Looking Back: Led Zep in Wales

Writer and broadcaster Nigel Crowle remembers back to a legendary concert in Wales – and a bizarre meeting at a petrol station.

THE odds were never in my favour – one million Led Zeppelin fans and only 20,000 tickets for this coming Monday’s much-anticipated reunion gig. I put in some hours in front of the computer, though. I kept clicking away in the hope of buying tickets, but no luck. I was left, Dazed And Confused, with just my fond memories of the World’s Greatest Rock Band.

Anyone who was at Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre on December 12, 1972, will remember that concert. It started in darkness with “Bonzo” Bonham’s relentless, thundering drum intro to Rock and Roll before the stage lit up. The Legend That Was (And Is) Jimmy Page slashed his majestic guitar riffs through the air, while the Quiet One (John Paul Jones) thumped his bass. All the while, frontman Robert Plant shook his shaggy mane like a lion on the pull, as he prowled the stage, cranking his voice effortlessly up to full-volume falsetto screech.

In 1972, the Zep were at the top of the rock game. Why were they so adored? Well, they ignored Top Of The Pops, refusing to release singles like every other group. They were bad boys, too – getting off with groupies and riding motorbikes up and down hotel corridors, probably at the same time. Page may have been a bit too keen on the mysteries of black magic, but that interest probably inspired the mystical Stairway To Heaven. It became a classic – a song the band eventually came to hate, but which wannabe guitarists have loved ever since. So why risk their awesome reputation on Monday by limbering up for their first full-length concert in 19 years?

It seems that the forthcoming concert is a one-off gig in memory of their Atlantic Records boss, Ahmet Ertegun. Jason Bonham is sitting in for his dad behind the drum kit, and let’s hope he’s not a chip off the old block when it comes to living life to excess. Let’s put it this way, Bonzo would’ve been a bit of a liability had he ever attended a vicar’s tea party.

I know it’s trendy for bands to re-form nowadays. You can’t move for Take That, Westlife, The Spice Girls or The Police putting aside their musical and personal differences and getting back together for a UK stadium tour.

I must confess, however, that I have a bit of an obsession with Led Zeppelin. Most days you can spot me striding around Cardiff with my cheese-cloth shirt flapping open to the wind and my jeans looking like they’ve been sprayed on. When Robert Plant dressed like that, he looked like a rock god. I’m simply wearing clothes much too small for me.

I have had my very own spooky brush with Led Zeppelin, though. It was one of those weird coincidences, too. It happened a few years after the Zep played their last full concert in 1980, in Berlin.

At the time, my wife and I were living in London, and on one of our trips back home to see friends and family we ran low on petrol. We’d stopped at a garage near Monmouth and I was halfway out of the car before I realised who was striding towards me, across the forecourt. “Look! It’s Robert Plant!” I gibbered at my wife. “Nothing spooky about that,” you might say, and you’d be right – were it not for the fact that at that exact moment, the all-time classic Zeppelin track Rock and Roll was blaring from my car cassette player.

So I scrambled out of the car and rushed over to him and, falling to my knees, gushingly said to him, “Robert, I’m a huge, huge fan of your work. Led Zeppelin were the finest rock band in the world. In 1972, I saw you at Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre. Tickets were £1 and it was the best concert I’ve ever seen. Thank you so much for all the happy musical memories you’ve given me.”

Only I didn’t say any of that. In fact, I didn’t say a thing. I just grinned inanely. I was so star-struck by my proximity to Robert “Lord Percy” Plant that all I could do was smile like a mentally deficient spaniel. Being temporarily deprived of the power of speech, I kept jerking my head towards the open car door, hoping that the great man would hear the tinny sounds of his musical masterpiece and recognise the coincidence. Needless to say, he didn’t.

To his credit, though, he also didn’t run away on being confronted by what must have seemed like a drooling, twitching simpleton on the other side of the pumps.

He smiled at me and cheerily said, “Tcchhh! Price of petrol nowadays, eh?” I nodded enthusiastically, but by the time I’d plucked up the courage to go into my fan’s spiel, Planty had driven off in a blur of denim.

All that lingered was a faint whiff of patchouli oil, mixing in the air with the petrol fumes. To quote the title of a track on Led Zep’s first LP, you might say I’d suffered a Communication Breakdown.

