Been a long time

[TypeO]

38 years ago yesterday - June 3, 1977 (yeah, I didn't have a chance to post this yesterday).

I was there.

Only got to see 3 songs.

My consolation remains the fact that that's still 3 more songs than a lot of people ever got to see.

Still remains pretty much the most exciting concert experience of my life.

I'll take it.

Here is one of the many times I've described the experience on this hallowed forum -

June 3, 1977 - Tampa Stadium.
The "Rain-out / Riot" show.

Yeah, I was there and it was the first concert I had ever been to.

I was still 16, my parents wouldn't let me go to concerts, but when I heard Zeppelin was coming, I put my name on the waiting list at the record store in the mall to receive a call when tickets went on sale.
Of course, when the call came, I wasn't home, and when I got home my mom said, "somebody called you about some concert, but it doesn't matter because you're not going to any concert !"

Ended up not having money when the tickets went on sale, but a day or so before the show, a friend of mine (Jimmy Snodgrass - he died in a car wreck a couple years later - RIP Jimmy) couldn't go, so he let me have his ticket and I promised to pay him the $10 back ($10 to see Zeppelin ).

I was probably the biggest Zep-head of all my friends at the time. I won Presence from the radio station soon after it came out, and I was absolutely addicted to it, but everyone else was way slower to catch on. At parties they'd be listening to II, IV, HOTH, etc. and soon as I got the chance I'd put Presence on and everyone would roll their eyes. At least by the time of the show, most of them had begun to like the most obvious tracks (NFBM, ALS) on Presence.

The crowd was massive, and we got there a couple hours early (no time was printed on the ticket, think about that - talk about being aware of their iconic status!), and just the background music was exciting.
Every so often, the would bump the volume up noticeably, as if slowly building the anticipation, and the crowd (definitely me included) would go ape-shit.
I remember a stage hand walking out with Jimmy's unmistakable double-neck guitar and palcing it on a stand, and the place absolutely exploded.
And I remember the exact thought in my head right then - I was like "Holy Shit, this is really happening, he's actually gonna play that fuckin' thing!"
I had been to see TSRTS at the Midnight Movie many times, but the reality of this struck me like a blow.

As it became obvious the concert would start any minute, the massive wall of clouds of a typical Florida thunderstorm began to form a hard line across the sky, moving across the open stadium like an eclipse.
It was already raining lightly by the opening song, and people broke out huge sheets of plastic everywhere. My friends and I were under one such sheet, each holding our part of the edge of the sheet of plastic with one hand and passing a bowl of goldbud back and forth with our free hands.

I'll never forget as the piercing opening strains of the 3rd song, Nobody's Fault But Mine began, our eyes flew wide open and we whirled to look at each other, and it was like "FUCK THIS!", and we threw the plastic sheet back and basically said "Fuck staying dry!"

By the end of NFBM, it was pretty obvious they couldn't go on, the rain was pouring down, and there was lightning.
It all went downhill from there, and the story has much more - getting out without getting hit in the head by flying bottles/debris, etc., - but that's the bottom line.

They said if you mailed in your ticket stub, they'd refund your $10, so I just gave the stub back to my friend Jimmy.
How I wish I had gone ahead and paid him the $10 just to be able to have that stub now!

And of course I never got another chance to see them.
But without a doubt, Led Zeppelin is indelibly marked upon my soul forever after, and will always hold the title of "my all-time favorite band".

[Ddladner]

^^^ I love that story, thanks for re-posting, TypeO! I never saw LZ in concert, so I love to hear others stories about being there, especially the reactions / realization that it is really happening! You always hear stories about the energy from the crowd, and I have witnessed that many times; however, never on the scale that I know existed with a Zep crowd. Can't even imagine!

[Strider]

Good times, bad times TypeO. You certainly got to see a unique experience in Zeppelin lore. I believe Missytootsweet is another forum member who was at that stormy Tampa show in 1977.

Your story brings up an interesting question, though. What happened with the ticket stub? You said you gave it back to Jimmy, who died in a crash a couple years later. Did he mail it back in for the refund or keep it for a souvenir?

[Walter]

I work with a lady who went to that show, so it's fun to get her perspective as well. The audio clip that was posted before sounds like it was going to be a GREAT night - with a great bootleg!!!

Edited June 4, 2015 by Walter

[TypeO]

Good times, bad times TypeO. You certainly got to see a unique experience in Zeppelin lore. I believe Missytootsweet is another forum member who was at that stormy Tampa show in 1977.

Your story brings up an interesting question, though. What happened with the ticket stub? You said you gave it back to Jimmy, who died in a crash a couple years later. Did he mail it back in for the refund or keep it for a souvenir?

Good question.

I'm pretty sure Jimmy didn't send it back for the refund, as his family was decently well-off.

I had moved away before Jimmy and Pat were killed in the wreck, so no idea what eventually became of the ticket.

[Strider]

Obviously hindsight is 20/20 but it would have been cool if you had grabbed some Tampa Bay Stadium turf as a keepsake.

[Ross62]

You're in a very select club TypeO,thanks for sharing your memories