Post #7: Party Bus to San Diego! Date: Sunday, February 6, 1977 As it was a Sunday, I did my weekly ritual of reading the Sunday Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times and came across this most intriguing ad: Now, unlike the 1975 tour, where Led Zeppelin played two dates at the San Diego Sports Arena, in 1977 they only scheduled one show. I guess with the multiple LA Forum dates, they figured anybody that couldn't see the San Diego show could drive up for the Forum gigs. What I am curious about is if ANYONE here took this Party Bus to the San Diego show, or knows someone who did? You don't hear much about the 1977 San Diego gig, other than John Bonham was off his game. Anyway, this sounds like it would have been fun...an entire bus-full of Zeppelin freaks! FYI, Troy Ticket Service was one of those Ticket Brokers that dotted the Southern California landscape. Basically a legal ticket scalper, you paid a deposit and that would guarantee you a ticket without you having to wait in line on the day tickets went on sale. Depending on the popularity of the band, and the desirability of the concert and the ticket location, a ticket with a face value of $9 could cost you anywhere from $12, $15, on up to $25, or even as much as $30 sometimes. Also in the February 6, 1977 Calendar section was this ad for auditions for the show that would eventually become the "Beatlemania" Broadway sensation: And if you look at the top, you will note that Lee Michaels was playing a club in Huntington Beach that night. The same Lee Michaels that opened for Led Zeppelin at the 1973 Kezar Stadium show in San Francisco...and who played on the bill with Led Zeppelin and Grand Funk Railroad in Detroit in 1969. Lastly, there was an ad for a Foghat show that because it was scheduled for a Saturday, I could probably make:

^^^Wow, I had no idea...you fooled me.

Well, the wee lad can't speak so who knows if he's really "enjoying" the snow and cold, hehe. Just kidding around. He looks adorable as always.

Thanks Stargroves for the info. Norton Buffalo is one of those names that have been lost in the mists of my memory. Shame about his passing. I eventually did see Steve Miller later that summer, but cannot recall if Nortan Buffalo was on the bill or in Steve's band. Quite frankly, none of the Steve Miller Band members stands out in my memory.They were one of the more anonymous, faceless bands of the 70s. Oh, there was quite a buzz about "Rumours", Led Zep Girl, believe me. You couldn't escape that album if you tried...it was all over the radio in 1977; AM and FM. You can PM me any questions you have about Rumours. Well, my memory only goes so far. Sure, today I would probably still remember the dates being changed from March to June, but I wouldn't be able to tell you the exact date the announcement was made if I didn't have the old article. Like I explained with the 1973 concert posts, my memory was helped by old notes, journals and newspaper clippings I kept. Plus, every time I would get together with old friends(or new) and relive old concerts, each time I would talk about a Led Zeppelin concert further ingrained itself into my mind. Which is why I have a clearer recall of a 1973 Led Zeppelin concert than I do of the 1983 Psychedelic Furs or 1993 Ned's Atomic Dustbin concerts; nobody ever asks me about the Furs or Ned's shows.

Since it is a well-known fact that men are wimps when it comes to pain and childbirth, I am posting this article here, for all you tough dames. It makes my eyes water reading about it... Woman Delivers 14 Pound Baby ‘Naturally’ By Maria Vultaggio on January 31st, 2012 Whoa baby, lately it seems women have been giving birth to some big babies! Just a few months ago a woman from Texas gave birth to a sixteen-pound infant. Expectedly, these women have been birthing their children with pain medication to make the labor easier. However, a woman from Iowa gave birth to a baby who almost weighed fourteen pounds, not to mention she did it all “naturally.” “We just wanted to avoid any unnecessary procedures,” Kendall Stewardson said today on “Good Morning America.” “We decided to fight for that (a natural delivery) because we wanted to try to lower my chances of getting a C-section. Baby Asher Stewardson made parents Kendall and Joshua Stewardson proud as he joined their family as their second child. The couple’s first baby, Judah, was born at twelve pounds so they were not too surprised with what Asher weighed at his birth. “We were just really blessed that God enabled my body to be able to do this well,” Stewardson explained on “GMA,” “It went really fast. Six hours is something no one can complain about.” After the six-hour labor, Stewardson’s second child measured in at 23 1/2 inches long, weighing 13 pounds 12 ounces. As it is healthier for the child, many women are attempting to give birth without the facilitation of drugs. “We had decided to research all of our options before we had Judah just to see what would happen to me,” Stewardson said. “We started to research doing it naturally. There are a lot of options for women out there, but this seemed like the best thing for me and Judah, and then Asher.” Stewardson went on to explain that when a woman gives birth to a bigger baby, there’s less baby weight to lose after the pregnancy; another benefit of having a child naturally! Both mother and child are doing well. http://youtu.be/5ar84S_9S60 Big baby: Asher Stewardson was born Jan. 26, 2012, weighing 13 pounds, 13 ounces. Big surprise: An Iowa woman delivered a 13 pound baby Thursday without painkillers or a cesarean section Not the first: The newborn named Asher is just one pound more than the birth weight of his older brother (shown in the arms of his father left) who was 12 pounds Record: Asher's weight of 13 pounds took the record for the Mercy Medical Hospital but was just short of the state's record of 14 pounds in 1980 Healthy: Medical staff say that Asher is completely healthy despite his size and his nine-day delay in birth Watch video here: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1lGggJqvC

