Sadly, most of those present imply very little rehearsing was done on that last day in 1980. Mick Hinton said Bonzo was so much the worse for wear he fell off the drum stool twice and the attitude was "well it's early days, let's wrap it up and have a proper go tomorrow" sort of thing.

As a side note, it's plain Page cleaned up his act a lot between 1984/5 & 1988. You can see how much healthier he looks in these pics compared to say, Live Aid or when he was with Roy Harper in '84.

Speculation. As far as I know there are very few reviews from '68, the Marquee show was reviewed, but not the university gigs or places like the Bridge Club in Canterbury. Hardly surprising as once they dropped the Yardbirds name few knew who they were, and Grant had trouble getting even booking agents interested in the UK, never mind journalists. Until Chris Welch, though even in his case I don't think he reviewed Zeppelin til 1969? I'm purely guessing on ALAIHY on the basis that some sources I've seen say it was routined in the early rehearsals at Page's boat house. Introducing the drum solo after a few gigs (if it wasn't in the set from the start) would've made sense as it's a handy way to bulk out the set and show Bonzo's skills off. In the end it's all speculation. Re: a boot of UK '68 appearing, I'd spontaneously combust with excitement if it ever happened, but I doubt it will. Bootlegging wasn't by any means unknown in the UK back then, eg Cream were bootlegged at Klooks Kleek in 1966. But with no record yet out, little press coverage (and Little Games (the album) having not even had a release in the UK), I'd be surprised if the crowds at '68 UK gigs were much more than a handful of opportunistic punters and scenesters. Though you do see blokes online saying "I saw em when they were still the New Yardbirds!!". Maybe a bit like those millions of people who were at the infamous Sex Pistols gig at Manchester Free Trade Hall in '76!

My guess at a Sept '68 setlist would be something like Train Kept a Rollin Dazed one of You Shook Me or ICYB, more likely the latter due to the (money-saving) lack or organ on the tour Smokestack Lightning (possibly jamming into How Many More Times later in tour?) Communication Breakdown (again later in tour, supposedly developed on this tour out of onstage jamming on "Train") White Summer / Black Mountain Side with improvs, band intros etc, about a 40 minute set is my speculation. By November '68, As Long as I Have You would be in too, plus the drum solo, extending it to around 55 mins / an hour.

Although it was better than I'd expected, my irritation with it was suddenly inserting something gobsmacking in the text that was then never referenced again. E.g. he says that, in return for providing £1,000 for some gear (amps, speakers etc) on the first US tour, Mickie Most took 1% of Zeppelin's income in perpetuity. I have never seen this in any other Zep book and no source is given. It isn't the kind of thing that ought to go unremarked either, as 1% of Zeppelin's income is enough to never need to work again (not that Most wasn't already pretty rich from his production work). Yet it's just tossed out and never comes up again. To me, that's irritating as he must know most fans would read that and think wtf?!.

The Crunge. Fool in the Rain. Achilles. WLL (try listening to the isolated drum vids out there, there is so much going on deep in the mix) And so many others to choose from. At the end of this month it'd have been JB's 72nd birthday. I've promised myself that if the lockdown is lifted by then, I'll get to his memorial statue in Redditch.

Today in the UK the Daily Star has a (front page!) story about how the Tower House is haunted by friendly ghosts. Close inspection reveals that this is a recycling of Scarlett Sabet saying she was "convinced the house is haunted" but the ghosts "are friendly". The (obviously furiously well researched) story also claims that there are no TVs in the Tower House and it has to be kept quite cold to avoid damaging the paintings on the ceiling. Quality journalism at its best I think you'll all agree.

Steve, Jimmy must be the world's least likely communist.

The area he lives in has had a double blow in 2020 as it was also hit by the flooding in Jan/Feb. Many people will be forced to self isolate in houses that are still flood damaged. Good to see Robert doing this, top bloke.

Mostly put about by the ex-punks in the British music media.

Some of the "How will you face the 80s" answers are hilarious. Wonder where those people are now?

Makes sense. 1969=moon landings, Apollo 11.

I'd love to agree with this, but the state they were in I think the shows would've been a trainwreck wherever they played. Page was so horribly thin he looked like a gentle breeze would blow him over. I can't imagine them rising to any occasion in 1981.

I still can't believe the '77 one is missing. I posted on another thread: The world's biggest band start their first tour for more than 2 years and nobody taped it?!! It must be out there.

Unbelievably good! Always had a soft spot for this riff, and Bonzo's tempo is perfect for meaty fills.

Don't think Bonzo had much of a rest. According to Dave Pegg, they partied so hard after the Troubadour gig Bonzo missed his first flight to Hawaii.

The drums on this are The Crunge, with half a bar taken out The shortened Crunge beat also appears on this

Jimmy doesn't want "everything" to be covered. I doubt he'd ever endorse a warts and all doco.

Suspect Plant will be carried offstage when it gets to his last gig. He lives to and loves to perform I think.

Will anyone be bootlegging this?😋

Given how grouchy he sometimes gets in interviews, the prospect of Page being the interviewer for once will be interesting.

There'll be a bloke banging a trash can except it'll be the beat to When the Levee Breaks.

The roadie behind the drum riser looks a bit like Jeff Beck

Given Page's extensive collecting habit, I'd hazard he owned a copy of this book (maybe a reprint) and thought it'd look cool & mysterious on the sleeve. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Merchant's_Tale The tale of the merchant has a main character called Januarie (month of Page's birth!). The merchant's tale is part of "fragment 4" of the overall story.