Well not exactly today, but it was fifty years ago last Tuesday that I saw one of the very first performances of arguably the most-influential rock band of all time!
You may not be a fan of Led Zeppelin's, but it would be hard to deny that they're not one of the the top-five bands in the history of popular music!
Let's jump in our time machines and rewind a half a century . . .
In January of 1969 I was a freshman at the University of Iowa. For several weeks, there had been fliers posted in the Iowa Memorial Union (IMU) touting this new band from England that would soon be appearing in the IMU ballroom.
I remember those posters stated something to the effect of: Led Zeppelin will be the next Cream . . . the next Jimi Hendrix. Blurbs in the flyer margins told a bit about each of the band members - the most-notable credentials were that of bassist John Paul Jones and guitarist Jimmy Page.
Jones had done some work with Donovan, and Page had been a member of the Yardbirds. Other than that, there didn't seem to be too much info that was that compelling regarding this unknown group.
I'd been taking a music appreciation course, and part of the class requirements was that I had to attend a certain number of recitals during the semester. So on the sleety evening of January 15, 1969, I slipped and slid over to Macbride Hall (or was it Schaeffer Hall?) on the Pentacrest to attend a string-quartet concert. When I got there, a sign outside the building's entrance announced: "String quartet concert cancelled due to ice."
So I did an about-face and headed back to Hillcrest (my dorm) but decided to take a detour through the IMU (Iowa Memorial Union.) I'd entered the east door and noticed a bunch of people sitting in the IMU ballroom. There was a sandwich board positioned in front of the ballroom's entrance on which was scrawled “$1 cover.” Old fliers and newspaper accounts indicate a cover of $2 advance and $2.50 at the door, but I definitely remember paying just $1 to get in. (read more . . . ) | 
Comments