I think Z-o-S-o is referring to Robert Plant's use of two vocal mics at various concerts in 1970.

Yes, I agree...just macho posturing. The Knebworth you refer to was in 1976...and Lynyrd Skynyrd did impress more than the Stones that day. You have to understand that the BBC were very British and quaint. They didn't want any unruliness on their radio broadcasts, so they would ask the audience to be quiet during the songs and just politely clap afterwards. The BBC engineers were also notorious for being adamant about never letting the needle "go in the red", meaning they didn't want to record shows at too high a volume and distortion. Which is why the BBC Paris Theatre show of April 1, 1971 sounds so sedate compared to other radio rock concert broadcasts, like the King Biscuit Flower Hour. Lynryd Skynyrd played in the afternoon...then 10cc...then after a long hour-plus wait, the Stones. Nevertheless, Skynyrd's set was THE ONE people remembered from that day, so in effect, they did blow the Stones away. Just like ZZ Top blew the Stones away in 1981 when I saw them at the Houston Astrodome and the Dallas Cotton Bowl. Once again, this is an example of a poorly-titled thread. How could Led Zeppelin have been booed off the stage when they hadn't even played their set yet. Peter Grant was booed, yes. The audience wanted more GFR than the brief set they got...that was the promotors fault. And Peter Grant, who was being a little too sensitive. But then, if there was a time curfew, that could have been a problem. If I buy a ticket, I don't want the headliner's set cut short because of the opener...no matter how good the opening act is, I came to see the headliner. And waiting as long as they did meant that some of the audience(according to this source, which isn't exactly impartial) left by the time Zeppelin came on. But do we have any proof or evidence that ONCE the band did come and play that people booed them? I have a hard time believing that. Other than Gene Simmons and KISS, no other band from the 70s has done a better job of self-aggrandizement and inflating their own myth than Grand Funk Railroad. Much of what they say about themselves is to be taken with a hefty grain of salt.

As soon as I saw the trailer and ads for "The Grey", I immediately thought "Liam Neeson is gonna kick some wolve's ass...there better be scenes of Liam strangling a wolf with his bare hands or biting his heart out!" Well, apparently I wasn't the only one to expect that and this review from the LA Weekly suggests I might be disappointed with the film. The Grey Review Liam Neeson fights wolves By Brian Miller Los Angeles Weekly Thursday, Jan 26 2012 I was told there would be more wolf-punching in The Grey. If you crash Liam Neeson and six disposable buddies in the frozen Alaskan wilderness, there is the expectation — nay, the requirement — that Neeson punch as many wolves as possible. Tape pocketknives and broken glass to your fists, improvise other weapons from the plane wreckage, just do what's necessary in the situation, OK? But despite Neeson's recent string of aggrieved-daddy action flicks (Taken, Unknown, etc.), this is not to be. Reuniting with his A-Team director, Joe Carnahan, Neeson is instead a melancholy Irish Catholic given to fits of poetry and religious doubt. He gently shepherds a dying passenger into the beyond. He provides sage advice to the motley survivors — worried by their knowledge of both Alive and Grizzly Man — as he attempts to lead them on a trek to safety. He writes to a mystery woman, glimpsed in gauzy flashbacks (who provides the film's only real jolt in making you think about Natasha Richardson). Along the way, Neeson's pack is revealed to be frail and fearful, as The Grey's dwindling survivors somberly contemplate the odds against them and, as the film takes a mystical turn, the absence of divine providence. There's too much Jack London, and, as they systematically pick off the stragglers, too many CGI wolves go unpunched. —Brian Miller

Wow, you guys could populate your own city!

