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Hello Everyone,

My new website just launched, FrontRowDave.com - where the Fans Create History by uploading photos, reviews and you can link me any vids as well.

This will be the one place where anyone can help rockument the history of the 02 show and any other show in history.

FrontRowDave.com

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Your site looks cool indeed Dave, and I absolutely like the idea.

At the moment we are putting a fragment for your film together but we gotta wait for a new firewire cable to import the fragments.

PS You have good taste: I also LOVE Alberta Cross, they ROCK HARD.

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It does suck that there were non-zepfans there. At least they didn't put the celebrity VIP section in the front row!!!

Half of those shits considered celebrities would've never got in if Peter Grant was still around.

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Heres my story:

I didn't get to go because of the rich fat cats who are selfish and don't even like Led Zeppelin and just went for publicity!!!!!!!!!!!

There were very few there who fell into that category. Zeppelin are an amazing and legendary band - most of the celebs who attended were excited and happy to be there for the show, not the "publicity". It shouldn't be that because you are a celeb, you DON'T get to see a band you love.

Sorry you didn't get to go though.

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remember meeting pagey n the band before the show...........he asked me........."ronnie.........buddy.........any requests?"..........i sed "yeh........how bout something different from presence,......like..........for your life.......or something"..........and the rest............as they say..........is history :P

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Like everyone else,I'd first heard rumors of Led Zeppelin reuniting in June 2007. I assumed this was just another in a long line of rumors that seemed to materialize on an almost regular basis. I didn't think much of these latest round of rumors until I received a cryptic email from my Zeppelin associate in September. He said it was definitely on and would be announced the public in a few weeks. I had to promise not to repeat this information to anybody until it's been officially announced.

The rumors and web sites were lit up with speculation,theories,denials,dreamers,skeptics and nay-sayers.

Finally the day came when an official announcement was made and the Zeppelin world on the Internet exploded.

There was to be a concert on Nov 26th,2007 in honor of Ahmet Ertegun with Jason Bonham joining the rest of the band.

I immediately calculated the odds of getting a ticket,getting off from work and traveling to London. I didn't even have a valid passport. So I resigned myself to hearing about it and seeing clips of it on the Internet. I immediately assumed I would not be going and didn't entertain the thought an set myself up for disappointment.

Like 20 million other fans over the world,I registered for a ticket online and didn't seriously consider having a chance at winning a ticket but it was definitley worth a try.

However,a few weeks after the concert was announced in Sept, I got an email from my Zeppelin associate saying "Pack your bags".

I didn't quite know what to make of it and wasn't sure what he was referring to or if he was playing some sort of practical joke.

I replied to his email and asked something like "Is this what I think it is?" He said it was and it was serious and came from "the source",a reference I knew to mean his connection with the inner circle within the band,Jimmy Page's manager whom he'd known quite well since meeting him in 2003 at the release and premiere showin of "DVD" in NY.

Instantly calculating the odds of being able to find a flight,hotel,a passport and time off from work,I knew this would be a miracle to pull of. It all seemed too good to be true. It was all happening too fast.

It came out of the blue and didn't seem real. Would I have enough time to renew my passport? Would it all fall apart after getting a ticket when all hinged on getting a new passport? My old passport was needed to in order to get a new one and it sat 800 miles away in storage. I didn't know if I could A) Get back to Philly or B) Locate it and C) Send in with enough time to be renewed and returned to me in time.

As it happened,I had to fly to Atlanta for work in early Nov. and I scheduled the flight to stop over in Phila. with a long lay over.

I jumped in the rental car,drove to the storage place and immediately found the passport!

Shortly thereafter,it was announced that Jimmy had broken his finger and the concert would be postponed until Dec 10th.

Had the concert not been postponed,my worst fears would have been realized where I would have had a ticket but no passport.

I actually did not have a ticket in my hand and was assured that I would be given one once in London.

I booked a hotel and flight and everything seemed OK at that point.

Not so OK was the fact that our contact within Zep's camp was evasive and frequently unavailable. Our hopes we dashed and then a reassurance would come on the roller coaster ride that was getting tickets to the concert.

Many assurances were met with long intervals of silence that did not instill a lot of confidence that we,in fact,would have tickets in hand in London.

So travel plans made, I left for the airport only to be called by my boss asking if I was working that night.

After multiple calls, I found a replacement at the last minute.

A long flight to London then met up with my two fellow Zep friends at Heathrow airport. The airport was swarming with Zeppelin fans from all over the world. The customs agent even asked if I was there for the concert.

The atmosphere was buzzing with Led Zeppelin magic.

Jumping on a train with our luggage,we were instantly identified as Americans among the Londoners.

The plan was to get off the train and locate a particular hotel and pick up the tickets.

Arriving at the hotel,we were given the room number and excitedly knocked on the door. Upon entering the crowded room,we identified Jimmy's road manager on the cell phone and then sitting at a table making plans-mostly about tickets and passes. The room was filled with hangers-on,roadies,assistants and the obligatory model type named "Fern".

The 3 of us sat on the sofa as not to intrude on the proceedings. Finally,my buddy spoke with the manager and was told to wait.

30 mins later,we were each given an envelope. It was spilling over with tickets,passes and multi-colored wrist bands.

Huh? Was were given the right envelopes. These apparently were for VIP's as the passes were for rehearsal access,multiple after parties and everything a fan could possible want and more. I could only say "Thank you,thank you".

We left the hotel and noticed a marble plaque on the ground that said "All Will Be Revealed". It was eerie.

Making it to the hotel,we had heard rumors of the stage crew also being there. I imagined Zeppelin style parties throughout the hallways. It has to be a rumor only as it simply would be too good to be true.

We checked in to the hotel ( which was $600/night when accounting for the exchange rate). I thought that rather steep but figured we were getting the tickets and passes for free so it was worth the expense.

The girl at the desk said "It's taken care of". I looked at my buddy and didn't say a thing. We gathered in the lobby and asked "Did she mean what I thought she meant?". He thought so and we apparently were "comped" by the band. All 3 of us were staying at the hotel for 3 days for free. Unbelievable!

My two buddies went sight seeing around London and to buy t shirts and souvenirs but I decided to stay in the hotel and rest from the long flight and avoid the gloomy,cold December weather outside. I hadn't brought warm enough clothing and could kick myself for not brining my leather Led Zeppelin jacket!!

