Beast: John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin by C M Kushins

Author:C M Kushins [Kushins, C M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780306846687
Google: 4xMhzgEACAAJ
Publisher: Hachette Books
Published: 2021-09-15T00:24:10.830523+00:00

MEANWHILE, THE BAND LINED UP THEIR MANY PROJECTS FOR THE coming year.

In January 1972, the four members met at Olympic Studios in London for the preliminary rehearsals of both the upcoming tour and their hotly anticipated fifth album. Richard Cole’s scouting trip of the Australian continent had been a huge success, and he was proud to report that Led Zeppelin had many fans eager to see them perform live there for the first time. Peter Grant quickly lined up a string of five dates for the country, as well as concerts in nearby New Zealand.

Zeppelin was due to arrive for their performance at Subiaco Oval, in Perth, on February 16. First, however, Grant booked them for a one-off show in the former British colony of Singapore on Valentine’s Day. Things got off to a rotten start, as the band was denied entry into the country due to the length of their hair. According to the Singaporean customs agents of the ultraconservative country, the local government was taking a firm stand against the negative influences of Western culture—typified, so they claimed, by the lyrics, behavior, and, yes, appearance of Led Zeppelin. The band wasn’t even allowed off the plane.

The band was surprised, but not particularly offended. After all, the upcoming Australian dates would be much more lucrative, with three consecutive nights in Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne, then one side trip to Auckland, New Zealand, before returning to Australia to appear in Sydney and Brisbane. Each venue was huge, and each show broke records in ticket sales—something that Grant ensured by booking only indoor venues for the Australian dates. But that strategy was only half of the manager’s reasoning; although he offered no true explanation, Grant was forever fearful of allowing his boys to perform in inclement weather. With the massive amount of electrical equipment, fuses, and wires used for every element of the group’s full stage show, he considered playing in the rain to be an unacceptable risk. On this tour, only the Adelaide show on February 19 was booked for an outdoor amphitheater, Memorial Drive, and when a slight drizzle developed into a full storm, Peter Grant postponed the concert until the following evening.

Following the cancellation, John was forced to find other distractions to kill the time. “In Adelaide, Creedence Clearwater Revival had performed the night before us and were still in town when we checked into our hotel,” Richard Cole recalled. “Creedence’s drummer, Doug Clifford, had a practice drum kit in his hotel room, and Bonham and he took turns pounding out a thunderous beat until almost daybreak. Amazingly, no one from the hotel complained.”

Though John had confided in Chris Welch weeks earlier that he had no compunction in chucking the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle for his old job as a carpenter, his actions on the Australian tour proved he wasn’t necessarily kidding. Throughout the tour, Richard Cole made it a habit to arrive at the concert sites hours before the band in order to inspect the stage area

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