Rock Legend Pays Trip To Cardiff Castle

Led Zep guitarist a fan of 19th century architect William Burges.

He's a rock legend and used to the glare and publicity that surrounds such iconic figure in Britain's rock history, yet it was rather more low-key visit that saw Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page slip almost unknown into town's Castle to support the launch of a new book on the Castle and its former owner the Marquesses of Bute.

Written by Matthew Williams, who Page shares a love of the Castle's architect William Burges, the former curator of the Castle, his book ' Cardiff Castle and the Marquesses of Bute' details the transformation of the Castle and the impact Burges's work had under the patronage of the Marquesses of Bute.

Jimmy Page’s Town House

Cardiff Castle

Page, who lives in a Burges-designed town house in London wrote the foreword for the book and his love of Burges stems from the time he moved into his Holland Park home 47 years ago, which is described as one of the finest examples of the French Gothic revival.

Page being presented with print of the Castle

Hello, Goodbye - The Beatles' Last Hurrah

Sunday nights in the 60s were bloody awful. Sing Something Simple was the radio equivalent of Mogadon; Doctor Finlay’s Casebook on the telly made you yearn for school or work next morning.

But for one Sunday night just before Christmas in Cardiff in 1965 the gloom was lifted for 5,000 lucky people. Because The Beatles were in town. What those 5,000 didn’t realise was that the band would never be back – to Cardiff, nor anywhere else in Britain. It was the last date of their last ever tour here. “No more tours, no more She Loves Yous”, John Lennon said. Those who screamed so hard that no-one heard the music were driving the final nail in the coffin of The Beatles on the road – but paving the way for the glorious experimentation of Revolver and the genius of Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. For The Beatles were ready to turn their back on the road and concentrate on the studio instead.

So it was Sunday December 12, 1965. The Beatles’ sixth album – Rubber Soul – had been released the week before and the Capitol Cinema in Queen Street was the venue for the last two shows of a 10-day, nine-venue, 18-show tour. The other acts were listened to with some respect. The Moody Blues, the Paramounts – soon to become Procul Harum – plus the Marionettes and Liverpool performers The Koobas, Steve Aldo and Beryl Marsden. For Steve Aldo is was like coming home. He’d worked in Butetown and says it was the first time he hadn’t experienced any racism in a community. The Beatles manager Brian Epstein asked the promoter to include him on the tour. “He asked why? Brian said, ‘Because the boys want him,’” Aldo recalled.

“I knew the guys from the Cavern, and then did some shows with them and Little Richard,” said Marsden. “The Paramounts backed us. I did one song on me own and then me and Steve did Mocking Bird and Baby Baby Baby – a quite obscure, soully thing. We were never sure what the fans were going to do because they came to see the Beatles, but they were receptive and came to listen. It was a good audience until the curtains opened for The Beatles - then they went mad”

They went mad over two shows – at 5.30 and 8pm. Tickets ranged from 10 shillings and sixpence to 15 shillings – that’s 75 p. The Beatles were opening their 30-minute sets with I Feel Fine, and then included She’s A Woman, If I Needed Someone, Act Naturally, Nowhere Man, Baby’s in Black, Help!, We Can Work It Out, Yesterday, Day Tripper and I’m Down. It’s possible to put together a fair representation of what that set might have sounded like by listening to live tracks on the Anthology series of CDs issued a few years ago. And by doing that you’d get a better idea than people who were in the audience of what they were playing.

Gary Brooker of The Paramounts remembers standing at the side of the stage watching them perform Day Tripper because he could hear the vocals from there. He had no chance in front of the stage. Because when the curtains opened on The Beatles, the audience – mainly girls – screamed, shouted and cried to such an extent that the band couldn’t even hear themselves. “There was disappointment because you couldn’t really hear anything. You could sort of hear the music but we were familiar with the music; we had the records so we wanted to see them,” one of the lucky ticket holders remembered. “A brilliant night though.” Jon Holliday wrote about the event in the South Wales Echo: “The girls were part of the performance, and for me writing about it that was what was interesting.