I stayed in and called friends from back in the States telling them I had made it to London and read all the Zep magazines I had picked up along the way.

One of the passes we were given was for the soundcheck/rehearsal. The O2 was only a mile away but we had to take a train to get there. We boarded the train and made it to the venue. We immediately met familar faces and spent time with the Zep cover band Led Zepagain,also members of FBO. While in line,we could hear the rumblings of "No Quarter" coming thru the doors. After a 30 minute wait,we were escorted in to the stage area where we saw Robert,Jimmy,John Paul and Jason on stage casually working thru "No Quarter,Nobody's Fault But Mine,In My Time of Dying and a loose jam which was very cool".

There were maybe 100 people among the audience-mostly crew,charity people and contest winners.

Robert got down from the stage and wandered around on the floor to listen to the sound and socialize with the crew and fans. I think one of the people he was talking to was his daughter or a close female associate who was laying on the floor right in front of the stage.

During the rehearsal,Jason's son did a little drum solo met with a nice round of applause. Robert's voice sounded great and Jimmy's guitar sound was powerful! It was amazing to see the band rehearsing and in such a casual mood. It was the best of both worlds where they were the famous rock stars but also casual enough to just be themselves hanging out and enjoying the chemistry. All 4 band members seemed relaxed and upbeat.

After about an hour,we were all asked to leave and were back in to the O2 corridors. From the performance we had just witnessed,we anticipated a powerful concert.

That afernoon back at the hotel, I got a call from one of my buddies who said "Quick,get to the lobby. Jimmy's guitars are down in the lobby in cases!". I jumped on the elevator and made it to the lobby but the gear had disappeared as fast as it had arrived. Apparenly it was true that the road crew was staying at our hotel afterall. But no hot groupies running the hallways,unfortunately.

Later that night,there was a planned social gathering at a local pub called "The Pilot" where Zep fans from different online fan groups had agreed to meet. Royal Orleans,FBO,Achilles Last Stand and representatives from the official forum were all meeting up that night at "The Pilot".

I was especially looking forward to meeting up with Annie Hollinshead,the organizer of the Knebworth event planned for the following August and Kevin,a native Brit who I'd been in contact with for years but have yet to meet. Annie and I had been corresponding by phone and Skype for the previous 6 months in preparation for the Knebworth event and a book of collected fan stories to be given to Jimmy on his birthday for the previous 6 months or so. But I had yet to meet her too.

Upon arriving at "The Pilot", I met up with Kevin and Annie where I recounted the afternoon's events at the rehearsal.

There was a festive atmosphere at the pub where long held friendships were renewed or realized in the real world for the first time much like Annie,Kevin and myself. We met up with a guy who claimed to have recorded the Honolulu 71 concert who presented us with photos and his story of being at that concert. There also was a guy from Sweden outside the pub looking for tickets. It was a great environment but all 3 of us were absolutely starving as none of us had a thing to eat since arriving. The rush of events and location of the venue and hotel did not lend itself to access to restaurants. The pub had no food at that hour and we were all about to pass out.

We made our way back to the O2 which was the closest place that had any food at that hour and split a pizza with Annie,Kevin and a mate of his.

I think we finally got to bed back at the hotel around 2 or 3 am.

The day of the concert,we all met up in the one hotel room and did multiple checks for tickets,passes,wrist bands and identification that we were told would be required to get in to the building. After a frantic search for a misplaced ticket,we headed to the train station.

We boarded another train and met a few fellow Zep fans from all over the world,including a group of drunken British business men and another American.

Arriving at the O2,the atmosphere was cold but electric. Fans spilled in and were spread out all over the place. The news media had camped out all over the grounds of the enormous venue grounds,covering the hottest news story all over the world for that day and days afterwards.

I said to nobody in particular " I wonder if there will be any celebrities here"-not realizing this event was THE social event throughout all of Europe for everybody including non-Zeppelin fans. Models and celebrities from all over had descended on the event as the place to see and be seen.

We got to the door and were let in just on showing our wrist bands. We weren't even asked to show our driver's license or any of the checks put in place to prevent ticket scalping. It would have just taken too long and the security was not enforcing the identity checks put in place,at least not as strictly as had been announced.

We then made our way up the ramp to where our seats were and realized the seats were in the VIP area!! At this security check point,they were looking for cameras and recording devices with a metal detecting wand. Jimmy's road manager was there and came over said to the security guy "It's OK,these guys are OK" and were let thru the line without any bother.

We were seated to left of the stage up on the 2nd level from the floor. At some point, I grabbed a sandwich which I think was $18.

The seats could have been better. One of the guys ran in to some friends and went on a quest to find other friends from Europe. I met up with a fellow American and FBO member who now lived in the UK and we hung out talked about the show and who else was there we knew.

One of my buddies made it down to the side of the stage and was talking with the crew who were guarding Jimmy's guitars by the stage. He came back and said he also spoke with Brian May from Queen who was there with his girlfriend.

A few minutes later there was a buzz to my left as Marilyn Manson arrived with his actress girlfriend. And I could have sworn I saw Nuno Bettencourt sitting to our left. ( it turns out that it was him).

The warm up acts were given polite applause but nobody was interested. It was awkward for them as nobody was there to hear them. Everybody was only there to see Led Zeppelin and it was painfully obvious to the bands on stage ( Foreigner etc) and to the fans.

There was a really nice filmed tribute to Ahmet and then a very nice filmed documentary of the band.

I saw Jimmy come to the side of the stage and was stretching his legs limbering up before the show.

Finally the lights went down and a roar came up thru the crowd.

The first chords of Good Times Bad Times raise the roof. It was powerful!

Ramble On

Black Dog

-"Good Evening" Announced Robert. He commented on Ahmet and the fact that there were fans from 129 countries at the show.

In My Time Of Dying-Powerful

For Your Life- Was met with a huge roar.It was ruored to be played at the show but nobody was certain it would actually be played at the show.

Trampled Under Foot (During the beginning of each song,I dialed my buddy AJ was at work who was recounting which song was being played to his Zep fan office mates.)

Nobody's Fault But Mine

No Quarter-Very powerful.

Since I've Been Loving You-Great

Dazed And Confused was great with Jimmy using his bow and the laser pyramid. My friends Annie and Kevin were in the front of the stage at this point and I was happy that she realized her life long dream to see Jimmy in concert which she had never done up until this night.

