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According to Stephen Davis LZ Played Austin on 3/7/75


mrledhed

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This was long considered disputed. But the new book "LZ 75" by Stephen Davis says they played that night.

He even describes some Plantations from the concert.

It's still unconfirmed/highly doubtful. Does he claim to have been there? Does he cite a source for Plant's comments?

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This from Rover 1975 on the R-O forum:

"LED ZEPPELIN NEVER PLAYED AUSTIN IN 1973, 1975 OR 1977".

You will NEVER see anyone post a newspaper review or post a copy of a ticket for any 1973-1977 Austin show. EVER. I stand by this.

Look, I was HUGE Zep fan going to college in Austin from 1973-1977. Do you not think that I would have heard about ANY Zep show in Austin during those years????"

Led Zeppelin was my Favorite band since I first heard LZ II in October of 1969.

By 1975 my fucking Texas personalized license plates read "ZOSO".

None of the huge touring acts like Led Zeppelin played at the Austin Memorial Auditorium. Most all big roadshow acts bypassed Austin at that time, and played in Dallas-Ft.Worth, Houston and San Antonio. The only exception were big outdoor festivals. And their were no big outdoor festivals in March of 1975.

The new Basketball arena, the Frank Erwin Events Center, for the Univ. of Texas, was not completed until after Zep's 1977 Tour abruptly ended.

I began attending UT in Austin in September of 1973.

The bottom line is that this huge Zep fan would have known about any Zeppelin show in Austin for the years 1973-1977.

I traveled from Austin back to Dallas both in 1975 and twice in 1977 to see Led Zeppelin perform.

There simply were no Zeppelin shows in Austin, Texas from 1973 -1977.

For those that still have their doubts about it, please, go ahead and do the research!

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It's still unconfirmed/highly doubtful. Does he claim to have been there? Does he cite a source for Plant's comments?

The author claims to have been there. He said his diary was written while on tour and he just found the writings recently, hence the book being released last week.

Unless the Austin date took place somewhere else and he has the location incorrect, he does say a show was played between Dallas and San Diego on 3/7/75. The book is available almost everywhere, read for yourself. He said they quickly added it to replace the West Palm Beach show on 3/8/75, and they played a great show.

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The author claims to have been there. He said his diary was written while on tour and he just found the writings recently, hence the book being released last week.

Unless the Austin date took place somewhere else and he has the location incorrect, he does say a show was played between Dallas and San Diego on 3/7/75. The book is available almost everywhere, read for yourself. He said they quickly added it to replace the West Palm Beach show on 3/8/75, and they played a great show.

Why was a show in West Palm Beach cancelled and scheduled between Dallas and San Diego in the first place?

If it was anyone other than Stephen Davis, I might believe it.

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This from Rover 1975 on the R-O forum:

"LED ZEPPELIN NEVER PLAYED AUSTIN IN 1973, 1975 OR 1977".

You will NEVER see anyone post a newspaper review or post a copy of a ticket for any 1973-1977 Austin show. EVER. I stand by this.

Look, I was HUGE Zep fan going to college in Austin from 1973-1977. Do you not think that I would have heard about ANY Zep show in Austin during those years????"

Led Zeppelin was my Favorite band since I first heard LZ II in October of 1969.

By 1975 my fucking Texas personalized license plates read "ZOSO".

None of the huge touring acts like Led Zeppelin played at the Austin Memorial Auditorium. Most all big roadshow acts bypassed Austin at that time, and played in Dallas-Ft.Worth, Houston and San Antonio. The only exception were big outdoor festivals. And their were no big outdoor festivals in March of 1975.

The new Basketball arena, the Frank Erwin Events Center, for the Univ. of Texas, was not completed until after Zep's 1977 Tour abruptly ended.

I began attending UT in Austin in September of 1973.

The bottom line is that this huge Zep fan would have known about any Zeppelin show in Austin for the years 1973-1977.

I traveled from Austin back to Dallas both in 1975 and twice in 1977 to see Led Zeppelin perform.

There simply were no Zeppelin shows in Austin, Texas from 1973 -1977.

For those that still have their doubts about it, please, go ahead and do the research!

