I am a massive Led Zeppelin fan and have been lucky enough to see them on six occasions. The first was in 1971. In November 1971 I went to see Led Zeppelin two nights in a row, something I have very rarely done. I saw them first at Newcastle City Hall and then the following evening at Sunderland Locarno. They were magnificent on both occasions, starting with “The Immigrant Song”, Robert Plant screeching out those opening vocals, Jimmy Page playing those magnificent riffs, John Paul Jones providing the steady bass lines and the late great John Bonham sitting centre stage banging away at his drums. The next event was the following year at another unbelievable performance at Newcastle City Hall. My fourth encounter with Led Zeppelin was in 1975 at London Earls Court with my friends Ian , Pete and John, more of whom later. Then in 1979 I went with my late wife Marie and many friends to see what was to be their last UK performance at Knebworth Park. My sixth and last Led Zeppelin experience was at the O2 reunion concert in 2004 with Marie and my two youngest children David and Laura. Each of these concerts were magnificent and momentous in their own way.
So how could I resist going to see this film which examines the beginnings of the band. I went along to my local cinema with my carer Chris to see the film a few days ago. My aforementioned friend, John who now lives in the USA, also went to see it over in the States. John has written a full account for me of seeing the film over there which I reproduce below. His thoughts of the experience are similar to mine, so I have used his account for my blog entry today. Thank you so much John for allowing me to do so. Over to you John.
Becoming Led Zeppelin is a movie about the genesis of the band and its first exciting chapter. It’s strange that there has been very little promotion for this event and it’s very difficult to know if it’s officially authorized by the band. However, as it does include extensive fairly recent interviews with the three surviving members and legacy discussions with John Bonham , I assume it must be. For me I am happy to see anything that documents Led Zeppelin from the past.
So, I approached tonight with mixed feelings, excitement and trepidation. What should we expect, what will it be like? Is there really enough “new” vintage material to make the story interesting and compelling? History had led me to believe that there isn’t too much material from their early days as they were not well documented. I was the first person to buy tickets for tonight’s opening event and as we approach showtime there are only about a dozen people in the cinema. Unbelievable. Peter Grant must be turning in his grave!! But as we get near to the start time it does fill up somewhat, but it’s still a rather meagre crowd given the magnitude of the artist and this event.
The movie is a well put together story which opens with context on Post War Britain, then documents the impact of American Rock and Roll on our deprived society, before moving on to the genesis of the band. Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones emerge as the real musical talent in the band during these early days. We learn about the early life of the four members with good natured humor in typical British self- deprecating manner. The story then moves to the legendary first rehearsal in a basement studio in London where the band played “Train Kept A Rollin’” and realized something special could be happening. It describes the Scandinavian tour where the band honor some commitments by the now defunct Yardbirds and they are billed as The New Yardbirds. In these early days Jimmy clearly had the vision and was the driving force behind the band, supported by Peter Grants emphatic belief in his talent.
After recording the first album in late 1968 and fueled by interest from Atlantic Records, the band embark on a series of shows across the US, from West to East. Vintage footage is peppered throughout the movie, some of which I’ve seen before but to see it in a truly glorious technicolor on a giant screen with a sensational sound system is really exciting. We learn about the reaction of American audiences to the first album and tour; with the music critics being rather unkind with their views. We hear how the second album, which broke the band worldwide, was recorded between gigs during this hectic touring schedule with both albums being ultimately released in 1969. What really comes over is the excitement around the process and the groundbreaking nature of what they were doing. And don’t forget the speed at which this all happened and how Robert and John Bonham were young and very inexperienced at the time. It all seems incredible by today’s standards.