Stairway To Heaven introduced by Robert as "This is for you,Ahmet" then "We did it Ahmet" afterwards.

The Song Remains The Same

Misty Mountain Hop

Kashmir was the highlight of the night. Robert's vocals were great and the visuals were perfect and mesmerizing. The crowd reacted to this song the most. Someone threw a bowler hat up on stage at this point,in dedication to John Bonham, I assume.

Jason Bonham came to the front of the stage and turned around to face Robert,Jimmy and JPJ in an "I'm not worthy" gesture.

-Encore:

Whole Lotta Love

Rock And Roll

After the lights went up,I noticed that Richard Cole was standing 2 rows in front of me. I elbowed Mike and whispered "That's Richard Cole!!". He said "How do you know?" I just knew as I'd seen an interview with him on the E! channel and he looked the same as in the interview. In the mean time,my buddy from NY spotted Mo Jones making her way out of her seat beneath us and to the left. He spoke with her briefly but she didn't recall him from their meeting in NY in 2003. She was there with her grandchildren and preoccupied with them.

We relutantly filed out of our seats and the place was buzzing. There was a bottleneck in the corridor as friends and fans were mulling around talking about the experience. My buddy was talking with Warren Haynes from Government Mule who was really nice.

A minute later,I noticed Ben Harper and his girlfriend Laura Dern walking around. I took the chance and tapped her on the shoulder and told her that I loved the movie "October Sky" which is one of my favorites. She lit up and said "Thank you!" and was really sweet. She's tall! I could see that her boyfriend asked her what I'd said to her and I'm assuming she told him I commented on the movie. Meeting her was icing onthe cake. An actress from one of my all time favorite movies after the Zeppelin show!

So we gathered together and were looking for how to get to the backstage area. There was a group of us all lost and apparently looking for the same place. Richard Cole was standing among us and looking for the same place. The elevator was crowded and he got on the next one.

We found the corridor leading to the backstage area and got in line with our wristbands prominently displayed. Who was standing in line in front of me? Richard Cole,of course! Amazing. He's pretty tall too..6' or so. I wanted to reach out and talk to him but thought better of it. I really regret not at least saying "Hi" to him.

We entered the back stage area and got something to drink. My buddy and I found an area to stand and observed the crowd pass by.

Eddie Kramer walked by! ( I'd met him at a record convention in 1988 so I immediately recognized him). Lulu the British singer was there too. Lots of model types were milling around.

The atmosphere in the backstage area was electric with anticipation of any of the band members showing up,of course.

A small group gathered in front of us-Richard Cole,one of the guys from Oasis,Chad Smith,the drummer from Red Hot Chili Peppers and a few other cool musicians stood around talking about the concert. Richard Cole was maybe 10' in front of me the whole time and I really wanted to ask him for an autograph. But he was on his cell phone most of the time and I didn't want to intrude. It turns out the my buddy managed to get a photo with him which was cool. Damn, I should have been more forward with that!

So were standing around and all the sudden a murmur covers the room like a wave. Jason Bonham shows up to our left. He's with his son and is surrounded by maybe 10 people including my buddy who has a nice conversation with him. I could tell that Jason was really gracious and really friendly with all the fans.

A few minutes later,Jimena Page makes an appearance..like a streak across the room. She disappeared somewhere among a crowd, I think because I didn't see her after then. However,Jimmy's son,James Page Jr was there to my right and had a conversation with my buddy from NY. ( He was very indifferent to being a world famous guitarist's song according to my buddy and apparently very down to Earth from what my buddy told me of their conversation)

About 30 mns later,John Paul Jones arrived surrounded by 15 people. He was glowing and obviously happy about the performance. He was innundated by questions from all around him. Again, I was so tempted to try to talk to him but didn't want to intrude and probably couldn't have penetrated the throng of people around him.

A few hours had gone by. JPJ and Jason stayed about an hour or so. Finally,ushers came in and announced that we all must leave.

After much prodding,we were forced out of the backstage area and made our way to the after party at the Indigo Club. After another line and wrist band checking,we entered the Indigo. Simon Kirke the blues artist was on stage. What I would assume were record company people and friends of the band were milling around. We were all pretty tired at this point but managed to stick around until 3 am or so. Not much was really happening at the Indigo but we hung out and made the most of it.

Finally leaving the O2,we attempted to flag down a taxi. We were told that it would cost $100 or so by a rather rude taxi driver who wasn't interested in taking us anywhere so close.

We were starving,tired,elated,cold and lost in the area around the O2. We even tried to flag down a regular bus and a double decker bus for 2 hours. We finally grabbed hot dogs off of a vendor working out of a cart there for working people on their way to work at 5 am.

Eventually we got a gypsy cab who took us back to the hotel.

My flight back to Chicago was at 11:30 am that morning and Heathrow was all the way on the other side of London which entailed taking 3 trains to get to the terminals.

I slept for an hour and left the hotel at 7 am where I toured the London subway system to get to the airport and board the plane.

Lots of hung over American Zep fans were on the shuttle bus and plane on the way back to the U.S. Everybody wa recounting the previous night's events....still buzzing from the once in a lifetime experience.

Fortunately the plane was almost empty and I stretched out across 4 seats to sleep the whole length of the flight back home.

Carrying my cache of souvenirs, I made it to the rental car and back to the hotel I was staying at.

That night I went in to work and recounted the whole story to my fellow co-workers. It all had not sunken it that I was actualy there.

A few weeks later,I framed everything from the amazing trip.

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Like everyone else,I'd first heard rumors of Led Zeppelin reuniting in June 2007. I assumed this was just another in a long line of rumors that seemed to materialize on an almost regular basis. I didn't think much of these latest round of rumors until I received a cryptic email from my Zeppelin associate in September. He said it was definitely on and would be announced the public in a few weeks. I had to promise not to repeat this information to anybody until it's been officially announced.

The rumors and web sites were lit up with speculation,theories,denials,dreamers,skeptics and nay-sayers.

Finally the day came when an official announcement was made and the Zeppelin world on the Internet exploded.

There was to be a concert on Nov 26th,2007 in honor of Ahmet Ertegun with Jason Bonham joining the rest of the band.

