bayoubill
June 5th, 2008, 5:18 am
I was just now sitting here at the computer listening to some old Zeppelin tunes when it occurred to me...
it was exactly 35 years ago that I happened to catch an awesome Led Zeppelin concert in San Francisco...
(more-or-less exactly 35 years ago... it was early June, I don’t remember the exact day.)
Pardon me while I wax nostalgic...
it was entirely accidental that I happened to be there for the concert...
I was hitchhiking up the West Coast at the time, and had arrived in San Francisco late in the evening.
I was meaning to hook up with some guys from SF whom I’d met while spending time camping out on a beach near Big Sur, who had offered to let me crash their pad when I got into town... but it was late, and I was tired, and their place was kinda far from where I was... and I was close to Golden Gate Park...
so I made my way to Golden Gate Park. (In my travels, I had gotten into the habit of using large municipal parks for my in-town over-night accommodations.) When I got there, I found a whole bunch of people camping out outside of a football stadium that was located within the park... turns out they were gonna be attending a Led Zeppelin concert in the stadium the next day...
so, instead of sleeping in the park bushes away from the prying eyes of local law enforcement, I camped out in plain sight with all these hundreds of people outside the stadium... and partied late into the night with about a half-dozen really fine folks.
As we were sitting there, passing around a bottle of whiskey and a hash pipe, one of the guys said he had an extra ticket because his girlfriend wasn’t able to attend at the last minute, and asked if I’d like to buy it, face value. Big Zep fan that I was, I jumped at the offer. (It cost $6.50, about $25-$30 in today’s money, but still amazingly cheap compared to today’s ticket prices for big-name performers.)
Can't remember much past a certain point that night... there was much herb and hooch being passed around...
when I awoke late the next morning, I found that my new friends had already packed up and gone ahead into the stadium.
As I was putting away my gear, I found that, underneath a corner of my sleeping bag, my friends had left me a nice fat doobie and a tuna salad sandwich. Sweet! (To this day, I revere those wonderful people, who I never saw again after that night.)
After packing up my backpack, I went off and found a quiet spot in the park to enjoy my friends’ gifts.
I blissfully sat there a while, and then, after wandering around the park, I headed back to the stadium. Once there, I waded through hundreds of people who were standing around outside the stadium, as I made my way to the stadium gates.
Once I got in, I was pretty far back from the stage at the beginning of the concert, since just about everybody had gotten in before me. But as the concert progressed, I made my way closer to the stage (easy to do as a single person).
The show started around noon. Absolutely gorgeous West Coast day. There were several opening acts, including the Tubes and Lee Michaels, all of whom were pretty good. Then there was a lull as we waited for Zep to come on.
While we all waited, I made some new friends, who introduced me to mescaline.
The day became even more...
Finally, the Gods of Rock arrived and started their set. (At this point, under the influence, I thought I was witnessing the convergence of supernatural forces...)
Plant and Page were pure greatness! Bonham was intense! (I'm sure I would have felt this way even without the help of mind-altering substances...)
Some of the tunes I think I remember were No Quarter, Heartbreaker, Whole Lotta Love, and Dazed and Confused...
Not much more to say 'bout it but that I don't have any more words to describe it...
Whew! 35 years…
amazing to think it was that long ago…
and that I used to be so young and wreckless.
it was exactly 35 years ago that I happened to catch an awesome Led Zeppelin concert in San Francisco...
(more-or-less exactly 35 years ago... it was early June, I don’t remember the exact day.)
Pardon me while I wax nostalgic...
it was entirely accidental that I happened to be there for the concert...
I was hitchhiking up the West Coast at the time, and had arrived in San Francisco late in the evening.
I was meaning to hook up with some guys from SF whom I’d met while spending time camping out on a beach near Big Sur, who had offered to let me crash their pad when I got into town... but it was late, and I was tired, and their place was kinda far from where I was... and I was close to Golden Gate Park...
so I made my way to Golden Gate Park. (In my travels, I had gotten into the habit of using large municipal parks for my in-town over-night accommodations.) When I got there, I found a whole bunch of people camping out outside of a football stadium that was located within the park... turns out they were gonna be attending a Led Zeppelin concert in the stadium the next day...
so, instead of sleeping in the park bushes away from the prying eyes of local law enforcement, I camped out in plain sight with all these hundreds of people outside the stadium... and partied late into the night with about a half-dozen really fine folks.
As we were sitting there, passing around a bottle of whiskey and a hash pipe, one of the guys said he had an extra ticket because his girlfriend wasn’t able to attend at the last minute, and asked if I’d like to buy it, face value. Big Zep fan that I was, I jumped at the offer. (It cost $6.50, about $25-$30 in today’s money, but still amazingly cheap compared to today’s ticket prices for big-name performers.)
Can't remember much past a certain point that night... there was much herb and hooch being passed around...
when I awoke late the next morning, I found that my new friends had already packed up and gone ahead into the stadium.
As I was putting away my gear, I found that, underneath a corner of my sleeping bag, my friends had left me a nice fat doobie and a tuna salad sandwich. Sweet! (To this day, I revere those wonderful people, who I never saw again after that night.)
After packing up my backpack, I went off and found a quiet spot in the park to enjoy my friends’ gifts.
I blissfully sat there a while, and then, after wandering around the park, I headed back to the stadium. Once there, I waded through hundreds of people who were standing around outside the stadium, as I made my way to the stadium gates.
Once I got in, I was pretty far back from the stage at the beginning of the concert, since just about everybody had gotten in before me. But as the concert progressed, I made my way closer to the stage (easy to do as a single person).
The show started around noon. Absolutely gorgeous West Coast day. There were several opening acts, including the Tubes and Lee Michaels, all of whom were pretty good. Then there was a lull as we waited for Zep to come on.
While we all waited, I made some new friends, who introduced me to mescaline.
The day became even more...
Finally, the Gods of Rock arrived and started their set. (At this point, under the influence, I thought I was witnessing the convergence of supernatural forces...)
Plant and Page were pure greatness! Bonham was intense! (I'm sure I would have felt this way even without the help of mind-altering substances...)
Some of the tunes I think I remember were No Quarter, Heartbreaker, Whole Lotta Love, and Dazed and Confused...
Not much more to say 'bout it but that I don't have any more words to describe it...
Whew! 35 years…
amazing to think it was that long ago…
and that I used to be so young and wreckless.