While I am a reasonable Zeppelin expert, I did learn a lot. There is some great footage from a TV show in France which I’ve seen before, but it’s so much better in this big screen format. While Jimmy and John Paul describe the musical vision and its delivery, it is left to Robert to provide the humor which he does splendidly, complete with that wonderful sly grin and glint in his eye. He has some great comments about how John Bonham’s wife Pat said, “don’t hang out with Planty, he’s a bad influence on you”. With the benefit of hindsight that’s so hard to believe! There are shots of Robert and John in their early bands, also Peter Grant, Mickey Most and Terry Reid [who was Jimmy Page’s first choice for singer, Terry turned them down and recommended Robert Plant for the job], all of which add colour to this splendid tale. The movie closes with “What Is and What Should Never Be” and “Something Else” from their triumphant London Royal Albert Hall gig in January 1970.
While it’s easy to look for faults, for me as a long- term fan, this is a sensational evening and time flies by. The only words I have to describe it are “spine-tinglingly sensational”. While Zeppelin may have borrowed heavily from historical blues artists (Willie Dixon and Chester Burnett among others) and even some of their peers of the time (listen to The Small Faces “Need Love” and Marriott’s voice is very similar to Robert’s on “Whole Lotta Love”), there is no doubt they added their own magic and genius to create a patchwork of sound that has never been equaled. For me Led Zeppelin are simply the greatest rock band of all time, and this movie adds another chapter to their incredible legacy. Go see it !!
Thank you, John. I was similarly impressed by the movie. The performance I saw was poorly attended, there were six people in the audience including Chris and me. I bought myself an official poster and also one on eBay. I also bought myself a press pack from the Cannes film Festival a few years earlier where the film was yet to be named, and the showing was pulled because the band decided not to attend. Finally, I also bought a small poster from eBay, which was given out to those who attended the first showings in the UK and USA. I have included those images in this blog entry. Many thanks to John for allowing me to include his account of the movie and to Joanne for manipulating the site for me. A great movie about a great rock ‘n’ roll band. Happy days.
Update on 7 October 2024. My signed book arrived today, thank you Hayley! A wonderful keepsake from a magical day spent returning to the Edinburgh Festival and spending a highly enjoyable afternoon with a lifelong hero of mine. The dedication to me makes the book very special. I must remember to return to the Fringe next year! See images of the book, and the dedication from Hayley to me. Happy days.
I recall going to see many movies: all of the Disney cartoons,The Man from Uncle films, Cliff Richard in Summer Holiday, Born Free, Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu, the Beatles in Hard Days Night and Help and, of course, all of the James Bond films from Doctor No onwards through From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, the spoof Casino Royale and You Only Live Twice.
I was a massive fan of the Sean Connery Bond films and the theme tunes: the James Bond theme by the 
So I was looking forward to this performance of the James Bond theme songs and music, by no less than the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor 
The concert itself was excellent with great deliveries of the songs going from the early Sean Connery days up to the present day and epics such as “Skyfall” originally performed by Adele and “A View to a Kill” originally performed by Duran Duran. The vocalists delivered the songs excellently and the entire concert was just fine. I even decided to buy some of my old favourites on eBay (see images) and I purchased a natty little programme at the concert.
Many thanks to Chris for the images and navigating the site again. By the way, Sean Connery was still the best Bond. I still live back in the 1960s and my happy memories of the cinema with my dad. This concert took me back some 60 years. Happy days.
Setlist: Dr No – Theme; You Only Live Twice – Title Song; GoldenEye – Title Song; Live and Let Die – Title Theme; From Russia With Love – Title Song; Quantum of Solace – Another Way to Die; The World is Not Enough – Title Song; Goldfinger – Title Song; A View to a Kill – Title Song;
Thunderball -Title Song; Skyfall – Title Song; For Your Eyes Only – Title Song; The Spy Who Loved Me – Nobody Does It Better; Moonraker – Title Theme; No Time to Die – Title Song; On Her Majestys Secret Service – We Have All the Time in the World; Casino Royale – You Know My Name; Diamonds Are Forever – Title Song; Spectre – The Writings on the wall; Licence to Kill – Title Song
A bit of an adventure To see a celebration of the life of the composing genius and legend 
Now thinking back, I knew that I had to carefully plan a journey of the tube. Things are very different since I have become disabled. You can only embark upon, and alight from, the tube at certain stations as the gap (“mind the gap please when alighting at the station”) between platform and train is too wide at some stations. Also, not every station has a lift; after all this is a very old, and very efficient, underground travel facility. I knew all this yet I didn’t plan for this journey. Something told me everything would be okay. Big mistake.