I immediately calculated the odds of getting a ticket,getting off from work and traveling to London. I didn't even have a valid passport. So I resigned myself to hearing about it and seeing clips of it on the Internet. I immediately assumed I would not be going and didn't entertain the thought an set myself up for disappointment.

Like 20 million other fans over the world,I registered for a ticket online and didn't seriously consider having a chance at winning a ticket but it was definitley worth a try.

However,a few weeks after the concert was announced in Sept, I got an email from my Zeppelin associate saying "Pack your bags".

I didn't quite know what to make of it and wasn't sure what he was referring to or if he was playing some sort of practical joke.

I replied to his email and asked something like "Is this what I think it is?" He said it was and it was serious and came from "the source",a reference I knew to mean his connection with the inner circle within the band,Jimmy Page's manager whom he'd known quite well since meeting him in 2003 at the release and premiere showin of "DVD" in NY.

Instantly calculating the odds of being able to find a flight,hotel,a passport and time off from work,I knew this would be a miracle to pull of. It all seemed too good to be true. It was all happening too fast.

It came out of the blue and didn't seem real. Would I have enough time to renew my passport? Would it all fall apart after getting a ticket when all hinged on getting a new passport? My old passport was needed to in order to get a new one and it sat 800 miles away in storage. I didn't know if I could A) Get back to Philly or B) Locate it and C) Send in with enough time to be renewed and returned to me in time.

As it happened,I had to fly to Atlanta for work in early Nov. and I scheduled the flight to stop over in Phila. with a long lay over.

I jumped in the rental car,drove to the storage place and immediately found the passport!

Shortly thereafter,it was announced that Jimmy had broken his finger and the concert would be postponed until Dec 10th.

Had the concert not been postponed,my worst fears would have been realized where I would have had a ticket but no passport.

I actually did not have a ticket in my hand and was assured that I would be given one once in London.

I booked a hotel and flight and everything seemed OK at that point.

Not so OK was the fact that our contact within Zep's camp was evasive and frequently unavailable. Our hopes we dashed and then a reassurance would come on the roller coaster ride that was getting tickets to the concert.

Many assurances were met with long intervals of silence that did not instill a lot of confidence that we,in fact,would have tickets in hand in London.

So travel plans made, I left for the airport only to be called by my boss asking if I was working that night.

After multiple calls, I found a replacement at the last minute.

A long flight to London then met up with my two fellow Zep friends at Heathrow airport. The airport was swarming with Zeppelin fans from all over the world. The customs agent even asked if I was there for the concert.

The atmosphere was buzzing with Led Zeppelin magic.

Jumping on a train with our luggage,we were instantly identified as Americans among the Londoners.

The plan was to get off the train and locate a particular hotel and pick up the tickets.

Arriving at the hotel,we were given the room number and excitedly knocked on the door. Upon entering the crowded room,we identified Jimmy's road manager on the cell phone and then sitting at a table making plans-mostly about tickets and passes. The room was filled with hangers-on,roadies,assistants and the obligatory model type named "Fern".

The 3 of us sat on the sofa as not to intrude on the proceedings. Finally,my buddy spoke with the manager and was told to wait.

30 mins later,we were each given an envelope. It was spilling over with tickets,passes and multi-colored wrist bands.

Huh? Was were given the right envelopes. These apparently were for VIP's as the passes were for rehearsal access,multiple after parties and everything a fan could possible want and more. I could only say "Thank you,thank you".

We left the hotel and noticed a marble plaque on the ground that said "All Will Be Revealed". It was eerie.

Making it to the hotel,we had heard rumors of the stage crew also being there. I imagined Zeppelin style parties throughout the hallways. It has to be a rumor only as it simply would be too good to be true.

We checked in to the hotel ( which was $600/night when accounting for the exchange rate). I thought that rather steep but figured we were getting the tickets and passes for free so it was worth the expense.

The girl at the desk said "It's taken care of". I looked at my buddy and didn't say a thing. We gathered in the lobby and asked "Did she mean what I thought she meant?". He thought so and we apparently were "comped" by the band. All 3 of us were staying at the hotel for 3 days for free. Unbelievable!

My two buddies went sight seeing around London and to buy t shirts and souvenirs but I decided to stay in the hotel and rest from the long flight and avoid the gloomy,cold December weather outside. I hadn't brought warm enough clothing and could kick myself for not brining my leather Led Zeppelin jacket!!

I stayed in and called friends from back in the States telling them I had made it to London and read all the Zep magazines I had picked up along the way.

One of the passes we were given was for the soundcheck/rehearsal. The O2 was only a mile away but we had to take a train to get there. We boarded the train and made it to the venue. We immediately met familar faces and spent time with the Zep cover band Led Zepagain,also members of FBO. While in line,we could hear the rumblings of "No Quarter" coming thru the doors. After a 30 minute wait,we were escorted in to the stage area where we saw Robert,Jimmy,John Paul and Jason on stage casually working thru "No Quarter,Nobody's Fault But Mine,In My Time of Dying and a loose jam which was very cool".

There were maybe 100 people among the audience-mostly crew,charity people and contest winners.

Robert got down from the stage and wandered around on the floor to listen to the sound and socialize with the crew and fans. I think one of the people he was talking to was his daughter or a close female associate who was laying on the floor right in front of the stage.

During the rehearsal,Jason's son did a little drum solo met with a nice round of applause. Robert's voice sounded great and Jimmy's guitar sound was powerful! It was amazing to see the band rehearsing and in such a casual mood. It was the best of both worlds where they were the famous rock stars but also casual enough to just be themselves hanging out and enjoying the chemistry. All 4 band members seemed relaxed and upbeat.

After about an hour,we were all asked to leave and were back in to the O2 corridors. From the performance we had just witnessed,we anticipated a powerful concert.

That afernoon back at the hotel, I got a call from one of my buddies who said "Quick,get to the lobby. Jimmy's guitars are down in the lobby in cases!". I jumped on the elevator and made it to the lobby but the gear had disappeared as fast as it had arrived. Apparenly it was true that the road crew was staying at our hotel afterall. But no hot groupies running the hallways,unfortunately.

Later that night,there was a planned social gathering at a local pub called "The Pilot" where Zep fans from different online fan groups had agreed to meet. Royal Orleans,FBO,Achilles Last Stand and representatives from the official forum were all meeting up that night at "The Pilot".

