Kooyong: Demolition taking Australia’s spiritual home of tennis back to basics The former home of Australian tennis – Kooyong in inner Melbourne – is being taken back to its original form, with demolition work now well under way. The horseshoe-shaped arena is being stripped back to the low-line level of the early 1930s, removing upper echelons added in the 1950s. Unlike the razing of the Sydney Football Stadium and major re-design of Sydney Olympic Park, Kooyong’s redevelopment acknowledges and celebrates its storied history. Billed as “the spiritual home of tennis in Australia”, Kooyong is the nation’s most original major sports stadium. Although pre-dated by the MCG, SCG and Adelaide Oval, for example, it retains more of the original structures than our most revered stadia. Kooyong’s upper stands are being removed as part of an $18 million upgrade of the private tennis club’s facilities. Built in 1926 and upgraded in 1934, Kooyong hosted 28 Australian Opens – the most before Melbourne Park took over in 1988. Kooyong was the permanent AO venue from 1972 to 1987, as well as the post-World War II venue of choice for Davis Cup finals. To make more space for car parking for club members, Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club has won council approval to demolish the upper western and southern stands. Kooyong’s significance is that the green concrete bowl hosted many of Australia’s biggest international sports successes of the 20th century. It also hosted sell-out concerts in the 1970s and ’80s featuring Elton John, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and David Bowie. Historically, its preservation is as important as keeping iconic football/cricket and Olympic/Commonwealth Games stadia as monuments to our great sporting heritage. Full article: https://thenewdaily.com.au/sport/tennis/2019/07/18/kooyong-demolition-taking-australias-spiritual-home-of-tennis-back-to-basics/

Led Zeppelin star helps legendary music agent celebrate honorary degree Led Zeppelin star Robert Plant has finally received £8 he was due for playing a gig more than 40 years ago – during a university graduation ceremony. The musician has helped the legendary music industry figure who played a key role in his career celebrate being awarded an honorary degree. Mr Plant joined Rod MacSween, one of the world’s most successful agents, on stage as his achievements were recognised by the University of Exeter. Mr MacSween joked he had still not paid Mr Plant for a concert he played in the 1970s, and offered him a £10 note, which he came on stage to collect. Mr Plant joked this wasn’t enough, and told his friend it had been “great sharing my adventures with you”. The agent now personally represents renowned artists such as Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Def Leppard, Guns n’ Roses, Kiss, Lenny Kravitz, Maroon 5, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam, Scorpions, Tool and The Who. In 2015 he was the recipient of the prestigious VIP Classic Rock Award. Mr MacSween studied chemistry and statistics at the University of Exeter, where he had a first taste of working with bands such as The Who after being elected as Students’ Guild social secretary in 1969. During that time he booked artists who were in their early musical careers like Pink Floyd and Robert Plant’s ‘Band of Joy’. After graduating he worked as an agent at major music booking agencies before founding ITB in 1976. During the graduation ceremony Professor Sir Steve Smith, Vice Chancellor of the University of Exeter, paid tribute to Mr MacSween’s “incomparable success”. Professor Smith met Mr MacSween when he was social secretary at Southampton University between 1973 and 1974, and described how he was one of the “most admired and professional” music agents he worked with. Professor Smith said: “From the beginning of his career Rod developed a reputation as a shrewd and unflappable negotiator who showed huge loyalty to his clients, with whom he has built strong and lasting friendships. “Rod’s career has been a story of exponential success, with very few bumps in the road, testimony to his outstanding talents as businessman and leader of global company.” Telling students he hoped Mr MacSween’s career would inspire them, Professor Smith said: “It is absolutely obvious to me that Rod’s success as a businessman and entrepreneur is not simply down to his unique skills and talents. He is at the top of his field because he is also passionate about music. And because throughout his career he has taken time to build and cultivate authentic relationships with clients based on mutual respect and trust.” In his speech Mr MacSween explained how his role as student social secretary had provided “crucial and memorable experiences” and said he wanted to express his “heartfelt gratitude” for the honorary degree. “As a student the idea of returning years later to take my place on this platform in the Great Hall would never have entered my mind,” he said. “My work as an international music agent has brought me in contact with celebrated musicians and legendary bands, many of who I was in contact with early in my career. Nourished by fierce loyalty and mutual trust these relationships have endured through the decades and I am deeply proud to represent some of the greatest musicians and artists in the world. “I am lucky. My work remains my passion and continues to energise and enthuse me. It is my driving force. I love the music and I love working with the artists I represent, they have become like family.” Mr MacSween encouraged the graduating students to work in their future careers with enthusiasm, confidence, and commitment and to be brave and strong and take risks. Date: 17 July 2019