We manage to get on the tube at King’s Cross and travel along the Northern line to Archway. However when we alight the train, we find there is no lift! We take advice and it seems the best way forward is to return to King’s Cross and get a bus to Archway. So this is what we do. The bus is very efficient, easy to get on, as every London bus has a ramp which comes out magically from the central entrance to the bus. The bus seems to stop at many different locations along the way but we are soon at Archway. We walk to the hotel which is quite close to Archway tube station. By now it is around 6 PM. After some argy-bargy about the hoist which seems to be missing the arm which the sling attaches to, and which involves finding a friendly guy who gets aforementioned arm from another room.
I have a short rest and my carers have a short freshen up before it is time to get to the O2. We had telephoned the information line which told us that the concert started at 8:30 PM. So plenty of time (or so we thought). Another mistake. The adventure continues. The very friendly lady on reception tells us that the best way to get to the venue is to use a London taxi cab. We soon learn that all London cabs have now been updated since the last time I was in the capital and have a ramp which enables me to get into the side of the vehicle easily, leaving room for three passengers to sit on the rear seat. The taxi takes us through some very familiar street names including the Holloway Road, Stanley Road and some quite “posh areas” of London town.
The concert is like nothing else I have ever experienced. It is a true multimedia extravaganza with a screen showing segments of classic movies such as the Good, the Bad and The Ugly and The Mission, alongside films I have never heard of such as a Fistful of Dynamite. Familiar images of my hero Clint Eastwood pop up onto the screen as the familiar theme tune from the Good, the Bad and the Ugly is delivered by orchestra, electric band, a choir and soloist. The sound is fantastic and the visuals excellent. The choir, band, orchestra and soloists are all first class. This is a sound very different to the rock bands I am used to. But it is loud, clear and very emotive; particularly when it is accompanying clips from such iconic movies.
I remember as a young teenager when the Hugo Montenegro version of the soundtrack theme for the Good, the Bad and the Ugly was number 1 in the UK singles chart for many weeks. I bought the single and played and played it again and again. When I finally got to see the movie I was spellbound by Clint Eastwood and how cool “the man with no name” was. I had to wait until I was a little older to see the film as it was, if I recall correctly, X-rated at the time. Even then I managed to get in to see it when I was quite young and felt so excited at seeing such forbidden treasure! It just shows you how times change. The violence of the film warranted, at the time, an adults only rating. Today it would be seen as quite mild compared to some of the violence in modern movies. The haunting theme, guitar and harmonica were simply tremendous.
Celebration of the work of Ennio Morricone played for one night to a full house. ….Under the baton of Morricone’s son Andrea, a selection of extracts from just a few of the 500+ scores that the Maestro had penned were played by the Flanders Philharmonic Orchestra, the programme having been largely devised and curated by Morricone himself prior to his sad passing in July 2020.”(From 
After a short wait we are back into another taxi and off to the Premier Inn Archway. I am hoisted into bed and decide that I’m hungry. Another big mistake. I wait forever for a pizza delivery which finally comes at 1:30 AM by which time I am falling asleep as my carer tries to feed me cold slices of pizza. I fall asleep. Before I know it is time to get up have a slice of toast and a quick wash and off we go to King’s Cross on the bus. Soon our friendly Grand Central train takes us back up north and the adventure ends. So, a whistlestop tour of London, an excellent, very different, concert and overall an exciting adventure. Happy days.
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