Post #6: Four Forum Shows Officially Sold Out Date: Wednesday February 2, 1977 No big post today, but did want to share this notice that was in the February 2, 1977 edition of the Los Angeles Times. I read it that day in the school library. So the four LA Forum shows had sold out, and rumours abounded of a 5th Forum date soon to be added. Which meant nothing to me, as the date added would surely be Monday, March 14(a school night), and besides, I was broke. I had little left of the $90 I took with me to get the Zeppelin tickets. I still hadn't decided which of the extra tickets to use to trade, and for which show. I really wanted to go to Steve Miller's "Fly Like an Eagle" concert that was upcoming, but unfortunately, it was on a school night. But the Kinks were playing on an upcoming Friday night, so that was a possibility. P.S. Whatever happened to Norton Buffalo?

Robert's second mic was because they were multitracking the RAH 70 show. It had nothing to do with the video. For one thing, it was 16mm film not video, and there were no video screens used for 70 RAH, so no need for a video feed. And if I remember correctly, all the 16mm film shot at 70 RAH was silent, meaning they had to synch the multitrack audio to the film for the DVD. And for the last time, I don't know why this is so hard for some people to understand, there was NO VIDEO SCREEN at the LA Forum...not in 75, not in 77, not ever! Any film you see from a LA Forum gig is going to be fan-shot. By 1975, the band obviously relaxed their security, as there's a ton of 1975 and 77 8mm fan footage compared to earlier years.

^^^Crikey! That's some scary shit, Fool...thank goodness they caught it before disaster struck. But hell yeah, I'd be smoking angry, too! In regards to your son...it just boggles my mind. I guess coming from the US Army, where there's always a constant need for soldiers(thanks, in part, to the military-industrial complex), the idea that an Army would FORCE someone out is hard to fathom. In the U.S., we have two types of discharge: honourable and dishonourable. If you finish your service, (whether it is 2 years, 4, or for life) without a hitch or any problems, you get honourably discharged. If you're a troublemaker, busted, court-martialed, then you're usually dishonourably discharged before your time of service is up. But with your son...it sounds like he's a good soldier, he WANTS to stay, yet they're forcing him out because the army doesn't have any money? That takes the cake. My heart goes out to your son. What kind of country turns away a citizen who is willing to serve? Remind me again how England remained an empire for so long?

Ledzepfvr, I never was a fan of the show...I watched a couple episodes when it debuted, but it didn't do much for me. It wasn't as good, in my opinion, as "Sanford and Son". Freddie Prinze may have been a rising young comic, but he was no Redd Fox. But 22 is a terrible age to die, no matter who you are. Just for the record, he was pronounced dead at UCLA's Medical Center...where Roger Daltry and Robert Plant had their press conference last month. As for where I stashed my tix...I divided the tix into two envelopes and taped them to the inside of the white band of paper that wrapped around the "Houses of the Holy" album, then slipped the band back around the album.

February 26. One day before the whole shebang was supposed to begin in Ft. Worth. All things in due time, my friend...I'll get to that.

