Footage of Legendary 1970 Led Zeppelin Show Unearthed After 52 Years
Led Zeppelin concert footage taken during the classic English rock band's September 4, 1970, gig at the Forum in Los Angeles has finally made its way to the internet after five decades plus.
All thanks to a Zeppelin fan named Eddie Vincent who captured the good times as a teenager.
The seven-minute reel is a stunning find for rock fans. The amateur clips show the commanding stage presence of the group composed of singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones and Led Zeppelin's late drummer, John Bonham.
Watch the video down toward the bottom of this post.
The footage shows portions of Led Zeppelin performing their songs "Since I've Been Loving You," "Thank You," "What Is and What Should Never Be," "Whole Lotta Love," "Some Other Guy" and "Lemon Song," as Classic Rock reported. The concert was heavily bootlegged in LP form as Live on Blueberry Hill, but had never emerged before on video. (The newly unearthed footage is now matched to the audio from that recording.)
Vincent explains, "I was a teenager back in 1970. And like a lot of other people in LA, when I heard Led Zeppelin was going to play another show at the Forum in September, I knew I had to be there. This time, I decided to take the family movie camera with me. It was a little wind-up 8mm Kodak Brownie. When my friends and I got to the Forum, I tucked it under my jacket. There weren't any problems at the door back in those days."
He continues, "The seats were excellent — first row behind the stage. We were behind [drummer] John Bonham's gong, so you couldn't really see him much. But the sound was great. During the acoustic set, John ducked behind the gong to smoke a cigarette and very gracefully acknowledged our slavish praise. He even posed twice for my still camera, and both times the flash failed to go off."
But while those pictures came out "worthless," Vincent adds, "a few others, along with that 8mm film, survived."