^^^This time of year, it likes to go to Monte Carlo.

I feel your pain. Not a good week for me so far. Laid off from work and two packages I sent to different people haven't arrived and it's been nearly two weeks since I sent them. Thanks USPS! Thankfully, there was the LOW concert last night to raise my spirits.

6!

^^^Gee, thanks Zeppelin Led. I'm curious, are you still into hip hop? I've found in random experiments that listening to Led Zeppelin helps to appreciate hip hop more, and vice versa. I think it has to do with the way Zeppelin maximized and played around with the beat and manipulated sound...it's very simpatico with what hip hop producers do. That's why I think a lot of hip hoppers can get into Zeppelin while being left cold by other classic rock bands like Cream, the Who, etc. Conversely, I think you'll find a higher percentage of Zeppelin fans into hip hop than fans of other classic rock bands.

See?!? It's not that difficult to spell Paul Rodgers correctly. Jimmy should fire the ESL bumpkins he has working for him and hire you, Miss Melanie.

The tapes came out pretty good...it's got the usual amount of tape hiss that you get with cassettes. I managed to time my tape flips pretty good so I only missed a few seconds at the end of Most High and one of Plant's remarks...but otherwise it's complete. I've just never bothered to convert it to either mp3 files or burn it to cd. I've only made a few copies for friends. After I had a bunch of my bootleg master tapes stolen(all my 80's and early 90s tapes), I stopped trading. The pictures came out so-so...trying to deal with taping the show and taking pictures was difficult. I have a few buried in my archives...I'll try to unearth them. What's funny is that the security came over and told me to stop taking photos. The whole time they are reading me the riot act, I was praying they wouldn't spot the microphone clipped to my baseball cap! Sure, I'll stop taking photos...now just stop talking over the music and go away before you discover my tape recorder, haha. Anyway, if you're interested in a copy, pm me. It's not Mike Millard quality, but it's better than Bath 70 or those bozos that taped Montreal 75.

7! To mark the last day of summer, one of my favourite songs from "summerteeth":

Thanks to Jimmy Page for reminding me this gig was in September...I always think it was October 98. Anyhow, I'm listening to the show right now as I write this...Jimmy is blazing through No Quarter at the moment...and so I thought I'd post a brief word or two about this concert, the first and only time Robert and Jimmy have played the Hollywood Bowl. While the first Page & Plant tour(the Un-Ledded tour of 1995) was great, and I enjoyed all 4 concerts I saw from that tour, I was even more excited about 1998's Walking Into Everywhere tour. They had a new album out with new songs to play: Walking Into Clarksdale. An album that was underrated when it was released but has held up rather well over time. I still like it to this day...in fact, I may like it even more now than I did back in 1998. Burning Up contains some of Jimmy's most incendiary post-Zeppelin playing. Another reason I was looking forward to the tour was that, unlike the Un-Ledded tour, where Jimmy had guitar help from Porl Thomson, this time Jimmy was shouldering the load himself. And it was back to a basic quartet format...with occasional keyboard help from Ed Shearmer. No orchestras to help camouflage the sound. If Jimmy was really and truly back to former form, this 1998 tour would reveal the answer. Having scored front row garden box seats for the Hollywood Bowl show the day tix went on sale, I was gonna let the Bowl show suffice for that tour. But as the date drew nearer, I started getting the urge to see the Irvine Meadows show that would be held the night before the Bowl show. So on Sept. 18, 1998, a few of us decided to drive down to Irvine from LA and see if we could score some cheap lawn seats. We could and we did. Even from way back in the lawn section, the show was amazing. Jimmy was playing great and showing some of that old fire and razzmatazz. They even busted out Celebration Day for the encore! After the show, me and my friend who also was going to the Bowl show couldn't wait for the next day. If the Irvine show was great, how much better would the Bowl show be with us having great seats? Sept. 19 was a gorgeous day, but all I could think was for the night to hurry up and arrive. I didn't have to work that day, so I was able to sleep in after being out late at the concert the night before. I was bringing my portable recording Walkman and 2 90 minute Maxell tapes to tape the concert. I was also bringing a camera...a 35mm SLR...so I spent most of the afternoon figuring out my plan of sneaking both in. There was no opening band...at least, I don't remember one. There were a few loudmouths in the box to the left of us, but they behaved better as the show progressed. The opening intro tape featured some spacey music, and before you knew it, Jimmy, Robert and the band were on stage, ripping into Wanton Song! It took a bit before the soundguy figured out the Hollywood Bowl acoustics and delivered optimum sound. But once the sound was sorted out, the concert took off, around the time they played "Ramble On". Then came some of the new songs like "When the World Was Young", which sounded better in concert than on record. "No Quarter" was scorching hot! At this point you could see Jimmy was as close as he'd ever been to his former glory days. Of course, you could also ksee Jimmy drooling, but I won't dwell on that. One emotional highlight of the show was when they played "Going to California"...the cheer from the crowd was so loud me and my friend turned our heads to look back and were greeted with the sight of hundreds of lit lighters held aloft. Robert Plant was especially in fine voice for this song...he even gave a little dedication to the Riot House and Miss Pamela. Another jaw-dropping moment: How Many More Times(introduced by Robert Plant as "psychedelic jazz"), with Jimmy whipping the bow out for a near spot-on rendition of the recorded bow segment from the first album. My friend had never seen Led Zeppelin, so this moment was extra special to him, seeing Jimmy whip his guitar with a little of the old ultra-violence. Most High was one of my favourite new songs and live, it did not disappoint...a hypnotic, swirling mass of sound. If there was any disappointment, it was that they didn't play more new songs from the Walking Into Clarksdale album. Where was Burning Up?! This should've been mandatory! I would have gladly sacrificed a few more Zeppelin tunes for more Clarksdale songs. And I have a feeling Robert felt the same way, which was probably one reason why they split following the tour. All in all, though, it was a great night, and proof that Jimmy's playing was back to where it belonged. From this tour he would go on to form his alliance with the Black Crowes, and play more great shows until, alas, his back or hip gave out and he had to stop. From that point on, all momentum was lost. Aside from the O2 gig in 2007 and his joining Foo Fighters at their Wembley gig, public performances have been rare and spotty. Hopefully he'll get his mojo back someday.

