Led Zeppelin's journey from the USSR to the USA
By the beginning of 1977, Led Zeppelin was at the very height of recognition and relevance. Peter Grant, rock manager and producer, described a page in the band's history as follows:
In 1977, I met the Russians. I was invited to a buffet at the Soviet Embassy, and then everyone planned to go to a concert. It was something unimaginable!
Indeed, it is surprising that members of the official Soviet diplomatic staff turned out for a speech at the end of May 1977 at the Capitol Centre (Landover, Maryland).
They really knew rock. I was travelling with the wife of a diplomat, who asked about the sound quality, and then went on to say that a year ago she had been to a Rolling Stones performance where the sound was bottomless: the speakers were hanging over the stage. It was stunning! The Soviet diplomats met the band before the show, and while the concert was going on, they were seated on the edge of the stage, not in a box. During 'No Quarter' a piece from Rachmaninoff was introduced and this delighted the Russians. We had plans to come to the USSR, but after the death of our son Robert, the plans changed. It was a pity, because we would have been the first rockers to perform in the Soviet Union. We were replaced by Elton John.
Dave Lewis in his book "Led Zeppelin. The Concert Files" gives the date of departure of the Soviet diplomatic mission to the Led Zeppelin concert as 30 May. But there is disagreement about when exactly of the 4 performances at Landover the Rachmaninoff piece was played, and whether it is true at all. Some say a few bars from the Prelude of Opus 23, number 5. Some believe that the performance took place at other performances, not at Landover. And some deny the very fact that the Russian composer's melody was performed.
What is important is that before the Olympics-80 the official Union was demonstrating its civilisation to the world, and therefore a concert of world celebrities, walks on Red Square, a documentary film about it was seen as a way to establish contact with the Western world. That is why it was quite possible to invite Led Zeppelin to the USSR.
Although their visit to the Union did take place, in 1971. And not in the full line-up. Having completed the tour in Japan, at the end of September, returning home, the band was divided: Page, Plant and Cole flew back home after a visit to several Asian countries.
Grant with Bonham and Jones flew directly through Sheremetyevo, which is reflected in the book about "zeppelins". There are no photos of their stay at our airport, so let's try to fantasise....
Chronicles of '77 are depicted in the film about the Landover concert on 30 May. Maybe our diplomats were there by chance.
There are reports that John Bonham's son, drummer Jason, attended the 1989 Rock Against Drugs festival at the Union - he repeated his father's career and also became a drummer.
3 June 1977. Led Zeppelin and the support band flew to Tampa in anticipation: they remembered May 1973, when the Big Sombrero Stadium was packed to capacity.
Success rattled ahead of them. The stadium had a capacity of over 56,000! That's unprecedented, even compared to the Beatles! 200 pigeons taking to the skies after the show! An unfathomable profit of £309,000.
What happens now? Tickets have been out of stock for a long time. But the unexpected happened. The producer looked at the ticket and was horrified: it said that the concert would take place in any weather. Peter Grant, having learnt about it, was ready to tear up the advertising representative: in 1972 Les Harvey from Stone the Crows, died of an electric shock, having touched a microphone with weak grounding. And water on stage is the end of everything. It's a risk. That's why Grant always put a condition to the publicity people: no rain, no concert. And vice versa.
About 70 thousand fans also know about this inscription. The organisers of the performance placed not a metal canopy over the stage, but a simple sailcloth tent! "There was about a thousand gallons of water over the drum system!" - Grant said afterwards. Rain was the end of the band. What to do? After much hesitation, Grant commanded an exit, lest the crowd blow the whole thing to splinters.
In the middle of Nobody's Fault But Mine, it rained. The water got on the technical equipment and it started to work worse. The workers asked for a 15-minute time-out, the equipment was covered with tarpaulins, but it still didn't work well.
Grant instructed the band to hurriedly leave the stage in the hope of waiting out the rain, but it was no use. The concert had to end.
The lion's share of the fans left, but a few thousand remained. They shouted aggressive demands to bring the band back. Bottles and objects flew at the stage workers and the police, who started to disperse the crowd, but the audience resisted and started the mayhem.
250 police officers maimed about a hundred fans and took away the most active ones for resisting, as well as for possession of some drugs. Some of the police officers suffered concussions, one broke an arm, another broke an ankle, and a total of 10 officers were found mutilated. Cleanup workers later found thousands of items of footwear on the battlefield: boots, trainers, trainers, boots and other items.
The band was preparing to reschedule the show for the near future, but after talks with stadium owners, police and local authorities, Tampa Mayor William Poe announced a decision: the rescheduling was ruled out and the band should not visit the city. Never at all.
The life of the stadium quieted down: no rock concerts were held there for about 10 years. And since 1999 it has ceased to exist.
Led Zeppelin wanted to neutralise the scandal by offering refunds for tickets - $10 in 1977 was more expensive than it is now. But this could not be a proper compensation for disappointed and beaten fans.