I was especially looking forward to meeting up with Annie Hollinshead,the organizer of the Knebworth event planned for the following August and Kevin,a native Brit who I'd been in contact with for years but have yet to meet. Annie and I had been corresponding by phone and Skype for the previous 6 months in preparation for the Knebworth event and a book of collected fan stories to be given to Jimmy on his birthday for the previous 6 months or so. But I had yet to meet her too.

Upon arriving at "The Pilot", I met up with Kevin and Annie where I recounted the afternoon's events at the rehearsal.

There was a festive atmosphere at the pub where long held friendships were renewed or realized in the real world for the first time much like Annie,Kevin and myself. We met up with a guy who claimed to have recorded the Honolulu 71 concert who presented us with photos and his story of being at that concert. There also was a guy from Sweden outside the pub looking for tickets. It was a great environment but all 3 of us were absolutely starving as none of us had a thing to eat since arriving. The rush of events and location of the venue and hotel did not lend itself to access to restaurants. The pub had no food at that hour and we were all about to pass out.

We made our way back to the O2 which was the closest place that had any food at that hour and split a pizza with Annie,Kevin and a mate of his.

I think we finally got to bed back at the hotel around 2 or 3 am.

The day of the concert,we all met up in the one hotel room and did multiple checks for tickets,passes,wrist bands and identification that we were told would be required to get in to the building. After a frantic search for a misplaced ticket,we headed to the train station.

We boarded another train and met a few fellow Zep fans from all over the world,including a group of drunken British business men and another American.

Arriving at the O2,the atmosphere was cold but electric. Fans spilled in and were spread out all over the place. The news media had camped out all over the grounds of the enormous venue grounds,covering the hottest news story all over the world for that day and days afterwards.

I said to nobody in particular " I wonder if there will be any celebrities here"-not realizing this event was THE social event throughout all of Europe for everybody including non-Zeppelin fans. Models and celebrities from all over had descended on the event as the place to see and be seen.

We got to the door and were let in just on showing our wrist bands. We weren't even asked to show our driver's license or any of the checks put in place to prevent ticket scalping. It would have just taken too long and the security was not enforcing the identity checks put in place,at least not as strictly as had been announced.

We then made our way up the ramp to where our seats were and realized the seats were in the VIP area!! At this security check point,they were looking for cameras and recording devices with a metal detecting wand. Jimmy's road manager was there and came over said to the security guy "It's OK,these guys are OK" and were let thru the line without any bother.

We were seated to left of the stage up on the 2nd level from the floor. At some point, I grabbed a sandwich which I think was $18.

The seats could have been better. One of the guys ran in to some friends and went on a quest to find other friends from Europe. I met up with a fellow American and FBO member who now lived in the UK and we hung out talked about the show and who else was there we knew.

One of my buddies made it down to the side of the stage and was talking with the crew who were guarding Jimmy's guitars by the stage. He came back and said he also spoke with Brian May from Queen who was there with his girlfriend.

A few minutes later there was a buzz to my left as Marilyn Manson arrived with his actress girlfriend. And I could have sworn I saw Nuno Bettencourt sitting to our left. ( it turns out that it was him).

The warm up acts were given polite applause but nobody was interested. It was awkward for them as nobody was there to hear them. Everybody was only there to see Led Zeppelin and it was painfully obvious to the bands on stage ( Foreigner etc) and to the fans.

There was a really nice filmed tribute to Ahmet and then a very nice filmed documentary of the band.

I saw Jimmy come to the side of the stage and was stretching his legs limbering up before the show.

Finally the lights went down and a roar came up thru the crowd.

The first chords of Good Times Bad Times raise the roof. It was powerful!

Ramble On

Black Dog

-"Good Evening" Announced Robert. He commented on Ahmet and the fact that there were fans from 129 countries at the show.

In My Time Of Dying-Powerful

For Your Life- Was met with a huge roar.It was ruored to be played at the show but nobody was certain it would actually be played at the show.

Trampled Under Foot (During the beginning of each song,I dialed my buddy AJ was at work who was recounting which song was being played to his Zep fan office mates.)

Nobody's Fault But Mine

No Quarter-Very powerful.

Since I've Been Loving You-Great

Dazed And Confused was great with Jimmy using his bow and the laser pyramid. My friends Annie and Kevin were in the front of the stage at this point and I was happy that she realized her life long dream to see Jimmy in concert which she had never done up until this night.

Stairway To Heaven introduced by Robert as "This is for you,Ahmet" then "We did it Ahmet" afterwards.

The Song Remains The Same

Misty Mountain Hop

Kashmir was the highlight of the night. Robert's vocals were great and the visuals were perfect and mesmerizing. The crowd reacted to this song the most. Someone threw a bowler hat up on stage at this point,in dedication to John Bonham, I assume.

Jason Bonham came to the front of the stage and turned around to face Robert,Jimmy and JPJ in an "I'm not worthy" gesture.

-Encore:

Whole Lotta Love

Rock And Roll

After the lights went up,I noticed that Richard Cole was standing 2 rows in front of me. I elbowed Mike and whispered "That's Richard Cole!!". He said "How do you know?" I just knew as I'd seen an interview with him on the E! channel and he looked the same as in the interview. In the mean time,my buddy from NY spotted Mo Jones making her way out of her seat beneath us and to the left. He spoke with her briefly but she didn't recall him from their meeting in NY in 2003. She was there with her grandchildren and preoccupied with them.

We relutantly filed out of our seats and the place was buzzing. There was a bottleneck in the corridor as friends and fans were mulling around talking about the experience. My buddy was talking with Warren Haynes from Government Mule who was really nice.

A minute later,I noticed Ben Harper and his girlfriend Laura Dern walking around. I took the chance and tapped her on the shoulder and told her that I loved the movie "October Sky" which is one of my favorites. She lit up and said "Thank you!" and was really sweet. She's tall! I could see that her boyfriend asked her what I'd said to her and I'm assuming she told him I commented on the movie. Meeting her was icing onthe cake. An actress from one of my all time favorite movies after the Zeppelin show!

So we gathered together and were looking for how to get to the backstage area. There was a group of us all lost and apparently looking for the same place. Richard Cole was standing among us and looking for the same place. The elevator was crowded and he got on the next one.