The Beatles could have been cut out figures – you just couldn’t hear anything, it was cannon fire, brutal stuff, enough to make your eardrums bleed if you were too close to it.” That had been the story of most of the Beatles performances once they’d hit the charts, so much so that the decision to quite touring had more or less been made before the Cardiff spectacular. In 1966 they fulfilled commitments in the States, and Europe and – disastrously – the Philippines.

And they played for 15-minutes at a UK poll winner’s concert. The curtain came down on the 8pm show in Cardiff on December 12 1965 and that was it – The Beatles were rushed into an Austin Princess and driven to London for a slap-up celebration at the 60s pop star hang out, Scott’s of St James. And unless you were lucky enough to be in Saville Row for the 1969 Rooftop concert, you’d never see them in the UK again.

Retro Review - Jack Bruce

23/03/2012 - St David’s Hall, Cardiff

Jack Bruce in 1972. originally posted to Flickr as Jack Bruce 1001720034. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

MOST people will remember Jack Bruce as one third of the inspirational band Cream. Along with drummer Ginger Baker, and Eric Clapton, they set about changing rock ‘n’ roll in a two-year span that saw them sell 35 million records, receive the first ever platinum album, and create a blues rock sound to inspire the likes of Led Zeppelin and many others. The simple fact is that Jack Bruce, using an overused phrase in music, truly qualifies as a legend.

Over a 50-year span in music, he has worked with a veritable who’s who of musicians too numerous to mention, fought and survived alcohol and drug problems, been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, created and performed on over 20 studio and live albums and played on many more projects with other artists, while developing a unique vocal and bass style to influence many. When Mr Bruce strolls on to a stage it’s a set for music, no gimmicks, just musicians and equipment. He takes a seat at the piano and starts the opening phrases to Morning Story from the Harmony Row album, his voice strong and dynamic as ever.

Delving into his solo material Jack moves to the bass he describes as “his other piano”, the sound created, was a virtual band on its own. We are treated to very different and improvised versions of some classic Bruce, the likes of You Burned The Tables On Me, Neighbour, Neighbour, from his Graham Bond days, Weird of Hermiston, Born Under A Bad Sign, and a very moving version of Child Song Bruce dedicated to his son.

Then came the moment many had waited for with some classic Cream songs, White Room and Sunshine Of Your Love, that encapsulated the spirit of improvisation from the band, all excellent musicians, and bolstered by the brass section that moved in a soulful, funky direction, adding to and complementing Jack’s singing and bass playing. While the sound mix was patchy at times, all was forgiven as the band appeared for Politician as the encore where a true innovator and free spirit humbly said thank you to the crowd.

Music says thank YOU Mr Bruce.

Retro Review - Sal

Sal signed up

PONTYPRIDD bass guitarist Marc Real is enjoying growing success with his band, Sal.

The band has just signed with top record company, Track Records, who launched the careers of Jimi Hendrix and The Who, and their debut single, Runaway, is due for release this summer.

Sal is a refreshing four-piece band, full of energy and turning out melodic and emotional songs.

Apart from Marc, the other band members are singer Catrin Southall, guitarist Noog and drummer Denley Slade.

The band has been together since November, 1998, with various line-up changes along the way.

Their summer 2000 EP with producer Greg Haver, and video Before Tomorrow featured on BBC TV's first series of the Pop Factory’s The Fizz.

The EP also achieved “Record of the Week” status on both Bath University radio and Glamorgan University's Fusion 107FM.

During the summer of 2001, the band played as main support to such bands as Terris and The Crocketts, and were main tour support to Dodgy on their Welsh leg of their British tour.

They also supported American band Fydolla Ho when they came to Cardiff in December.

In 2002, Sal recorded Perfect at Twin Peaks Studio, and great reviews followed.

Retro Review - Distant Sun

Barfly, Cardiff – May 2003

Close the distance to the sun

WELSH band Distant Sun won more fans with a tight set at The Barfly, showcasing their new EP which is due to be released this summer.

The four-piece, known to many in their former incarnation by the name of Drift, produce an interesting blend of indie pop with melodic tunes and interesting lyrics.

Lead singer Ben’s voice is strong and clear and the rhythm section of Gareth (bass) and Ian (drums) is solid. Dave (lead guitar) became more animated as the set progressed and at the end, it was obvious the band had warmed to their audience and vice versa so it came as a disappointment when the called-for encore was denied by the sound engineer who had already switched off the system.