Post #5: I've Got A Golden Ticket! Date: Monday January 31, 1977 Had a hard time sleeping through the night...lots of people apparently decided to party and stay up late and into the morning. Kept hearing noises and shit. And I don't know exactly when, but it was early when we decided to pack up our bags and stuff and take it to the car. Of course, someone had to stay behind to make sure we didn't lose our place in line. The books and newspapers had been read(the main headlines being a frigid storm bringing the Midwest and East to a standstill with 14 inches of snow...6 people found frozen to death in Buffalo with possibly more to come...President Carter declared the states of New York and Pennsylvania disaster areas..."Mexico Torn by Gang Warfare Over Narcotics"(things never change, eh?)and 22-year old Freddie Prinze(of the tv show "Chico and the Man") dying after shooting himself in the head), the music all listened to, and the food and drinks consumed. It was now time to clean up and get the line organized in some fashion and begin that last bit of waiting until the clock struck 10:00am. At some point, the Forum people had moved us across the lot and closer to the box office. As there was no event scheduled for the Forum that day, they didn't need to keep the parking lot or box office clear anymore...it was all about selling Led Zeppelin tickets that day. By Monday morning now, the line stretched way way way off into the distance. It was hard to fathom how all these people would get tickets. My friend and I started doing some calculations, and thanks to a handy LA Lakers and LA Kings schedule someone handed us, some conjecturing about possible added shows. For example: there were 3 scheduled shows, March 9, 12 and 13. We used the soldout capacity for Lakers games as our reference figure: 17,505. So multiply that by 3 and you get 52,515 total tickets. We estimated the line at around 4,000. Assuming the usual ticket limit of 6 tickets per person, multiply that by 4,000 and you get 24,000 tickets that would be needed to assure everyone in line got tickets. Of course, we didn't know yet if the ticket limit meant per person or per show. Then, there were the other Ticketron locations, located at Wallich's Music City stores, Pacific Stereo, and elsewhere...I think Sears or May Company or one of those big department stores at the time had Ticketrons, too. Conservatively we estimated around 30 Ticketron locations in the Southland, including the Forum. At six tickets a person at a rate of one person per minute, that was 180 tickets sold per minute. Divide that into the 52,515 tickets and it would take just over 4 hours for all those tickets to be sold. That may seem slow to you kids today, when shows are sold out instantaneously it seems. But this was before tickets were sold through the internet, and most tickets were still sold in person at ticket windows, not over the phone and computer. Plus, the available customer base was still pretty much local. Unlike today, where a band will put ALL the tickets for ALL the shows on sale and a person in Georgia can buy a ticket for Oregon, the people buying tickets for those LA Forum shows were pretty much only Southern Californians...we weren't competing with the entire country for tickets. This was also years before Ticketmaster(aka TicketBastard) became prominent. Before Ticketmaster became the company everyone loathed, it was Ticketron that dominated the ticket-selling market in the 1970s. They instituted the whole concept of computerized automated ticket machines and all that jazz. Hell, the company was even owned by a computer firm, Control Data Corporation. Besides tickets to concerts and events, you could also bet through Ticketron terminals. And you know what? Everyone bitched about Ticketron back then the way we do about Ticketmaster today...tickets were too high, it was hard to get good seats, etc. So when Ticketmaster started branching out into a national service from its humble Arizona roots in the late-70s, many people thought this would finally give Ticketron some competition and drive ticket prices down and make it easier to get good seats. HA! Boy were we wrong. Ticketmaster eventually swallowed up Ticketron in 1991, and they became even more monstrous than Ticketron. Now with their recent take over of Live Nation, it seems there will never be any stopping them. Anyway, back to the Zeppelin ticket line. Around 9am or so, there seemed to be some bustle of activity near the front...as I said earlier, where we were was somewhere around 150 people from the front. I guess because the Forum saw this huge mass of people(I thought I had a photo of the line taken from the air in my files, but I can't find it), they took pity and decided to go ahead and open the box office windows before the official 10am starting time. Maybe they also heard all those reports of earlier