I have to agree with Rover here. I've asked several people who grew up in the area or were at UT Austin when Rover was a student there and no one can remember LZ playing Austin in 1975 but they have clear memories of the band when they played the HemisFair in '73. It might be that Davis is confusing the years and the venues and the cities. I went to a gallery that had an exhibit which featured vintage copies of the Austin Sun, an alternative newspaper that was published in the 1970s. Although I wasn't specifically looking for anything LZ-related, I would have remembered if there was an issue devoted to a 1975 Austin concert by the band. There were photos of the Ramones, Springsteen, etc. - all of whom had concerts in Austin in the 1970s, but no LZ. I think this newspaper might be archived on microfiche, along with copies of UT's Daily Texan at one of the UT libraries and a search of those archives could confirm whether or not LZ played in Austin in 1975 (also a search of the Austin American and the Austin Statesman newspapers, now merged into the Austin American Statesman). LZ was so huge in '75 and playing the largest venues on multiple nights and I can't think of a venue in the Austin area other than Zilker Park that would be large enough to accommodate the crowds that LZ would have drawn that year. I would think that photos of such an outdoor concert or stories about being there would have surfaced by now. The fact that no photos have emerged of such a concert also leads me to doubt whether it ever occurred. My guess is that Carl Dunn, who was one of the greatest rock photographers working in Texas during that era (he took the iconic shots of the band's '73 San Antonio concert), might have been at a 1975 LZ concert in Austin, had one taken place, and he could probably confirm whether the band played Austin in 1975.

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I got my copy of the book today.

Stephen discusses the Austin, Tx. show on Page 97. He describes the March 7, 1975 show as a "last-minute booking, which sold out in minutes".

What Stephen does not say, is the venue in Austin that Zeppelin supposedly played in. Most big touring acts skipped Austin, because the largest venue at that time was Austin Memorial Coliseum, seating under 10,000. In March, the avg. temp. in Austin would be just 60 degrees, so that nixes an outdoor event, which logistically, cannot be likely set up "at the last minute".

BTY, He reviews the Ft. Worth & Dallas shows, but was he even there ? ? ? Or did he just listen to the soundboard/bootleg tapes of the concerts, and write it up from second hand comments.... On Page 102 in the book, Stephen states:

The following week, while Led Zeppelin played their Texas shows, I hung around the Swan Song office in New York.

Maybe Simon Kirke can confirm when he played an encore with Led Zeppelin, whether it was in Austin, or not, and what year that was.... (What drugs were you using during that tour Stephen ??)

But all that aside..... Anyone, please present any proof that this Austin show ever happened: ticket stub, published concert review, newspaper advertising the concert, etc. :hysterical:

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The Austin-American Statesman news archive has already been scoured for any reference whatsoever to an Austin concert on March 7th 1975 - there's nothing.

The March 8th 1975 West Palm Beach concert was cancelled in late February by West Palm Beach Speedway owner David Rupp when the promoter (CCC) could not provide sufficient financing to met contractural obligations (parking lot). The next date was San Diego March 10th (they landed in Los Angeles earlier that day).

Let's not forget the anecdote concerning the members of Led Zeppelin attending a Slade concert in TX (probably in Ft. Worth or Dallas) around this time and pelting them with vegetables. This must have occured either March 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th.

Austin '75? I still say it never happened.

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The author claims to have been there. He said his diary was written while on tour and he just found the writings recently, hence the book being released last week.

Fifty bucks says Davis never kept a diary and he never "found" anything (except for his desire to exploit Led Zeppelin once again).

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I got my copy of the book today.

Stephen discusses the Austin, Tx. show on Page 97. He describes the March 7, 1975 show as a "last-minute booking, which sold out in minutes".

What Stephen does not say, is the venue in Austin that Zeppelin supposedly played in. Most big touring acts skipped Austin, because the largest venue at that time was Austin Memorial Coliseum, seating under 10,000. In March, the avg. temp. in Austin would be just 60 degrees, so that nixes an outdoor event, which logistically, cannot be likely set up "at the last minute".

BTY, He reviews the Ft. Worth & Dallas shows, but was he even there ? ? ? Or did he just listen to the soundboard/bootleg tapes of the concerts, and write it up from second hand comments.... On Page 102 in the book, Stephen states:

Maybe Simon Kirke can confirm when he played an encore with Led Zeppelin, whether it was in Austin, or not, and what year that was.... (What drugs were you using during that tour Stephen ??)

