Led Zeppelin - Oakland, CA "'Day on the Green" Incident, (July 23, 1977)

When Zeppelin became a victim of their own success. The 1977 North America Tour.

[@turnsufficient4971]

The first assault happened at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum was when Bill Graham's security guard, Jim Downey, asked LZ's manager Peter Grant if he needed help up some stairs back stage. Grant took it as a crack about his weight, which he could be sensitive about. John Bindon was walking with Grant and Grant said something Downey and Downey called Bindon or Grant or both a fucking li mey, which is a derogatory term for an Englishman. Bindon punched him once and knocked him out cold. Later on during the show, John Bonham was off stage - this would be either during John Paul Jones' piano solo during No Quarter, or during Going to California or during Jimmy Page's guitar solo. Bonzo saw Warren Grant either get shoved or slapped by Graham's security guard, Jim Matzorkis. It's reported that Grant's son may have attempted to take a Led Zeppelin banner off of a back stage trailer or did take one off -- and Matzorkis was reacting to that. Bonzo saw it happen and went over, chastised and kicked Matzorkis. After the show, Bonzo told Grant about Warren being shoved or hit. Grant flew into a rage and asked Graham if he could just talk to Matzorkis about what happened - everything will be fine. Graham told Grant - no. Grant and Led Zeppelin's entourage had a reputation of violence and/or addressing issues with fist-a-cuffs, etc. So Graham was reluctant to allow Grant access to Matzorkis. Eventually, Graham agreed to let Grant talk to Matzorkis. Matzorkis was hiding in a backstage trailer. Grant and John Bindon went into the trailer and pummeled Matzorkis for at least a good few minutes, while LZ's tour manager, Richard Cole, stood outside with a bat or metal pipe to guard the trailer door and not let anyone in. Richard Cole most likely hit someone in some way who attempted to get in the trailer, as he was charged with assault as well. Matzorkis is said to have somehow escaped the beating and run out of the trailer. The trailer was definitely abashed in blood. Bindon attempted to gouge one of Matzorkis' eyes out during the beating. The accurate newspapers report - Bindon had two charges of assault lodged against him - he had punched Downey and Matzorkis. Bonzo, Grant and Cole were all charged with one count of assault. The date all of the above happened was July 23rd, 1977. The next day, Led Zeppelin was late somewhere between 1 to 3 hours to take the stage - after the opening act finished up. This was because one of Led Zeppelin's attorneys drew up some legal paperwork for Bill Graham to sign -- that stated - Graham would indemnify Led Zeppelin from any of the previous days assaults. So, in other words - Led Zeppelin won't take the stage until Graham signs this letter. I love Led Zeppelin through and through, but you can't make someone sign anything or any contract under what's known as "duress." Saying - [We won't go on stage until you sign this agreement] is creating duress or what's also known as undue pressure. I'm sure Grant knew that they couldn't make Graham sign it and that it wasn't worth the paper it was written on - at all. Secondly, not going on stage could cause a riot to break amongst 55,000+ music fans. That was duress and was hanging over Graham's head, bc he couldn't get the band to go on stage until he signed the letter of indemnification. Graham did sign it and allegedly tore it up - at least that's what was reported in articles and books etc, but that doesn't make any sense at all, bc Led Zeppelin drew the letter up to protect themselves, so why would they give the original copy of the letter to Graham. I'm guessing Graham had a dot matrix printer in his office and made a copy of the agreement and probably tore up his copy of the letter. So, fast forward to early morning, July 25th, 1977, the Oakland SWAT team showed up at Led Zeppelin's hotel. One of Led Zeppelin's security guard was in the lobby and was a former Oakland or LA cop or detective - he negotiated and talked the SWAT team into not going to up to their rooms -- and having them come down to the lobby. Bonzo, Grant, Cole and Bindon all came down and were arrested without incident. The all posted $250 bail and were given postponed court dates. Robert, Bonzo and Cole all flew to New Orleans together. Robert got two dreaded calls on July 26th, 1977 that [Karac was sick] --- a few hours later [Karac has passed away]. Jonesy had already rented an RV and he, his wife and kids all went out the back door and started driving north in California in said RV. Jimmy Page and Grant stayed in San Francisco to shop for antiques. Grant also did some final business for Led Zeppelin as well. So, now you know.

[@AugustMedia]

Thanks!

[@ronaldpatrias417]

wow what a bloody tosser innit

[@ImYourOverlord]

That lines up with JCM's account of the whole mess on his YT channel.

[@theesperanzacompromisebyja9044]

This summary is more accurate than the video.

[@rockinron3215]

Who was John Bindon? Or did youtube change it from Bonham?