We found the corridor leading to the backstage area and got in line with our wristbands prominently displayed. Who was standing in line in front of me? Richard Cole,of course! Amazing. He's pretty tall too..6' or so. I wanted to reach out and talk to him but thought better of it. I really regret not at least saying "Hi" to him.

We entered the back stage area and got something to drink. My buddy and I found an area to stand and observed the crowd pass by.

Eddie Kramer walked by! ( I'd met him at a record convention in 1988 so I immediately recognized him). Lulu the British singer was there too. Lots of model types were milling around.

The atmosphere in the backstage area was electric with anticipation of any of the band members showing up,of course.

A small group gathered in front of us-Richard Cole,one of the guys from Oasis,Chad Smith,the drummer from Red Hot Chili Peppers and a few other cool musicians stood around talking about the concert. Richard Cole was maybe 10' in front of me the whole time and I really wanted to ask him for an autograph. But he was on his cell phone most of the time and I didn't want to intrude. It turns out the my buddy managed to get a photo with him which was cool. Damn, I should have been more forward with that!

So were standing around and all the sudden a murmur covers the room like a wave. Jason Bonham shows up to our left. He's with his son and is surrounded by maybe 10 people including my buddy who has a nice conversation with him. I could tell that Jason was really gracious and really friendly with all the fans.

A few minutes later,Jimena Page makes an appearance..like a streak across the room. She disappeared somewhere among a crowd, I think because I didn't see her after then. However,Jimmy's son,James Page Jr was there to my right and had a conversation with my buddy from NY. ( He was very indifferent to being a world famous guitarist's song according to my buddy and apparently very down to Earth from what my buddy told me of their conversation)

About 30 mns later,John Paul Jones arrived surrounded by 15 people. He was glowing and obviously happy about the performance. He was innundated by questions from all around him. Again, I was so tempted to try to talk to him but didn't want to intrude and probably couldn't have penetrated the throng of people around him.

A few hours had gone by. JPJ and Jason stayed about an hour or so. Finally,ushers came in and announced that we all must leave.

After much prodding,we were forced out of the backstage area and made our way to the after party at the Indigo Club. After another line and wrist band checking,we entered the Indigo. Simon Kirke the blues artist was on stage. What I would assume were record company people and friends of the band were milling around. We were all pretty tired at this point but managed to stick around until 3 am or so. Not much was really happening at the Indigo but we hung out and made the most of it.

Finally leaving the O2,we attempted to flag down a taxi. We were told that it would cost $100 or so by a rather rude taxi driver who wasn't interested in taking us anywhere so close.

We were starving,tired,elated,cold and lost in the area around the O2. We even tried to flag down a regular bus and a double decker bus for 2 hours. We finally grabbed hot dogs off of a vendor working out of a cart there for working people on their way to work at 5 am.

Eventually we got a gypsy cab who took us back to the hotel.

My flight back to Chicago was at 11:30 am that morning and Heathrow was all the way on the other side of London which entailed taking 3 trains to get to the terminals.

I slept for an hour and left the hotel at 7 am where I toured the London subway system to get to the airport and board the plane.

Lots of hung over American Zep fans were on the shuttle bus and plane on the way back to the U.S. Everybody wa recounting the previous night's events....still buzzing from the once in a lifetime experience.

Fortunately the plane was almost empty and I stretched out across 4 seats to sleep the whole length of the flight back home.

Carrying my cache of souvenirs, I made it to the rental car and back to the hotel I was staying at.

That night I went in to work and recounted the whole story to my fellow co-workers. It all had not sunken it that I was actualy there.

A few weeks later,I framed everything from the amazing trip.

That was ... Awesome!

I made tea for myself and read all of that

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reading the article in one of the last TBL mags from that young kid about how his love for zeppelin unfolded i started to write my own Zep story....from the humble days of my first encounter age 14 back in 1988 to the various zep-related gigs (14 and counting). here my fabulous journey through 2007 culminating obviously with the gig at the O2 (as you can see that bit is not quite done yet) but plenty of other highlights in a year that i spent mostly on Cloud 9 on Planet Zeppelin.....the rest will follow soon

The Holy Grail

And so we head into 2007....and what a year it was. Unusual for me it was a very slow start to my concert calendar with nothing worth mentioning in the first half of that year. I kept adding books, magazines to my collection, downloaded the odd new or improved concert recording, but most of my time and effort was spent to get my vinyl collection up and running. I had a small selection from my pre-CD youth, a few “borrowed” ones, the one great one from my dad (he’s musical focus was slightly out of sync with mine, so no first pressings with the turquoise lettering etc), but with the advent of the CD came the demise of vinyl so it was only later on that I rediscovered the beauty of vinyl. So all in all a very quiet start to the year with a nice week at Glastonbury Festival being the first live music event of the year in late June....but boy did things change soon after that.

Rumours of a Zeppelin reunion have been flying around for years, the amounts mentioned to entice them to such a step being astronomical. The fact that apart from a few rather forgettable occasions such a reunion never materialised, showed clearly that were the chance ever to arise it would only be motivated by one thing..heart. No amount of money in the world could change their opinion if it wasn’t for the right reason. Getting these 3 personalities in one room was never an easy thing in the best of times, and certainly not since the omission of John Paul Jones from the Page & Plant project, where Plant famously answered the question of a journalist where John Paul was with the remark “ he is parking the car”, which obviously didn’t go down too well.

So when the first rumours in early summer of 2007 appeared about a tribute concert for the late Ahmet Ertegun it was easy to take it with a large pinch of salt, although it being for one of their great mentors and a close friend helped to not dismiss it outright. This was of course front page news in all the big papers and blew away any recent reunions by top bands from the past. Zeppelin reuniting was indeed the holy grail. The message boards from Zeppelin websites around the globe were in meltdown with discussions about who, what, where, when, how much, tickets, denial, excitement....the lot.

So when it was officially confirmed later that summer all gloves were off from Zeppelin fans around the world and everybody and his dog committed to do everything humanly possible to be there. I was obviously in the same boat, but for me failure was not an option. I was convinced I would be there and no one could stop me. When the ticketing process was explained no one in my vicinity was safe. I registered around 40 times through friends, family and even my 94 year old grandmother suddenly had an e-mail account. I worked out a Plan B in the shape of a £ 2000 war chest should the ticket lottery proof unsuccessful....and then the nail biting began. Hours started feeling like days, and the time in between the closure of the registration and the announcement of the 9000 lucky winners to receive the golden ticket (a passcode to buy 2 tickets each at £ 125 + fees) felt like a lifetime. But no one seemed to mind, as no one was expecting this reunion ever to happen.