But all that aside..... Anyone, please present any proof that this Austin show ever happened: ticket stub, published concert review, newspaper advertising the concert, etc. :hysterical:

He smoked a lot of pot. He said something about bringing his bong with him on the tour, maybe smoked with the band (which would be totally awesome). The passage in the book says. " Peter Grant filled the gap by accepting a last-minute booking in Austin, Texas, for Friday, March 7. The show in the sophisticated Texas university town sold out within minutes, so Led Zeppelin flew in ans played a fast and furious concert."

I don't know whether to believe it or not because certainly no one posting here thinks so nor does it even give a date on http://www.ledzeppelin-database.com/geekbaseweb/tourmappage.aspx?tourid=32

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Some people have an incentive to make everyone think it never happened (if they have a recording of it and don't want people to know).

Not that I'm accusing anyone here, I'm just saying this is how LZ collecting works.

However, what does Mr Davis have to gain by lying about this show? He could have left this out of the book and no one would care.

I started this thread because this is the first official news on 3/7/75. I have heard rumors before (which I won't discuss here) of another date from March 1975 and I think this is the show (unless there is another show that took place between Dallas and San Diego).

This is the last I will say on the subject.

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However, what does Mr Davis have to gain by lying about this show? He could have left this out of the book and no one would care.

Oh, I don't know....... why did he lie about many other things he has about Zeppelin - to make money off his book! If he has information that nobody else does, wouldn't that make his book that much more profitable? :blink:

Oh yeah, it's just that The Rover and the rest of us have a copy of the show that we are hoarding, that's all..... ;)

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Oh, I don't know....... why did he lie about many other things he has about Zeppelin - to make money off his book! If he has information that nobody else does, wouldn't that make his book that much more profitable? :blink:

I think it goes beyond that to be honest. Agendas.

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Some people have an incentive to make everyone think it never happened (if they have a recording of it and don't want people to know).

Not that I'm accusing anyone here, I'm just saying this is how LZ collecting works.

However, what does Mr Davis have to gain by lying about this show? He could have left this out of the book and no one would care.

I started this thread because this is the first official news on 3/7/75. I have heard rumors before (which I won't discuss here) of another date from March 1975 and I think this is the show (unless there is another show that took place between Dallas and San Diego).

This is the last I will say on the subject.

This doesn't have to spiral off into conspiracy-theory-land. It's not necessarily a lie--he could quite simply have misremembered, no matter how convinced he may have been that the show happened. Kind of like I "remembered" for years that Zeppelin did STH at Bath 1970, when obviously they couldn't possibly have done. But I still "remember" it that way!

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The Austin date did not happen, folks. Check the facts of those who were Zep fans living in Austin at the time.

More importantly, Davis was not even with the tour in Texas.

In fact, he only saw the band officially at the first New York show, the three Nassau gigs, San Diego, and the two Long Beach shows. He claims to have attended the first two LA Forum shows by sneaking backstage, and then actually bought a ticket to the final show. So, all told, at most that's 11 of the 35 gigs on the 75 tour. So much for being a true "chronicle" of a tour he wasn't even personally at half of.

This is what kills his book and his credibility. He has all of these stories in there about shows that he was never at, including the Austin date, which didn't even happen. He also mentions that Simon Kirke also joined the band at the last Forum show, which Davis also claims to have been at. Yet, that isn't true either, because the recordings, photos, and even the amateur video from that show prove that didn't happen at all. And Davis was supposed to have been there! A journalist at an event, supposedly writing it all down in his notebook, and yet he's completely wrong. If he was wrong about things he was actually yet, why on earth would he be correct on things he wasn't at?

My favorite part is that Davis has pretty much been the only person outside of the band or Richard Cole to have ever talked about what it was like on the Starship. Yet, his new book reveals that he only flew on it twice, from LA to San Diego and back, a twenty minute flight each way. TWENTY MINUTES! So much for having been witness to some of the supposed debauchery, such as Bonham having his way with a stewardness or any of that other nonsense. He even admits that the band didn't even talk to him while he was on the plane, as it was packed with their entourage and other press. Yet Davis wrote in detail over and over in Hammer of the Gods about what it was like on the Starship, and all of those stories, yet the most he was ever on it was the equivalent of a long taxi ride, with half the time being spent with everyone buckled in because they were flying through lightning storms.

This book is just a condensed re-do of Hammer of the Gods. Filled with the same myths, stolen stories, and fabrications. If anything, this book pretty much does more damage to Davis' credibility than anything else, because at last we now have from his own pen that he never really spent any real time with the band, apart from a one hour interview with Robert and some 5 minutes with Jimmy in the hotel bar.