[@belotface]

So thankful for Bill Graham. He bought so many concerts to Northern California...It was such a great time for ROCK!

[@howardjohny]

100% agree. Winterland was the best

[@ww2remembered983]

I can see Graham going after the English primma donna's and their bullying road crew. I hope Bonham enjoyed the Oak-town drunk tank!

[@javlohudzlin4829]

Zeppelin was amazing and their sound was powerful!!

[@AugustMedia]

Depends on which live date during this tour.

[@javlohudzlin4829]

Their sound was always powerful. You can't go by bootlegs from audience recordings, video feeds, or unmixed soundboards. Also, running instruments straight into a soundboard thins out the sound dramatically. @@AugustMedia

[@AugustMedia]

@@javlohudzlin4829 hard to play those songs on smack.

[@jeffmunkynutz1568]

Lol @ augustmedia.... Its considerably easier when all your songs are ripped off. 😂

[@javlohudzlin4829]

Did you surmise that from KZbin? How much Zeppelin are you actually aware of?@@jeffmunkynutz1568

[@davidsafier6333]

I was there! 17 years old.

[@650nelson]

Me too! 16 years old. I thought the whole concert was a big let down!

[@kelleychilton2524]

It was a great time being young in the 1970s. What a life. 👍

[@rudychavez4569]

I was at the concert, Judas Priest opened then Rick Derringer then we had to wait around 2hours for Led Zep to come on. What was amazing was the crowd,at least on the field,never got out of control waiting. Maybe it was because it was a warm day and we were too tired to riot. Anyway it was worth the wait since it was the last LZ concert ever played in the Bay Area. Great memories!

[@AugustMedia]

Was Priest any good that day?

[@dukecraig2402]

I've never heard that Priest did any shows with Zeppelin, that'd be great. My first concert ever was Judas Priest on their Screaming For Vengeance tour with Iron Maiden opening for them on their Number Of The Beast tour, 1982 Pittsburgh Civic Arena.

[@gregoryearl2264]

Judas Priest was great ...if I remember properly. To see the mighty Zep was all I really cared about that day.

[@dannyhood7433]

Judas priest played! Man, I had NO idea Judas priest played. If possible (if you feel like it) let me know what you though of Judas priest. I have friends who saw Judas priest in 77 at Warner's theater in Fresno CA, Nobody knew who Judas priest was fresrag ca back then. Frank Marino, mahogany rush was headlining the show. They said, some short haired guy dressed leather, came out and announced the band. Begin screaming piercing their ears, proceeding to blow everyone away. They were so exited about Judas priest They formed a band, (satans crib) LMAO!. Brothers, one played guitar other played drums. Before seeing priest live they played alice cooper. ,black Sabbath covers.Embarrassing

[@dannyhood7433]

​@@gregoryearl2264until you seenJudas priest. In 1977 priest was terrifying. Influenced by led zeppelin, priest was new Metal ..Judas priest was fresh.

[@hkpr-ro6ui]

Good to see that they got the Stonehenge dimensions correct though…

[@alexantonio8546]

😂😂😂

[@user-py4vt3bv7u]

Although a lot has been said about Led Zeppelin getting "too arrogant" at this stage of their career, when one takes into account the colossal level of success they had so far achieved it's actually strange that things weren't a good deal worse.

[@jackdemus7890]

And a few days later, Peter blamed Bill for the death of Karac.

[@michaeltaylors2456]

Thanks to whoever snuck in the 8 MM camera !

[@dangroat4438]

This incident involved 4 people and Richard Cole and a bodyguard named John Bindon. Grant and Bindon did the beating inside of a trailer on site while Cole stood guard outside making sure that none of Graham's people nor Graham himself could enter until Grant and Bindon left. The only thing that Bonham did was kick Matzorkis in the groin when he witnessed the incident while off the stage and then hurried to tell Grant about it. This is all detailed by Grant himself in his book "Bring it on Home".

[@AugustMedia]

I heard or read somewhere that 'yes' Richard Cole standing outside of the trailer while they beat the fuck out of the poor guy. Physically refusing annnyone to go in and help or defuse the situation (not that it wasn't already to late for that).

[@drummer78]

“The only thing Bonham did was kick him in the groin”. Ummm, that’s kind of a big deal.

[@John-cr2tn]

I saw both shows and didn't know about the incident till later but my girlfriend and I both commented on the difference between the shows . The second being very low energy. We thought it was was us being stoned and burnt out. Also our dog died while we were gone so a bummer weekend altogether

[@HardPen-jj5nl]

Wow.

[@marymargaretmoore9034]

Grants son wasn't hit. They just said that to justify what they did to the BGP employee. No excuse.