September 1st 2007 was the day every Zeppelin fan waited for and when the first passcode e-mails showed up in mailboxes around the globe, anxiety started spreading in equal measures. Have I missed out, is it coming later, did it go to spam etc. Unfortunately for me e-mail malfunction wasn’t to blame and Plan B went into action.

Ebay was soon awash with offers for tickets but I knew that prices would be sky high so I started looking on gumtree, craigslist and other less obvious sources. And as the gods of rock were looking down on me in 2007 I got lucky. A cryptic add on gumtree lead me to a fine Russian gentleman who on behalf of his Bulgarian friend had 1 ticket for sale at for princely sum of £ 750. I sat in the office and consulted my colleagues if I was mad to hand over that much moeny to an unknown Russian with a generic yahoo email account and no further legit details. They all said yes, but it was too late, I had of course long pressed sent on that paypal request. I was ecstatic. A phone call 30 minutes later brought me straight back down to earth again though. It was my Russian friend claiming that his friends credit card wasn’t working and on top of the £ 750 that just left my account he wanted me to pay for the 2 tickets as well - another £ 275 on top. Yes I was ecstatic, but not fully mental just quite yet, so I asked him to refund half first so I at least wouldn’t loose all my money if it went tits up. With the 72 hours allocated to buy tickets from the time you received the passcode nearly up I had no choice and went ahead to pay for the tickets. Ticketmaster seemed satisfied with the credentials and my account showed two standing tickets for the gig of a lifetime. All conspiracy theories by my colleagues about dodgy Eastern Europeans seemed null and void...and along came Harvey Goldsmith.

Self-proclaimed biggest, baddest promoter of the world it took him and his team of staff nearly a week to realise that a loophole in his terms allowed people to sell their passcodes and second tickets as they pleased. When he tried to stop that from happening by claiming only original passcode holders who bought tickets why credit cards in their names would be allowed in all hell broke loose. Back in the 70ies, when Zeppelins fans consisted of mostly teenagers he might have had a chance to get away with this. In 2007 he was faced by the wrath of grown men from all corners of the world and all walks of life. Within hours of his announcement legal suits were being prepared by fans around the world, protest websites were being set up and his own website was bombarded with messages. Rather than admit his mistake and honor the tickets straight away, he kept insulting the intelligence of all of us. Most knew he didn’t have a leg to stand on, but if push would have come to shove, who knows how it would have ended. I personally sent several messages to his office looking for clarification, to no avail. Although it was probably only days for the dust to settle, it felt like a lifetime till he finally relented and I knew my ticket was safe. And so the wait to find out if I had a ticket turned into the wait for the moment I have been waiting for all my life.

But before that day was due, 2007 had a few more treats up its sleeve and November 5th turned out to be rather special. Earlier that week it was announced that the launch of their new Best Of release Mothership was marked by large screen projections around various locations in London. I left the office early to make my way to the first spot and a few like minded souls seemed to have got the message as well. And as we were standing in the middle of London’s Chinatown waiting for something to happen, random people walking by seemed to be a bit puzzled by the evergrowing collection of Zeppelin t-shirts. As it got dark a long and loud countdown was beamed onto a bare wall and heads started turning. When the clock turned to zero a video montage about the release of Mothership and live concert footage played at 11 enlightened the waiting fans and confused the hell out of the people just wandering past. After around 15 minutes the whole thing was over and Chinatown returned to normality. I checked out the next location in the hope for more but as they showed the same thing I moved on to the next destination of my Zeppelin treasure hunt that day.

The Classic Rock Awards took place at the Sheraton Park Lane and although I didn’t have a ticket, the off chance of seeing Jimmy there was too good to be missed. Outside the hotel a group of autograph hunters / collectors had gathered and I soon found out that Jimmy had already arrived with an army of bouncers and the fact that he no longer smokes meant he wouldn’t appear outside until his departure, again guarded by his bouncers. That didn’t sound like much fun, so I decided to head home, but as luck would have it I got talking to one of the seasoned autograph hunters there and he mentioned that John Paul Jones is playing a guest slot at the Uncle Earl gig at the Borderline in Soho, totally unbeknown to me as for once my network of newsletters, Google alerts etc seem to have failed me. While I was talking to the guy about his autograph collecting adventures I had a few chance encounters with what’s left of the heavy smokers amongst the Rock n Roll fraternity and a few late arrivals. Slightly less prepared then the professionals I still managed to get a great selection of autographs from Nick Mason (Floyd obviously), Robb Reiner (Anvil), Jaz Coleman (Killing Joke), Fish, Ronnie Wood (Stones), Gary Moore, David Coverdale, Harvey Goldsmith, Paul Cook (Sex Pistols), Todd Rundgren, Martin Turner, Mani, Phil May (Pretty Things) and the one that I am especially proud of - Lemmy. Even though on his way out, he not just signed my piece of paper, but was kind enough to have a bit of chat, of which I sadly remember very little. Nevertheless, true rock royalty and a proper legend. Slash on the other hand was just rude, and apart from pissing in between two parked cars round the back of the hotel, did very little to make this encounter memorable.

Oh well, it was a nice enough (and cold) evening and talking to this guy and getting those autographs made it time well spent, despite not meeting Jimmy..... and so I headed to the Borderline for the latest stop on this remarkable day. I got there half way through their gig, and after convincing the girl at the box office that I don’t care how much of their gig is left, and that I happily pay the full price, I was in, and in front of probably my favorite musician of all time.