I'm with those that would argue that there never were any tour notebooks that Davis "found" from his time with this tour. That was just a premise to try and sell the same story to the same audience twice. If he had, then why are his facts consistently wrong? And why does he spend so much of his book writing about things he was never even at, while the shows he was actually at get next to no detail?

Why? Because the book is a sham. The worst part of it is that Davis spends all this time writing about how much he was a friend of Danny Goldberg (Zep's Publicist and Swan Song VP), and how Goldberg did him a huge favor by taking him on tour, and getting him the interview with Plant. And yet, look at what Davis did with that generosity? Nice way of screwing your friend over, that's for sure. Goldberg gave Davis the opportunity of a lifetime, and he paid him back by writing a pair of tabloids.

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:yourock::goodpost:

I think you have pretty summed up everything about his so-called book. It's nothing but garbage! Seems like mostly lies, speculation, rehash and rumors. :nuke: If you have half a brain...don't waste your money or time by buying this crap or reading it as well! There are so many higher quality books on Zep you'd enjoy more and are so much more accurate. Such as Dave Lewis' books for instance. Especially, coming from a true fan!

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such as Bonham having his way with a stewardness or any of that other nonsense.

The only problem I have is that others have mentioned this incident, and others, and no one attacks anyone but Davis for being "sensational" or a "tabloid" writer. Keith Shadwick's bio on Led Zeppelin talks about the Bonham/stewardess incident as well. And yet the reviews on Amazon almost universally praise Shadwick's book for being a balanced account of Zeppelin, and free from gossip or tabloid-y trash. Yet he talks at length in his book about Bonham's behavior on the road, the drugs, the groupies, and the overall reputation for debauchery. People seem to blame Davis for single-handedly giving Zeppelin this reputation on the road. Yet others have written about it as well.

I'm not sure what people are actually mad about...do they think these things didn't happen? Or are they just mad that they were written about? You don't see many people who attack Davis saying "those things didn't happen, he's making it all up, Zeppelin were good boys on the road." Does anyone really think that the biggest band in the world didn't have a TON of debauchery on the road? I'd be disappointed in them if there wasn't. So why is it a problem to talk about it? Of course there were drugs, groupies, and destroyed hotel rooms. Sounds like fun to me, and Zeppelin has nothing to be ashamed of. So when it comes to Davis, are people attacking the messenger, or the message?

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The only problem I have is that others have mentioned this incident, and others, and no one attacks anyone but Davis for being "sensational" or a "tabloid" writer.

Because Hammer of the Gods reads like a tabloid, whereas other books don't. It doesn't focus at all on the positive elements of the band, or the significance of their accomplisments. Hammer of the Gods was the very first "inside account" of what the band were supposedly like, and it milked every page of scandal it could. Not only did it ignite many of the modern-day myths about Zeppelin, but it also served as a blueprint for dozens of wannabe bands who came after, all wanting to be like Zep from the stories they heard. Come to find out, that Hammer of the Gods was 50% sourced from a drug-addicted Richard Cole selling out his ex-employers, and 50% from Davis lifting other journalists stories and just making crap up out of the blip of time he spent with the band, all of which was second-hand information at best. Davis proves that he didn't have but a few moments "watching" the band, and never truly spent any time with them apart from the short interview with Plant, which ends up being an overwhelmingly tame and even positive experience. During those experiences Davis actually had, he surely never saw a thing that he writes so definitevly about.

It doesn't really matter if the Bonham incident did happen, because the first one to print it was Davis. And his credibility has proven to be worthless. That Shadwick or any one else picked it up and ran with it only reflects on them for having lifted these things from Davis. Say any story enough times and it becomes true. Even the BAND have been known to repeat stories for the shock value of it. Of course the band were typical rock stars, who engaged in debauchery. But that doesn't give a free pass to Davis to claim authority on the stuff he's written about. The band were around for 10 years, and Davis had an insight into them for about 4 hours over 4 weeks. When you look at the fact that 9 out of 10 of the "non-scandal" things Davis wrote about were incorrect (details about shows, description of events he was supposedly at), then it makes you wonder how true any of the scandals really were.

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He claims that Bonzo had his drums actually set up in his hotel room at the Riot House, (directly above him) and was playing along to Alphonse Mouzon albums at crushing volume in the middle of the night. He says he RECORDED this. I would love to hear that, if true

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