Tim Grobaty: Zeppelin '72 show takes lead in Long Beach's best list

Here's a few Long Beach Arena shows that won't make Mr. Grobaty's list because they're too heavy:

Judas Priest, May 23, 1981
Scorpions/Iron Maiden/Girlschool, September 1, 1982
Iron Maiden/Dio/Motorhead, August 25, 2003
Ted Nugent, September 5, 1978

I didn't see Led Zeppelin in 1972 or 1975 at the LB Arena but I saw them at the Forum in 1977. While they may have been slightly past their prime by 1977, it was still a fantastic show.

Speaking of too heavy for Grobaty.
How about:
UFO/Iron Maiden - Summer of 1981.
Judas Priest - May 1984 (3 night stand)
Iron Maiden/Twisted Sister - March 1985 (4 night stand)

I'm partial to the '75 show if only because the setlist was more to my liking. Zeppelin always loved playing at The Forum, but all of their SoCal shows were great.

Ned wrote:

Speaking of too heavy for Grobaty.
How about:
UFO/Iron Maiden - Summer of 1981.
Judas Priest - May 1984 (3 night stand)
Iron Maiden/Twisted Sister - March 1985 (4 night stand)

Ned, I attended that UFO/Iron Maiden show...1st time I saw the mighty Maiden. My law school studies prevented my attendance at those mid-80's shows. Speaking of great shows I didn't attend, what about the Ozzy/Metallica show in June (?) 1986?

Any music performance that Michael Ducet plays his fiddles and sings is an orginal experience! We are lucky to just to have had one this last Saturday at the Carpenter Center, GO BEACH!

"Born-Ay-Fur" Stomp ???

"Steve" Wonder ???

Has Grobarty been sharing his weed with the PT's proofreaders?

Somersault at Wilson High 1978.

Clapton: I suspect someone placed too much trust in spellcheck. I know when I ran it through it wanted to change Stevie to Steve....

Sublime in any number of friends' backyards.

Clapton wrote:

"Born-Ay-Fur" Stomp ???
"Steve" Wonder ???
Has Grobarty been sharing his weed with the PT's proofreaders?

Also, Jimi spells his last name Hendrix, not Hendricks.

Dan wrote:

<quoted text>
Also, Jimi spells his last name Hendrix, not Hendricks.

Ah!!! I see the PT monitors this comment board. Spelling has been corrected! I really don't think Tim Grobaty wrote this article. He's too hip. He wouldn't make mistakes like that.

The major tour that year was not The Rolling Stones with Stevie Wonder as support but Led Zeppelin. The Stones received all the publicity while Zeppelin were outselling them right across America. It was the reason for Zeppelin hiring Danny Goldberg the following year as publicist. They were sick and tired of other bands getting all the kudos while they were setting attendance records everywhere they played. It's 37 years later and journalists still don't understand Zeppelin's position in popular music. Only The Beatles and Elvis were as popular and it's debatable whether either of them had the same worldwide fanatical following as Zeppelin.

What amazes me most is that people can remember details of a concert that occurred 37 years ago. I was there, and I particularly remember the set from LZ III that they sat down to play, but I sure couldn't give a complete account of the show.

What a world it was in '72. Remember all the golf carts with the little flags on poles that one had to negotiate around on the streets back then? Remember the open fields across 7th Street form CSULB. The Pike? Remember Johnny Winter at the, what was it - Kit Kat theater downtown? Those were the days, my friends!

Declan wrote:

The major tour that year was not The Rolling Stones with Stevie Wonder as support but Led Zeppelin. The Stones received all the publicity while Zeppelin were outselling them right across America. It was the reason for Zeppelin hiring Danny Goldberg the following year as publicist. They were sick and tired of other bands getting all the kudos while they were setting attendance records everywhere they played. It's 37 years later and journalists still don't understand Zeppelin's position in popular music. Only The Beatles and Elvis were as popular and it's debatable whether either of them had the same worldwide fanatical following as Zeppelin.

And the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears set records, too. So what?

The bottom line is that both the Stones and Zeppelin were innovators. The Stones made the blues more acceptable to the white folks and Zeppelin turned the blues into an early form of heavy metal.