Brixton History – Led Zeppelin’s live album and a closed theatre on Brixton Hill By mike urban – July 11, 2019 In 1976, heavy rock superstars Led Zeppelin released The Song Remains the Same, a live soundtrack album of the concert film of the same name. Unexpectedly, the artwork featured an illustration of the old Scala Theatre at 101 & 103 Brixton Hill – a building we’ve documented extensively over the years but never knew had a rock’n’roll connection. We were alerted to Brixton’s link to Led Zeppelin after seeing a discussion on a fan forum, where contributors were trying to work out where the band had rehearsed ahead of their 1973 US tour. Several theories were discussed with one poster deciding, “I think the whole 73 tour rehearsal space thing being in any way involved with The Song Remains The Same cover was just a mix up.” However, it did lead to the former Scala Cinema being positively identified as the building on the artwork for the album, so we thought we’d celebrate the band’s connection to Brixton: The artwork is clearly identifiable as the building in Brixton Hill. Since closing in 1957, the old cinema building has had a multitude of tenants, including the Camping Centre and Tarpaulin and Tent Mfg Co (2002), Dalxiis Restaurant (2006), South Beach Bar (2009), White Sands venue (2014), Believers Home Chapel (2015), SGH Events Hall (2018) and it’s currently being used as the Tami Gospel Centre (2019). The illustration was created by Hipgnosis artist, George Hardie who also designed the iconic cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ album. http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2019/07/brixton-history-led-zeppelins-live-album-and-a-closed-theatre-on-brixton-hill/

WNEW-FM NY http://www.ledzeppelin.com/event/june-9-1977

There's quite a lot of pics - color & black & white - of RP in the pool by photographer Carl Dunn at the Cabana Hotel. Also shots of Bonham, JPJ by the pool and in the hotel room.

Date was supposed to be Dec. 27

in Russo's book: 1966 12/26 War Memorial Auditorium, Rochester, New York, US (with ? & The Mysterians and others as part of "Dick Clark's Christmas Tour") 12/27 Fifth Dimension Club, Ann Arbor, Michigan, US (with Richard & The Young Lions and December's Children)

yes, some gaps yet to fill

Don't think it's in the first edition.

Hi Steve - Aug 12, 1967 date is listed in Greg Russo's Yardbirds book. Just checked the latest version I have.

Rock legend Robert Plant, formerly of the ultra-influential band Led Zeppelin, will play his first show in New Brunswick this summer, bringing a story that began almost 50 years ago to a close. Plant and Zeppelin, then some of the biggest names in rock music, were booked to play the Strawberry Fields International Music Festival in Shediac, N.B. back in 1970 – an event which never came to fruition. “This could have been New Brunswick’s Woodstock moment,” music enthusiast and writer Ken Kelley told CTV News Atlantic. The event was planned to run from Aug. 7-10, 1970, with organizers bringing several of the world’s biggest bands to a small farm in Atlantic Canada. “The organizer, John Brower, told me that he had half a million dollars and went shopping for bands after he got the clearance for the show to happen in Shediac,” Kelley said. That amount – just shy of US$3.5 million today – let Brower build a lineup featuring many of the day’s biggest groups. Besides Led Zeppelin, the bill featured other major names like Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad and Leonard Cohen. But it wasn’t meant to be. With an estimated attendance of around 60,000, the province began to worry it was getting too big for the town, casting wary eyes toward the stories of drugs and debauchery that came out following the 1969 Woodstock concert. Suddenly, despite co-operating with organizers for almost a year, New Brunswick’s provincial government decided that the province wasn’t the place for that sort of event. “We’re not sure if [Premier Louis] Robichaud’s government really felt this way, or were afraid of the backlash,” University of New Brunswick history professor Greg Marquis explained. Facing an upcoming election, Robichaud pulled the organizer’s permits, killing the event just a couple months before it was set to happen. “So that’s the ultimate historical question,” Marquis said. “Did the government genuinely fear these hippies, or did they fear the public wrath?” Though the festival was a bust in New Brunswick, promoters would re-tool and move to Ontario. The event went under the new guise of the “First Annual Strawberry Cup Trophy Race,” promoting the event as a motorcycle championship race that just happened to have a music festival for entertainment. But Maritimers still came out on top, as Led Zeppelin didn’t end up playing in Ontario either. Moncton and Shediac later went on to cement a reputation in the music world by playing host to several large outdoor festivals. The Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival where Plant will play later this year will be held in Fredericton. https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/been-a-long-time-robert-plant-to-play-n-b-50-years-after-cancelled-concert-1.4420578

From ‘The New Yardbirds’ to 'Lead Zeppelin’, go back to October 1968 with Led Zeppelin History Episode 2. #LZ50