Jump to content

I Met Jason Bonham this weekend!


Recommended Posts

One of the cool things about living in Los Angeles is the annual NAMM show. It's a trade show where all of the big musical instrument companies show off their new products. Everyone in the music industry goes to this each January in LA and each July in Nashville. Evey major drum manufactrure has they're endorsers come out to meet the public. This year Ludwig had Jason Bonham at the booth, taking pictures and signing autographs (along with Alan White of YES).

I was able to have a short conversation with Jason as he singed my copy of Modern Drummer magazine and mugged for a photo. He was very friendly and talkative. He's actually not a very big guy; he probably only stands 5'6" or so.

Here is what I remember of our conversation:

ME: Is an honor to meet you (shaking hands). I thought you played great at the O2 show.

Jason: Thanks!!

ME: Have you seen the discussion board on the ledzeppelin.com site??

Jason: (Sounding puzzled) Uh, no.

ME: Well, there is a big discussion there on the topic of who messed up during "Dazed ..'"

Jason: IT WAS JIMMY!!!!!! He went into the "DaDaDa" bit early!!

ME: I stuck up for you on the board.

Jason: It's like John Paul Jones says "Jimmy is the leader". So I always follow him. I'm usually the leader of the band, so I'm used to them following me. But Jimmy is always right!!

(I thought this was especially funny because in my band we always say "Rick always wins" referring to our band-leading guitar player. So I guess its the same with Rock Legends too!!)

ME: So, Jimmy always wins??

Jason: That's right.

-------------------------------------------------------

At this point, the security dude made me move along because there was a long line behind me. I did manage to get my picture taken with him and got a signed press photo of him and his Yellow Vista lites!

As I left, I noticed that my knees were knocking a little bit and I was feeling a light headed sensation. Strange, I've met lots of rock stars, but never a Led Zeppelin member. I wasn't ever that bothered when I my my biggest drumming idol, Carl Palmer. They are all just people after all, but having Jason drop JPJ's name in conversation as if he were just talking to him in the other room was a bit a of a shock!!

Anyway, this should clear up the 'who screwed up Dazed" debate!!

jzn2s.jpg

TC in LBC

Edited by Pat's Delight
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of the cool things about living in Los Angeles is the annual NAMM show. It's a trade show where all of the big musical instrument companies show off their new products. Everyone in the music industry goes to this each January in LA and each July in Nashville. Evey major drum manufactrure has they're endorsers come out to meet the public. This year Ludwig had Jason Bonham at the booth, taking pictures and signing autographs (along with Alan White of YES).

I was able to have a short conversation with Jason as he singed my copy of Modern Drummer magazine and mugged for a photo. He was very friendly and talkative. He's actually not a very big guy; he probably only stands 5'6" or so.

Here is what I remember of our conversation:

ME: Is an honor to meet you (shaking hands). I thought you played great at the O2 show.

Jason: Thanks!!

ME: Have you seen the discussion board on the ledzeppelin.com site??

Jason: (Sounding puzzled) Uh, no.

ME: Well, there is a big discussion there on the topic of who messed up during "Dazed ..'"

Jason: IT WAS JIMMY!!!!!! He went into the "DaDaDa" bit early!!

ME: I stuck up for you on the board.

Jason: It's like John Paul Jones says "Jimmy is the leader". So I always follow him. I'm usually the leader of the band, so I'm used to them following me. But Jimmy is always right!!

(I thought this was especially funny because in my band we always say "Rick always wins" referring to our band-leading guitar player. So I guess its the same with Rock Legends too!!)

ME: So, Jimmy always wins??

Jason: That's right.

-------------------------------------------------------

At this point, the security dude made me move along because there was a long line behind me. I did manage to get my picture taken with him and got a signed press photo of him and his Yellow Vista lites!

As I left, I noticed that my knees were knocking a little bit and I was feeling a light headed sensation. Strange, I've met lots of rock stars, but never a Led Zeppelin member. I wasn't ever that bothered when I my my biggest drumming idol, Carl Palmer. They are all just people after all, but having Jason drop JPJ's name in conversation as if he were just talking to him in the other room was a bit a of a shock!!

Anyway, this should clear up the 'who screwed up Dazed" debate!!

jzn2s.jpg

TC in LBC

Very cool!

Our friend Lori (Zoso4Vida) also met him there! Hopefully she'll share her experience here too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jason is a such a nice guy....I've met him twice and both times he was very respectful to me and talked to me as though he knew me for years....to be honest though, he was slooshed both times we met (about ten years ago...once at a gig at the Rock...In Nmae of Thy Father Tour... and once at the Rainbow Room in LA))....glad to hear he is sober...it's a tough battle....hope we see more of him this summer (hint hint)!!!

Edited by Wolfman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...