box office riots for Led Zeppelin tickets. Although, to tell you the truth, given the huge amount of people, other than a couple hassles about people trying to cut in line, I don't recall anybody getting violent or anything like that...of course, it helps that we were in a mild clime like LA. Most of those riots I read about usually happened in places where people had been waiting in freezing cold. So, whether it was 9 or 9:30am I can't be sure, but it was definitely before 10am when the first people were allowed up to the box office windows and a roar went up from the crowd. Now I was really excited and I had to struggle to keep certain facts straight in my head...like how many tickets I was getting and for which date. The reason my excitement was at such a pitch, and you may find this corny...but THIS was my first time actually BUYING Led Zeppelin tickets in person. In 1972 and 1973, my Led Zeppelin tickets were bought for me by adults. In 1975, the tickets were sold by mail order, which eliminates the waiting in line concept. So, this was my first time(and alas, only, it turned out) doing the camping out and waitng in person for Zeppelin tix. I had already narrowed my ticket preferences to the Saturday and Sunday shows(3/12 and 3/13) as it would be pretty hard for me to go on another school night when I was already seeing Queen on a school night(3/3) the week prior. We noticed that gap between March 9 and the 12, and figured they would add a date on one of those days...if they did, we hoped it would be the 11th, as that was a Friday, which would make it easier to attend for me. Alas, after consulting the Lakers and Kings schedules we had, we saw the Lakers would be playing at the Forum that night. Then, we saw the Kings were playing the Forum on the 10th...that explains why there was that 2 night gap between the 9 and 12. Okay, that meant any extra concerts would come after the 13, which sucked as that would be on a schoolday. After their game on Friday the 11th, the Lakers were out-of-town until the 18th. The Kings would be away until the 17th. So any extra days would be either on March 15th or 16th...or both. That would be a total of 5 Forum concerts....a total in one run that only Jethro Tull and the Rolling Stones had accomplished, both times in 1975. But since those days fell on a Monday and Tuesday, it didn't mean anything to me. My goal of seeing Led Zeppelin one more time than I saw them in 1975(4 times) looked to be shattered. So, we worked it out that he would get the best seats he could for the Saturday show(3/12) and I would get our tickets for the Sunday show(3/13). He was also getting a ticket for his girlfriend for the Saturday show, which meant he needed at least three seats together. We were going with his older brother who was buying his own tickets for him and his pals, but we didn't need to be sitting with him, so we broke it up...the smaller number of tickets you're getting, the better chance you have of getting good seats. I had about $80 left from the $90 that I had brought with me, which meant that I had plenty to get 6 tickets...8 if there wasn't a limit. I was buying two for Sunday, which left four for any other dates where I could find the best seats. The reason for buying tickets for a show I wasn't planning on going to, is that in those times, a Led Zeppelin ticket was worth more than its weight in gold. It was better than cash. It truly was like finding Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket! I knew there would be some concerts coming up later that spring and in the summer(Pink Floyd's Animals tour, for instance), that I would want to see, and I could trade my extra Zeppelin tix for them...especially if they were decent seats. Let me put it this way...It would be easier for me to go to a broker and trade my Zeppelin ticket for an ELO ticket than the other way around. So, my plan was after first securing the best two seats available for Sunday's 3/13 show, to then ask for the best available for any of the shows...especially any floor seats or floor risers...anything better than Colonnade(which was the upper bowl section of the Forum). A slim chance of floor seats obviously...but you never know when you ask for just a single, one might pop up. The line was moving....too slowly it seemed to me...but moving nonetheless. Actually, it felt like a cattle call, all of us massed and slowly trudging step-by-step past the barricades and security, etc. You feel like "mooing" sometimes. Closer and closer you creep towards the windows...there must have been 4 or 5 box office windows open for business...and all the while you're thinking "Yes! I'm almost there!" followed by the nagging fear that just as you get up to the front, somebody's going to come out with their bullhorn and announce that the "shows are sold out...there's no more tickets." I'm sure anybody here that