Take a listen to their EP on the band’s website at www.distant-sun.co.uk.

From the wistful Why to Sing It Out with its memorable guitar hook and driving bassline to the acoustic guitar intro to Without You and my favourite, Break Me Down, with it’s Coldplay undertones, sounds as though it only needs a discerning radio DJ to pick up on them to catapult Distant Sun into the big time.

Retro Review : Gene Pitney

St David’s Hall, Cardiff - 29/05/2003

Pitney stays strong to win ovation

AMERICAN pop legend Gene Pitney made another visit to South Wales this week to the delight of his loyal band of fans.

A prolific visitor to the United Kingdom since his chart-topping days in the 1960s, he was in fine form and looking extremely fit.

A credit to his personal fitness trainer.

He was one of many American singers who ruled the pop charts in the early 1960s, including Booby Vee, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Vinton, Fabian and Del Shannon before The Beatles appeared to change the music scene forever.

However while his competitors faded, Pitney showed he had staying power to regularly have hit records even when the groups had a stranglehold on the charts.

It is easy to forget just how many successes he had until he runs through them on his impressive stage show.

Having a classy 10-piece Maurice Merry Orchestra is certainly a bonus in recreating the songs just as they were on record.

Apart from the numerous hits, I’m Gonna Be Strong was the highlight, earning a standing ovation. The only disappointing thing for me was that he did not sing two of my personal favourites, Town Without Pity and 24 Sycamore but with such a selection of songs at he has to choose from it would be impossible to fit them all into one performance.

There was an interesting medley of hits Pitney wrote for other artists. I knew he had written Hello Mary Lou for Rick Nelson, but had forgotten He’s A Rebel for The Crystals with Phil Spector’s fabulous Wall of Sound production.

A tribute to Harry Belafonte was an unusual but delightful diversion with Gene accompanying himself on guitar for Kingston Town and Scarlet Ribbons.

Last year Pitney was inducted into the Rock & Rock Hall of Fame after seven rejections. A ridiculously long overdue recognition. He is also one of the few American pop artists to be the subject of a Grogg from world-famous South Wales sculptor John Hughes.

A brilliant show, and if anybody is interested in how the best of Sixties music sounded, this is the performer you need to check out. Pop music at its best.

Singer-songwriter Annie Sims opened the show with a country-flavoured selection. without being out of the ordinary., the highlight being her version of Kenny Rogers’ Sweet Music Man.

Retro Review - Erasure

St David’s Hall, Cardiff - 25/05/2003

Erasure at simply their pop -tastic best

THERE are few bands today who can get away with performing one of Elvis’s greatest ballads to a synthesized pop back beat.

And there are even fewer singers who can perform such a number dressed in a burgundy leather corset and hoop skirt complete with bustle.

But such are Erasure’s talents that what could have been a mocking version of Can’t Help Falling In Love fell perfectly into place in a set dominated by their greatest hits and some genuinely good covers.

Even Andy Bell’s camp persona could not get in the way of his beautifully powerful voice as he gave Elvis a run for his money to a sell-out crowd of die-hard fans and those seeking to recapture a little bit of their youth.

I was 13 when I first discovered Erasure and, as the performance gathered momentum – including a protracted striptease by Bell – the intervening years and all the music I have heard since disappeared.

I, like many of the crowd, was a teenager again, revelling in the chorus of Blue Savannah and A Little Respect, marvelling at Bell’s on-stage energy and Vince Clarke’s deadpan stance.

Like a hyperactive toddler Bell bounced across the stage in all-black Victorian mourning dress, tantalising the audience with risque glimpses of his stockinged legs in between renditions from the band’s big back catalogue, before proceeding to strip down to just his underpants half-way through the set.

It was the height of campness and wouldn’t have been out of place in a cabaret drag act, but Bell’s stage performance is part of the charm of Erasure and just what the audience was expecting.

There was very little to criticise in the set, except the cover of Make Me Smile which, in my humble opinion went one keyboard too far, although I appeared to be in a minority of one on this.

A quick change of clothing into Miami Vice-inspired white suits and Day-Glo string vests led onto the show-stopping final number before the obligatory encore.

If possible Stop! was better than when I first heard it all those years ago. This was Erasure at simply their pop -tastic best.

By MB