Great stuff, as always. Thanks.

Rolling Stone (Italy) Jan. 2011

Not sure if this has already been posted. Interview with Randy Bachman from last month discussing JP and Zeppelin's appearance in Winnipeg 1970. Great stuff. (starts around 2min)

December 4, 1980 Led Zeppelin Disbands - Press Release Official Press Release: "We wish it to be known, that the loss of our dear friend and the deep respect we have for his family, together with the deep sense of harmony felt by ourselves and our manager have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were." ledzeppelin.com/event/december-4-1980

I've tracked down the "cow" photo and have a hi-res version, from an old friend of John Bonham, to whom he gave the photo.

Hot Press / UK / Nov. 2010

The person who would likely know is Jerry Ritz, Zep's tour manager for the first tour (and the March '69 Scandinavian tour). I believe he was also involved in booking the shows. Spent some time with him here a few weeks ago. If you need his contact info, forward any questions to me and I'll send to him.

All of the closed-circuit pro-shot videos (Earls Court '75, Seattle 77 and Pontiac '77(which until there is actual proof, the pro-shot video remains non-existent) were meant just for the large screen in the arena during the show. Knebworth as well, but that had some consideration for later use. There was also a black-and-white video screen in Atlanta 1973, but once again tapes of that have not been located either and probably no longer exist, if it ever did.

Lotta fun last night! I've posted some pics on Jason's site: Toronto Sun review: http://www.torontosu...0/15888141.html

Great show last night in Kitchener. Here's some snapshots: I brought my JP Telecaster which Tony used for How Many More Times: Jason did a great interview on the Strombo show @ the CBC yesterday, which will air soon.

A few pics from last night in Hamilton: Will try to do some behind-the-scenes video etc.

Tangerine - (Band of Joy / Oslo, 10.16.2010)

Jason Bonham will salute his late father by rocking with his own Led Zeppelin Experience. By JON BREAM, Star Tribune His dad was wild and crazy and drank himself to death by consuming the equivalent of 40 shots of vodka. But drummer Jason Bonham never had issues with his father, legendary Led Zeppelin percussionist John Bonham. "I lost him when I was 14," said Bonham. "I hadn't reached that adolescence 'I hate you, Dad' kind of arguing or butting heads over different things. He left me when he was my idol. He still is there. I actually challenged someone on the Internet who made a really bad comment about my dad, saying he was just a drunk who played metal. I'm very protective of my father." The drummer, now 44, is commemorating the 30th anniversary of his father's passing with a tour he's calling Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience. It's not a straightforward concert but "more of a show," he said, put together with the producers of a similar Beatles production, "Rain." "It's my personal journey on how much Led Zeppelin has meant to me." Between songs, Bonham will talk about his father and share some of his own Zep experiences. Plus, thanks to video magic, he'll duet with his dad on drums on "Moby Dick." Working with four little-known musicians, Bonham will not try to copy his dad's drumming note for note. "I'm not John, I'm Jason," said the drummer, who will perform his first U.S. gig with LZ Experience Tuesday in Minneapolis. "I'll be doing what my dad taught me well, which is how you play with emotion. I never play the same thing twice." Endorsed by Robert Plant Of course, Bonham would rather be touring with the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin, with whom he famously performed on Dec. 10, 2007, at London's O2 arena for a one-time reunion concert. The drummer hasn't heard from guitarist Jimmy Page or bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones about his LZ Experience. But he did receive the backing of Zep vocalist Robert Plant. Said Bonham: "He came on a radio station with me. The DJ tried to make something out of me touring without him and Robert jumped straight in and said, 'Jason doesn't need any excuse or permission. ... He has my blessings.'" There was considerable talk last year of Page, Jones and Bonham rehearsing and touring with another singer. "We never talked about a Zeppelin tour without Robert Plant," the drummer said. "There was possible talk of a tour with a new band and singer. It was a great time for me to be able to play and write with John Paul. I was absolutely in heaven. There were five or six [new] songs that were ready for vocals." Why the project fell apart requires an explanation from Page or Jones, Bonham said. "There was a lot of negativity on the Internet," he said. "There was press outside taking pictures of whoever walked in [to the rehearsal]. No one gave it a chance to breathe. But I had a great time." Meanwhile, Bonham, who did a stint in Foreigner and appeared on the 2006 VH1 show "Supergroup" with Ted Nugent and Sebastian Bach, is part of another new all-star band, Black Country Communion, with guitarist Joe Bonamassa, singer/bassist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple) and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Alice Cooper). The band released its debut in September, may tour this winter and possibly record a second album. Is there still a chance of more Zeppelin performances by Page, Plant, Jones and Jason? "If you had asked me that five years ago, I would have said no, but it happened," Bonham said. "So I never say never." He said he occasionally badgers Plant about the band's future. Plant's response: "'Jason, do we have to talk about that?' I say, 'Well, yeah, because I love it.' He said to me, 'Jason, you played fantastic at the O2 and your dad would be so, so proud. But to me, your dad was in Led Zeppelin, not you. The four of us made Led Zeppelin. We decided to stop.'" "I do get it," Bonham said. http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/105057169.html