has bought tickets in person, rather than thru the phone or computer, knows what I am talking about. You're constantly praying and pleading with the concert gods...please just let me get my tickets before they sell out. It seemed like days, but it probably was only an hour or two when our group finally made it to our respective windows. That's when you realize all the careful planning in the world and all the thinking you do in your head vaporizes as you get to the window and you feel the pressure of just getting tickets, and I became somewhat flustered and had to calm down and remember my goal. The first thing was getting Sunday...no floor seats, but a pretty good pair of loges. Got 'em. Okay, any floor seats anywhere for any of the shows? Nope, but there was a single loge for the 9th. Okay...that's three tix. What about Saturday's show? It's a Saturday night and that's usually a preferable night than a weekday show to use as trade bait...nothing but Colonnade and some Loges. I took a pair of the Loges. Checked again for Sunday's show and nothing better than Loges, but nothing close to the stage. Next question was if there were any added shows...I was told nothing confirmed yet but check back later in the day as it looked like one would be added. Paid my money, under $50 for 5 tix, grabbed my tickets and met my friends over by the window where they had a seating chart map, where everyone was scoping out their seat locations. My friend didn't get any floors either for Saturday, just Colonnade...apparently asking for three together made that much of a difference than asking for two. But, hey, we were in the building for at least two of the three Led Zeppelin concerts, Saturday and Sunday March 12 and 13. We decided against hanging around the Forum for another show announcement for two reasons: 1) Me and my friend had to get to school for at least a token appearance...or at least in time for me to catch the school bus back home; and 2) there was still such a mob of people that even if they added another show, by being at the back of the line, there was no way we would have a chance at good seats. Oh, there was another good reason to high-tail it out of there...when you have Zeppelin tickets and there's thousands in line still waiting to get theirs, it's not wise to hang around flaunting your tickets. It's like waving a red flag before a bull. We collected ourselves, a little relieved that the whole ordeal was over and, if not a total success(I guess I was never destined to be in the front row of a Zeppelin concert), still we left with what we came for...tickets! We also, knew, and could feel it in our bones, that at least ONE more show would be added that day and put on sale. It was just a matter of when. I still had some money left...over $30. Since my friend and I had to be at school, I gave my money to my friend's brother so he could get tickets for me for any show that was added. Once we got back to Riverside and he dropped us off at school, he was going to go to one of the local Ticketron outlets and wait for the new show to go on sale. My friend would call me at home with any news. Driving across town from Inglewood to Riverside on a Monday we studied and beheld our tickets like they were gold. One thing about buying tickets at the Forum box office was that the tickets had the distinctive Forum logo printed on the ticket. Stopping for lunch on the way, we got to our school somewhere around 5th period...I think I made it for my last couple of classes. More importantly, I was able to be on the school bus home...if I hadn't come home on the bus, my stepmom would have gotten suspicious and figured something was up. And you might be surprised, but I really didn't tell too many people that day about getting Zeppelin tickets...I didn't want word spreading to the teachers or principal about what I was doing out of school Monday. Later after I got home, came my friend's call with the good news...there was an added show that went on sale that afternoon: Tuesday March 15. Better still, we got floor seats...in the rear, but still on the floor. So we could take those floor seats for the 15th and trade them for floorseats for the 12th or 13th. I also had two extra tickets left over from the three he bought for me with my $30. So, in all, I had: 1 Loge for March 9. 1 Colonnade for March 12. 2 Loges for March 12. 1 Loge for March 13. 3 Rear Floors for March 15. I was definitely going to the concerts on the 12th and 13th. There would be plenty of time to sort the rest out later...for now, the most important thing was to put them in a safe place where they wouldn't get lost, or get discovered by my snooping stepmother. And, when one countdown ends another often begins. The tickets now in hand, now began the long, long, LONG wait for the actual concerts to arrive. 40 days and 40 nights until our first concert of March 12.

