed, and I trod on a huge Hell's Angel. The gig was probably the most memorable of my life (apart from Capt Beefheart and the Magic Band at Guildford the following year, sorry). for 1+3, enter 4. Chaz and Dave did a great set piece and added much to the "feel good" factor. A short Heartbreaker finishes the event. Woke early to get good seats & there was probably 50,000 or more already there, didn't look good for any close seats. My roomate and I were young Privates in the Canadian Airforce stationed in Ottawa, Ontario. This took a number of very skilled professionals several days to perfect it for Knebworth.”. They went through a beautiful rendering of ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ and the combination of Robert’s voice (his range seems endless) and Jimmy’s guitar was spell-binding, sending a chill up my spine – you could feel the electricity in the crowd. The crowd roared. We found a place not far from the soundbooth. “They were always very secretive about their operations,” says Calmes, “and Richard could be a difficult person at that stage because he was on the other side of the moon. The grounds of Knebworth House near the village of Knebworth had been a major venue for open air rock and pop concerts since 1974. The opening chord of the TSRTS and then my life just passed into another dimension. From there I think it took a couple of hours to get over to Stevenage. This is the RARE original 1979 Knebworth Festival Programme, featuring Led Zeppelin as the headline act! Flashback: Led Zeppelin Return to the Stage Ahead of Their Final LP Band played England’s Knebworth Festival shortly before releasing their bizarre art … The concerts — which also featured Fairport Convention, Keith Richards’ & Ron Wood’s The New Barbarians, Todd Rundgren, Commander Cody, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes and the ever-so-slightly unsuitable Chas’n’Dave — were the last open-air events promoted at Knebworth by Frederick Bannister, who had presented festivals there since 1974. But above all, to those of you who will be there, enjoy what I am sure will be an amazing night's entertainment. I took the Friday off work and travelled to Stevenage from Kent on my Kawasaki 250cc motorbike with a friend - my longest trip at the time. Unfortunatly my two halves are stuck to the front of a record/lp catalouge and are unretreveable, and at the moment unfindable, must be in the loft somewhere. It reminded me of the best gig I ever saw. As 'zero hour' approached I made my way to get closer to the stage, although we had not set up camp that far away in the first place. I think some barriers were knocked over and I remember running across the fields towards the arena at some early hour of the morning. Fuckin Hell Any Jobs?.. Please try again later. As well as the obligatory standard (and magnificent) Zep songs it was wonderful to hear some of my personal favourites such as 'Nobody's Fault But Mine', 'Over the Hills and Far Away' and 'The Rain Song'. So I was in for a civilised concert. Digitally Remastered. Zeppelin also played the event on August 4, and the two performances marked the first time the legendary rockers played their native U.K. in four years. Remember all piling down to the park early, hoping to get a good spot. Drove 3 USAF friends in my MG to Knebworth, from Bentwaters AFB. So Tuesday I gets up and gets a lift in with the others down to the stage area, had to go and see a guy called Gerry who was doing the hiring, job no problem its £1.50 an hour if you work at heights and £1.00 at stage level – well that’s decided I’ll take £1.50 thank you very much. Led Zeppelin Knebworth Festival 1979 - Aug 11, 1979 Aug 11 1979 Led Zeppelin Westfalenhalle 1, Dortmund - Jun 17, 1980 Jun 17 1980 Last updated: 21 Jan 2021, 15:28 Etc/UTC Vtedy The Allman Brothers Band, The Doobie Brothers a ďalší populárni umelci vystúpili pred 60 tisícovým publikom. The equipment for Knebworth required a major freight operation from the United States, although Showco’s relationship with British vendors including The Who’s ML Executives made it possible to source some key items locally. Forty years ago today, on August 11, 1979 Led Zeppelin took the stage at Knebworth for their second concert at the historic 1979 festival. Far from being just another big production, Jack Calmes remembers Knebworth ’79 as a major highlight of his career. We snuck up the side of the security fence in the campsite, and had a head-start when everyone started charging to the arena. Found a spot towards the rear where it was a little less congested. One week apart, Led Zeppelin’s two concerts in Knebworth Park 30 years ago this month marked not only the last truly legendary live events of the seventies, but also the last time the original quartet would grace a British stage. Following the Bray rehearsals, Page and the crew had time to perfect this particular element of the production when the party headed out to Copenhagen’s Falkoner Theater in late July, to work on both the music and the show design. I remember finally trooping back to the tent, crashing and then queueing for about 4 hours just to get out of the car park on the Sunday. “It was a very time-consuming process to set up the 60’ x 40’ screen and interlock those Eidophors, and get them lined up to give you a clear picture. Again Robert's lyrics for this tune are very appropriate ("Grease me down, good electric") and Jimmy's solo is actually quite good. Yes RP maybe too fast playing but not A PROBLEM AND John Paul LOOKS ASSURED WHICH IS THE MEASURE OF THE BAND. I've just nearly walked smack bang into Jimmy Page in Goodge St in London - I'm not impressed by seeing 'slebs in London, but JPP is proper Royalty. Achilles Last Stand and Trampled Underfoot were awesome, too. But THE high-spot was Jimmy’s violin bow. We were building our Pyramid loudspeakers in those days and it was a cool idea.”. In 1979, veteran promoter Freddy Bannister booked Led Zeppelin to play that year's concerts, which took place on August 4th and 11th. Jimmy’s bow effects on ‘Dazed & Confused’ and all of the signature moments of a Led Zeppelin show were supersized. We spent the first part of the day getting blown about by various members of the Rock ensemble who kept dropping out of the sky by helicopter right next to us (one has to tolerate such things, doesn’t one). Highpoints were Achilles Last Stand and the explosion of Kashmir following White Mountain. He went on to start the first Knebworth Festival in 1974. on the 11th we made sure of a good place ( tickets brought) about 50 mtrs from the front. The shows even included a couple new numbers from In Through the Outdoor that hadn't been released yet (a slight delay!). 1979 Unreleased promo LP - JJ Jackson Knebworth interview, Knebworth 8-4-79 review (LZ Captivate 150,000), Copenhagen 1979 - (Danish Run-Through For Zeppelin) Billboard, Knebworth 1979 (Review fan letter / Evening Standard). All you could see were the lasers and the orange bow, trembling, rising and falling, creating strange and wonderful sounds across the guitar strings. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. 6 am they waking us saying the gates were open. Travelled down on the Friday with my girlfriend (soon to be wife and mother of my son , then ex-wife) and a couple of friends arriving as it got dark.I was at the gate that collapsed under the pressure at about 2 in the morning and remeber running across fields to the turnstiles where we scarily crushed until they let us in at first light. We followed the crowd (assumed they were going to concert). Bannister would never run a show at Knebworth again. Calmes explains: “It was actually Rusty who should be credited for designing the rotating laser pyramid effect over Jimmy Page as he slung his bow out across his Les Paul. I like the tympani intro into in the United Kingdom return - Knebworth Festival, Stevenage, England on 4th. 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