Uncle Earl was an unknown quantity to me and to be honest I probably won’t be buying too many of their albums. But as always with John Paul Jones, he added something magical to the evening and it was definitely worth seeing them. After the gig I knew there was a good chance to catch him for a photo and/or autograph, but the tricky question was which exit he would use. The Borderline has two and you can’t really cover both on your own. As luck would have it, as soon as I stepped outside, I saw the guy I talked to at the Rock Awards earlier. After exchanging a few pleasantries and confirmation that nothing worth noticing happened there after I left, we worked out a strategy to ensure we wouldn’t miss out on meeting him. And not long afterwards, he appeared out of the back entrance, carrying a sizeable amount of equipment. Initially I was a bit hesitant to approach him, maybe I felt star struck, maybe I thought that’s the last thing he probably needs. Eventually common sense prevailed and in order to not miss out on this probably once in a lifetime opportunity I asked him for an autograph and picture. Unlike Slash, he was the perfect gentleman, happy to pose and sign. Once the photo and autographs were done, we had a nice little chat about the upcoming gig, Jimmy’s finger and various other things I can’t remember. And although it was probably only a few minutes in a shady Soho backstreet, it felt like a lifetime and a proper private audience with my favorite member of my favorite band....truly unforgettable, and the climax of a fantastic day.

Earlier that week, ticket holding Zeppelin fans around the world were in shock when they found out that Jimmy Page buggered up his finger in a gardening accident. Would all that excitment that had built up since the summer announcement of their reunion be squashed, just because Jimmy followed in the footsteps of so many of his countrymen and women, by getting injured in their garden? Luckily, the injury wasn’t too serious and the threat of cancellation turned into a postponement to December 10th. A pain in the arse for many who had to reschedule their travel arrangements, but definitely not a deterrent. And so it looked like a fairly quiet few weeks before the storm hit the O2, but the way that memorable autumn was going so far, an unexpected change of fortune was yet again imminent.

Barely recovered from the excitement of meeting John Paul Jones, I found an e-mail from the wise old owl of all things Zeppelin, Mr. Dave Lewis, announcing a prize draw for money can’t buy tickets to the launch of the reissued The Song Remains the Same DVD at Madame Jojo’s in Soho. I responded instantly and soon found out that I was one of the lucky winners. I remember having faint hopes that members of the inner circle would turn up for the bash, but was realistic enough to know that it will probably be not the case. Either way, it was going to be a great night of Zeppelin inspired shenanigans and just another part of the Autum 2007 Zeppelin puzzle.

The evening itself was great fun, with previews of the DVD, which finally got the attention it deserved. A stunning remastering of both audio and video, the addition of a few extra songs and in the case of the Special Edition a few goodies. Letz Zep, a well known, and IMHO fantastic tribute band, played a set to the delight of the by then slightly intoxicated audience (courtesy of the free drinks provided). Good banter with Dave Lewis, various random people, and post gig with the members of Letz Zep rounded off a fantastic evening, despite the no-show from the band members itself. As informed by Dave Lewis, they had a private screening at a local cinema earlier in the day, where only a handful of selected people and a few members of the press were allowed in....

Things finally slowed down in mid November, and a time of reflection, anticipation and sheer excitement followed. With all those things happening, many of them out of the blue, it was easy to loose focus on the real special event of that time. The quiet time after the DVD launch party allowed me to refocus, make sure i don’t follow Jimmy’s foosteps in the health stakes and organise last minute arrangements for the big day, and the sizeable group of friends from our Friends of Zep Fan Forum, who by hook or crook also scored a ticket for the big day. Despite never meeting them in person beforehand, the common love for the best band in the world and numerous discussions on our online forum, made the eventual meeting in London a few days before the gig, like a reunion of long lost family members. Joachim, Adil and his friend stayed with me, before they were joined by the rest of the German contingent in attendance. On the Saturday we met up in central London, discussing “war stories” and making final preparations for the big day. My main focus was on staying injury free.

On Sunday I ventured down to the O2 to exchange my ticket confirmation for the golden ticket and wristband, which both were needed to gain access the next day. This of course meant meeting the illustrious Bulgarian friend of my Russian friend who was in possession of my £ 750, while I had a sheet of paper. To say that I was nervous of failing at the final hurdle was an understatement, but my nerves were calmed by a host of remedies at my disposal. A text message fired off earlier that week about a meeting point was eventually answered around lunchtime in the very broken English predicted by my Russian friend. Regardless we figured it all out and I started queuing so when she eventually did turn up I was already at the front of the queue. The good thing about the Sunday collection was that all the merchandise I bought, was safely at home in my North London Zeppelin Museum without it being squashed during the gig itself. The meeting with the person enabling me to fulfill my lifelong dream of seeing Zeppelin live, was brief and uneventful until the final few seconds, when she asked me if I wanted the 2nd ticket? After a few moments of utter shock, I explained to her that it’s now way too late for that, but in my head thoughts were racing about the various opportunities that fleeting comment denied me. I could have refinanced my substantial outlay, I could have made one of the millions of Zeppelin fans who missed out extremely happy, I could have, would have, should have....oh well, i was that final hurdle closer to seeing my heroes, and that was all that really mattered.

Having been given the ticket and wristband, brought out a bout of paranoia. After all I was in London, one of the few trully great cities on earth, where (at least in my head at the time) criminals lurked on every corner, just waiting for the chance to rip those priceless possesions out of my hand. Of course nothing happened and I arrived safely back at home. The level of excitement has reached fever pitch and only one more sleep to the biggest day of my life.

The Big Day

Unfortunately the rescheduled day for the gig was a Monday, which meant 9 excruciating hours at work (I usually love my job, but that day I was mildly distracted and very little got done, sorry Evan). I spent a lot of time on online forums trying to get first impressions from the O2 but whatever I did to make time go by, seemed to have the opposite effect. The last few hours in the office that day, felt like weeks. When the clock finally hit 17:00 I gave up pretending to be productive, packed my bags and off I went. The tubes were full of fellow Zepheads and you could sense the anticipation all around London......

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  • 2 months later...

I remember so much of that special night, and other things I don't. I still enjoy watching the "3rd Eye" recording of the show but wait with much anticipation and fervor the release of the "Official Produced" DVD.

My tale of that night and the days and nights preceding it and following it, are to come.

I must gather my thoughts, try and surmise, and help you all, my friends, to understand my sheer excitement and LOVE that overwhelmed me then and makes me smile today.

...thruout

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  • 10 months later...

it was the only concert i've ever been to where people RAN to the toilets and back again so as to miss as little as possible of the show. needless to say this only applied to the zep set!

of all the support acts i thought paulo nuttini held himself extremely well and, in terms of performance, rather shat on some of the more revered acts.

afterwards it felt like i had been in a car crash; such was the intensity of the night i struggled to remember specific moments but had recorded mush of it on my camera.

i'm really looking fwd to re-living the experience on dvd.

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