[@KaracGaltran]

Where did you read about this? What are the sources?

[@AugustMedia]

⁠@@KaracGaltranI gotta feeling he’s right, the Zeppelin entourage were known as bullies, Richard Cole and his crew, dicks.

[@maxcannes1124]

Bill Graham’s people were pissed. There was a group of bad asses that were going to fly to Zeppelin’s next gig and pound the hell out of Richard Cole, Bonham and the rest of them. After calming down, Bill Graham pulled the plug on that. If someone from the Zeppelin crew was killed, that would’ve been bad. Nobody touched the kid. He was a spoiled brat that was asked not to do something, so he ran off crying about it.

[@dukecraig2402]

If you weren't there then you don't really know.

[@marymargaretmoore9034]

@@KaracGaltran I heard that from people who were there. I know the guy who was beaten up.

[@alexantonio8546]

I remember the infamous Led Zeppelin Stonehenge stage, 1977 Day on the Green

[@RICCARDOREARDON]

I HAD NEVER,EVER EVEN HEARD OF PRIOR TO VIEWING THIS PARTICULAR VIDEO.. HEARD OF THIS INCIDENT.. AND LED~ZEPPELIN WAS MY VERY FIRST CONCERT..

[@johnreilly8672]

I was there. None of us new about the incident until later. We saw the Saturday show clear and sunny great show!The Sunday show different ball game.

[@AugustMedia]

Sunday, I heard Page didn't really care to be up there.

[@mrsmokeydog7830]

That was my second Rock Concert that I attended . the opening acts that day were Judas priest on probably their first american tour. Rick derringer and then after about a 2 hour delay with an extremely irate drunken and stoned Bay Area crowd The headliner LED ZEPPELIN. Bill Graham was furious about this incident he wanted vindication and retribution for what happened to his employee. They were arrested and were threatened with major law suits and told they would never perform again in the United States. Bill Graham wanted blood. But being the master promoter and negotiator that Peter Grant was instead of being defensive about the incident he admitted to the incident. And justified the reaction because of the rough treatment by the security guard of his son who was just a kid. He said either sign a paper refusing to press charges and absolve the band of any repercussions or They would not perform. I Believe they settled with the security Guard out of court for an undisclosed sum and Bill Graham was forced to agree to their terms and then they Performed the Show. After the concert they went back to the hotel and in the morning they had to go to court in downtown Oakland and they were arraigned and then released and left court and went to the Oakland airport boarded the starship and flew back to England, This concert was the final performance by Led Zeppelin in America.

[@ellebrook3413]

Thanks, this was a cool mini doc on the incident. I have heard about it,but not sure on the details, sorry if I missed it, but what time did it happen? Before the show? How long were those arrested kept by the cops for? How was it resolved? Also, are the photos at 1.40 and 1.50 from a book? I've never seen those two before.

[@AugustMedia]

I just google searched and found them really.

[@AugustMedia]

From what I gather, Graham had to drop the charges or the band threatened not to play, sort of had the upper hand.

[@vermontbred]

No mention of John Bindon and Richard Cole ?

[@beandipcartography]

These incidentses will go down in history.

[@GTX1123]

Oh the life cycles of bands. Early on everyone is hungry, excited, focused having the time of their lives. But between non stop touring and the studio the exhaustion sets set in. Drugs, drinking and women alleviate it for a while until multiple albums go platinum. That's when the cracks start showing. That's when you know the break up is coming...

[@williammacdonald9271]

I was at the show I had passed out and woke back up just as they started playing the delay in the show was I don’t know how long the stadium was almost empty they wouldn’t let the people fans back in the stadium

[@patrickcrowther9195]

I think the fact that drugs and massive success with its intense pressures affected the band negatively was in part demonstrated by their hiring a man like John Bindon for their security.

[@StONed-yx5qq]

I passed out drunk right as I sat down…woke up in ‘78

[@AugustMedia]

Classic.

[@ericanderson7059]

I just got my " Nurses do it better " t shirt , can't wait to wear it.

[@ProfessorKenneth]

Peter Grant..our version of sure knight😅 Grant was the perfect manager, brilliant 👍🏻🎸 zep rules.

[@Dave-xs9dm]

Not far from where we practiced is a house in san jose. A dude worked at shoreline. Bill graham liked his band and showed up 1 day for a jam at the house with bob weir and satriani. All 3 signed the wall. I seen it

[@AugustMedia]

Very cool!