Jimmy Page & Robert Plant @ Hollywood Bowl 9-19-98. My own personal cassettes that I recorded by sneaking a tape recorder in.

My schedule changes on a whim, but these two concerts are pretty much set in stone. 1. LOW w/ Bachelorette @ El Rey Theatre. Sept. 20 I've been into Low long before Mr. Plant got wind of them. Like Sigur Rós, they are a band that sounds like the environment they hail from: the austerely beautiful wintry climes of Duluth, Minnesota. They don't tour often, so any chance to see them should be siezed like a thirsty man stranded in the desert offered a drink of water. Hoping they play this song...the guitar thunder after the 2:45 mark rivals the best of Neil Young and Sonic Youth. Also hoping they play this song off their new album "C'mon", another Low slow-burn classic. 2. Gillian Welch @ Henry Fonda Music Box Theatre. Sept. 29. Another one I've been looking forward to since her new record with David Rawlings, "The Harrow and the Harvest" came out. I assume David will be with her to add his wonderful guitar to songs like this, "Tennessee":

September 19, 1971 Madison Square Garden, NY...both the afternoon and evening shows as contained in EVSD's "Praying Silently for Jimi" 4-disc set. Afternoon show is good but the evening show is STUPENDOUS! Easily one of the best concerts Led Zeppelin performed. "Out on the Tiles" is even better than the one from the 9-4-70 Blueberry Hill show. Add in a rare Gallows Pole, a raging Girl Can't Help It/Twenty Flight Rock cover, and not only a long Whole Lotta Love medley, but a How Many More Times medley, too...one that includes another go at "Blueberry Hill"! This show has a permanent place in my Desert Island Top 10 Led Zeppelin bootlegs.

Breaking news from the pitchfork site. http://m.pitchfork.com/news/44035-radiohead-set-for-the-colbert-report/

^^^Just to clarify, I'm in the US, too. Los Angeles to be exact. But you can find Mojo at Barnes and Noble or any newstand.

Better than Metta World Peace...aka the former Ron Artest.

Talk about random, hehe. Since "near future" is kind of vague, my best suggestion is to pick up the current issue of Mojo magazine...in the back they have ads and listings for all upcoming concerts in the U.K.

^^^Nice. Those Japanese shows are some of my favourites of the Page & Plant era. It's during Jimmy's guitar/noise solo...don't have the disc at hand, but I believe it is around the part where Jimmy goes into the section that sounds like Eddie Van Halen's "Cathedral". It's pretty funny...and since it sounds like Mike recorded this close to the stage(you hear one guy shout "Hi Plant!" during the show), you wonder if Jimmy heard the guy.

8! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyGLLipZYQ8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Arrgggghhh...Raiders choke in the end. After making the yardsale rounds early this morning, hit the Barney's Beanery on the Santa Monica Promenade to catch the second half of all the morning games. They have satellite so they have all the games showing at once. Saw Saints beat Chicago, Detroit pulverize KC, Cleveland shock Indy(ok, Manning is out, but still, the Colts should not be losing to the Browns), as well as the Raiders choke. Gonna be a long up and down season.

9! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsPCsxifoi0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

March 7, 1970 Montreux, Switzerland "I Left My Heart in Montreux 1970" Wendy Records

As a dumb American, can one of you erudite Brits please explain the term "banns"? Its etymology, pronounciation, and so forth? Even when I was in the UK, I never came across or heard the phrase "wedding banns", and I'm curious about this word.

slave to zep: Best wishes to you, Jules! Congratulations to the happy couple! planted: I am so happy for you and your son. You must be very proud...and relieved, given the state of the economy and job market today.