You left out the alien-abduction.

^^^Well, maybe there was a third Swan Song launch party? In London perhaps? New Orleans? Whatever, I'm liking that The Brain Damage Club t-shirt Plant is wearing. Isn't it possible he switched jackets at some point? Maybe Bonzo sprayed him with champagne and he needed to change into some dry clothes.

It's almost 10pm...which means it was 10pm 35 years ago on the eve of the tickets going on sale. The Laker crowd was going home and I was going to sleep. 12 HOURS TO GO!!!

Post #4: Sunday...a day of rest...plus Jerry Weintraub. Date: Sunday, January 30, 1977 Okay, I'm kind of fatigued already from writing the first three chapters so I'm kind of taking today off. Besides, it was a Sunday, a day of rest. And that's prettty much all that happened that day...rest. Resting from the Van Halen show the night before and resting up for the big day on Monday. Besides finishing up the book "Roots", the day pretty much consisted of walking back and forth to the gas station/market to use the restroom, get an icee or something, or make a call on the pay phones. Tedious and not something worth writing about. When we woke up Sunday, there was less than 24 hours to the time tickets would go on sale. It would be the slowest day of my life...time seemed to creep by. The crowd of people had certainly expanded throughout the night. There was a sizable increase in people from the night before. But Sunday the 30th is when it really got LARGE! People by now had seen the Sunday ad and heard the news on the radio, and the line swelled with newcomers...a lot of them probably had to work during the week, so Sunday was their first opportunity to join the line. How large was the line by Sunday? God only knows...it seemed like a couple thousand or three, at least. Other than people watching, nothing of note happened until the crowd started arriving for that night's Laker game. This time Pistol Pete Maravich and the New Orleans Jazz...yes, that's right, NEW ORLEANS!...were in town to take on the Lakers and their 18-game home winning streak. I had my portable radio with me so I could listen to Chick Hearn call the game. Every so often as the basketball crowd arrived, you'd hear catcalls, people laughing about us stoners and freaks camping out for tickets. The Lakers pulled out a squeaker 101-99, and won their 19th home game in a row. People sometimes ask me why I didn't go try to see either the 76er or the Jazz game, to see Dr. J or Pete Maravich in person...wasn't I tempted to go across the parking lot and get a ticket for the game? And I always say that there would be plenty of opportunities in the future to see a Laker game, to see Dr. J or Maravich. But MY TOP PRIORITY was getting Led Zeppelin tickets for their 1977 tour. NOTHING SUPERCEDED, nothing was bigger than that!!! Now that I was so close to the moment at hand, I wasn't going to take a risk of losing my wallet or having it pickpocketed, or being jumped after the game...or any number of scenarios I could picture in my mind that prevented me from being able to buy tickets the next day. LED ZEPPELIN WAS IT! Anyway, so I'll be going now...but before I leave, I want to draw your attention to one thing. If you looked at the ad that I posted yesterday, you might have noticed the name Jerry Weintraub, along with Concerts West. If you're not familiar with the name Jerry Weintraub, you should be...he's one of the great showbiz legends. One of the last of the true showmen of the 20th Century. He had his finger in so many pies...music, movies, Broadway, Vegas, you-name-it. He had the chutzpah to convince Colonel Parker to let him put together Elvis Presley's first national tour. He founded Concerts West and put on the first world satellite concert broadcast: Frank Sinatra at Madison Square Garden...The Main Event. He also worked with Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, even John Denver. And of course Led Zeppelin. I highly recommend you check out two sources about Jerry Weintraub. One is his book "When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man". The other is the fun HBO documentary on Jerry Weintraub titled "His Way".

Holy shit badgeholder! I'm so jealous of you...that must have been sweet working the sound back then. You must have a lot of tapes from back then. That Van Halen Whisky show was one of the first, if not THE first time I went to the revived Whisky. They had a spell there in the mid-70s where they stopped booking bands and went to more of a discotheque direction. I'm curious as to how long you worked there? It wasn't long after the Van Halen show that we went back to see Blondie and Tom Petty there. Elmer was a trip...later, I worked for a brief time as a bouncer/doorman at the Roxy and Whisky for Elmer and his grandson...this was around the late-80s early-90s. His grandson and I shared the same name...but different spellings. That was when the Strip was hopping and the sidewalks and street would be clogged with girls and dudes hawking their bands. There must have been a ton of band flyers for the trashmen to sweep up every morning. Grunge killed that scene lickity-split. I'm always sorry I wasn't able to go to Elmer's memorial...I was visiting family in another state. Did you go?

Not being British, I'm not aware what the term "Redundant" means in this capacity. Is this similar to the way we Americans say "discharged"?

^^^Don't worry LZF77, you don't have to read the entire thing. No, the concert wasn't January 27, that was the article about the LA Forum dates and ticket sales. The actual concerts at the Forum wouldn't be until months later...about a month after your Largo shows. I won't write about going to the actual concerts until the actual date arrives...to give the reader the same sense of waiting and anticipation that you and I and others back then had to go through. Hence, since the 31st is the day the tickets went on sale, tomorrow is when I'll write about that. I realize some people won't have the patience and will get bored and drop out before I reach the end. C'est la vie. It's my thread and that's how I'm doing it. Regarding your Largo 77 experience, I didn't read the Timeline...I don't have the time to get over there much. But I do remember you mentioning it on one of the Zeppelin concert threads. Didn't you also have tix to the Rich Stadium show in Buffalo in 77? The one they had to cancel after Karac's death? That had to hurt. Since you lived in Buffalo, did you go to the Buffalo show in 73? Thanks Ledzepfvr...nice detective work. Makes sense, as most of the streets down there are numbered sts: 110th, 103rd, and so on. By the way, that Mad Greek in Riverside is long gone, but I hear there's one in Corona. You ever been there?

Don't give up Kat. Sometimes it takes a thousand nos before you get a yes. You need a thick skin. I wish you luck.

Sorry about the missing part of Post #3...it's been fixed now. My apologies if you read it earlier and felt left in the lurch.