A Led Zeppelin Thanksgiving experience Eric Zimmer - Omega Contributor Great music has no age limit or expiry date. This was evident at the Interior Savings Center Sunday night when the Led Zeppelin Experience came to Kamloops and people of all ages turned out to see them. The show featured top-quality production, including a giant screen, state-of-the-art light show and timeless music. The band’s drummer Jason Bonham, son of Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, opened the show by relating memories of his childhood to the audience while home-movies were played on the giant screen. “Tonight is a celebration of life. This is my story of what my dad and Led Zeppelin meant to me,” he told the crowd. This was greeted by a raucous applause as the band tore into their first tune of the night, “Rock and Roll.” The band carried on right into “Dazed and Confused” and the crowd slowly began to loosen up. Three songs into the show, Bonham took time to speak to the crowd some more about his dad. This was a pattern that would continue for the night, the band playing a few songs that were interjected with Bonham speaking to the crowd about how his dad had influenced his life. The respect and raw admiration Bonham had for his dad was evident. The band itself would be worth seeing for any Led Zeppelin fan. Bonham described the show as “a trip through time.” The songs were all the well-known Zeppelin tunes from various stages in the band’s career. It was clear by the reactions of various audience members throughout the evening when they had started listening to Led Zeppelin. People danced, cheered and sang along at various intervals. The band continued to pump up the crowd and when they played “When the Levy Breaks” the crowd rose to its feet and got loud. As a tribute to his dad, this song began with Jason telling the crowd that though the drum beat sounded simple enough, it was actually quite tricky because there “was a certain groove my dad had when he played this song that just can’t be matched.” The song began with an audio track of John Bonham playing the drums while the band played along live on stage. About halfway through the song, Jason, who hadn’t been drumming up to this point in the song, started drumming. Another highlight of the evening was Jason playing a five-minute drum solo while the screen split behind him with one half showing the live feed of him playing and the other half showing stock footage of his dad playing as well. Many bands claim to be “tribute.” Few match the level of The Led Zeppelin Experience. More than a cover band, they are a true tribute to one of the most well-known, respected bands of all time. As concert-goer Dylan Cunliffe, visiting from Vernon put it, “It’s awesome…I was very impressed with the show.” http://theomega.ca/articles/35136

Incredible opening night for the JBLZE! Jason is extremely pleased with the gig last night and it will only get better as the tour progresses. I've posted the setlist on Jason's site: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The opening night of the Jason Bonham Led Zeppelin Experience tour was a fantastic show! Jason would like to thank the fans for the well wishes and support. Setlist of the first show included: Immigrant Song, Celebration Day, I Can't Quit You Baby,Your Time is Gonna Come, Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, Dazed and Confused, Lemon Song, Thank You, Moby Dick, [intermission] Act 2: Friends, Since I've Been Loving You, Black Dog, The Ocean , The Song Remains the Same, I'm Gonna Crawl, Stairway to Heaven, Kashmir. Encores: Whole Lotta Love, Rock & Roll. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ jasonbonham.net/diary.html oh, Levee too

GQ - Hall of Fame Led Zeppelin, Winner 2008 The second coming of rock's surviving holy trinity was gig of the year, comeback of the decade, and the feedback's still reverberating. GQ bowed at the altar of Plant, Page and Jones when we caught up with the Outstanding Achievement Award winners in 2008.... When it was announced in 2007 that the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin, along with Jason Bonham, son of the band's original drummer John Bonham, would be playing a one-off concert at London's 02 arena, a new kind of rock'n'roll madness ensued. Twenty million people applied for just 20,000 tickets with fans registering at a rate of 80,000 per minute. One fan paid £83,000 for a ticket. Why all the fuss? And why do they so richly deserve GQ's Outstanding Achievement Award? Well, back in the late Sixties, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John "Bonzo" Bonham invented stadium rock. Forty-odd years on, still no band has played harder and louder with such drilled, haughty magnificence. The band split in 1980 following Bonham's death. Their last public outing was during the Philadelphia leg of Live Aid in 1985, when it took both Phil Collins and Tony Thompson to replicate Bonzo's bludgeoning style. "There was only one way to erase all the memories of other times we got together which weren't very... substantial," says Page now. "So we thought, let's do it properly. We had just one shot. No warm-up gigs..." "It worked beautifully," says Jones. "Jason knows every part of every song better than us, so he is totally within the spirit of things." "Right from the first number, it was absolutely terrific," adds Page. Robert Plant is more philosophical. "Just before we were going to go on, I looked out across that corporately sponsored VIP enclosure, watching everyone with their shimmering camera phones held aloft," he says. "I thought to myself, 'Blimey, we've come a long way since me and Jimmy rented a cottage up in Snowdonia and took just a guitar and a little Philips cassette recorder.'" Awards like this one are a comparative novelty to the band. "In our day, we never got any," shrugs Page. "And we probably wouldn't have turned up if we had," adds Jones. "The thing is," says Plant, "when the temples get grey, the gongs start coming thick and fast." Will they reform again for a world tour? "We can't go out unless there are four members of the band there," says Page, "and currently Robert is otherwise engaged with [bluegrass artist] Alison Krauss." Plant doesn't rule the idea out, but he still sounds wearied by the amount of bureaucracy that accompanied the 02 gig. "The endless paperwork was like nothing I've experienced before," he says. "I've kept every one of the e-mails that were exchanged before the concert and I'm thinking of compiling them for a book, which I feel sure would be hailed as a sort of literary version of Spinal Tap. "Led Zeppelin's never been about the fans," says Plant. "We've always been about four guys coming together to make thrilling, disturbing rock'n'roll. On our own terms." Originally published in the October 2008 issue of British GQ. Published 27 Aug 2010 Photo Credit: Simon Emmett http://www.gq-magazi...ing-achievement

You can view a pdf of the entire issue of Zep's cover story in People magazine (12/20/76) on their website: http://storage.peopl...61220_ISSUE.PDF

Not sure if this has been posted before... JPJ w/ Robyn Hitchcock http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RStlxAEeUMQ and Happy Birthday Deborah

Batterie (France) Sept. 2010

Landlubber Jeans ad, circa 1973

Letter from California governor, Pete Wilson:

. . . Toronto 1989

Munich