[@maxblaser4939]

jimmys outfit beautiful

[@genekersten7165]

I was there for that second show. After Judas Priest, then Derringer, we were made to wait nearly three hours for Led Zeppelin to come out onto the stage. We heard later that there were backstage negotiations taking place, on wether or not to file charges with the police over the assault. I believe it was John Bonham’s son, not Peter Grant’s son. Also I believe that the young boy was not struck, but was denied a Led Zeppelin dressing room door sign that Bill Graham’s employee was putting away for use on the second day.

[@roywatson8133]

the story is well known it was grants son

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Warren Grant is on record saying he was definitely slapped by a bully security guard.

[@roboi2241]

Must have been a total brat!

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@roboi2241 Bet you would have slapped him too. Big man.

[@michaeltaylors2456]

Yep, the Sunday show. Definitely the longest wait for a show to start. Derringer was fantastic by the way. I was about 50 feet from the stage. The crowd was packed so tightly that you almost didn’t need to balance. Weird happening. I just happened to see a glass green gallo wine jug go flying overhead .. later some height Ashbury medics were hauling out an unresponsive girl who had what looked like she was pretty badly injured. The gallo jug ? A tangled bloody mess of hair. It was only fitting that Rock and Roll was their final encore song.

[@BeliaLastes]

Hey my friend Tony Dolan is in this he's in the band Venom Inc. how cool is that 😊

[@AugustMedia]

Ahhh very cool.

[@rivenersguild4449]

The way I heard it was Bill Graham didn't press charges until they had played the second night . Then he pressed charges after collecting the gate.

[@AugustMedia]

I need to read the full story

[@heartandsoulgathering7232]

Please disregard my background volume comment. It was not correct. My bad...

[@heartandsoulgathering7232]

Background music track is too loud, it significantly obscures the verbal content :-(

[@Johnny53kgb-nsa]

April 25,1977 Freedom Hall Louisville Ky. Zeppelin concert. I remenber somebody threw a bottle on stage. Plant announced to stop throwing stuff before somebody got hurt. It was a good show, although, Page was rumored to have been on drugs, and not his best.

[@ronmobley2819]

First, Zeppelin quit the show after a couple songs at the show in Tampa Stadium in early June '77, with 77,000 in attendance, causing a riot, then this beating of a security guard. In retrospect, yes the wheels were coming off.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

They quit the show due to a rain deluge. Peter Grant had previously lost a friend who got electrocuted on stage. He wasn't risking it again.

[@ronmobley2819]

@@lyndoncmp5751 I was there; I know why they quit the show, because of the rain (which lasted about 15 minutes). The problem was that the tickets specifically said "Rain or shine".

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@@ronmobley2819 That was the promoter. Grant wasn't having it. Zep were going to replay but Tampa said no.

[@Rob9mm]

Also cancelled a show in Chicago b/c Jimmy was "sick". (April '77)

[@Rob9mm]

@@lyndoncmp5751 Sounds like rock n roll folklore.

[@TempleOfTheMartyrs]

MAYBE THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE IN OUR BAND

[@davidkulczyk678]

according to Bill Graham's book, the Led Zeppelin crew had to walk a gauntlet of Graham employees to get to the stage.

[@chrissterrmusic]

How cool that Steven Tyler took the time to narrate this.

[@bobbeattie9695]

I was at that show (Sat.) They were two hours late.................the opening bands (Derringer/Priest) kicked ass. Zep. sounded like shit. It was hard to tell what they were playing. Fuck em.

[@audio-video-stereo]

Haha true. I was there too and it sounded like garbage. It was a weird day wasn’t it? They were so late and everyone had been partying since 5am. By the time zeppelin came on most everyone was done.

[@bobbeattie9695]

Melted into there seats is more like it. The opening acts saved the day, that's what I liked most. It looked and sounded to me that they (Zep) were wasted as much as we were.@@audio-video-stereo

[@newspapertaxis1]

Yep I was also there...I left it was so bad!!!! Are you from the Bay area?

[@lstarrtna4288]

❤Beginning of the end sad

[@newspapertaxis1]

I was there that day.....By the time Zep hit the stage Page was so F*cked up he could barely play.. They actually sounded like shit because of it! I left halfway thru the set as did about a quarter of the stadium!!! But..I will say i did see Zep at Kezar Stadium I believe it was 1970 and they kicked MAJOR ass!!! Still one of the top 5 shows I have ever seen and...I've been to over 1,200 shows!!!

[@willard2729]

I only saw Zeppelin once - June, 1977, Madison Square Garden. Jimmy was wasted. I wouldn’t say it ruined the show but it was a big disappointment

[@paulaporter778]

Read about page being a pedophile...exremely young groupies...not right

[@1sttvbn]

Page was in the arms of Morpheus at the time. His playing was terrible that day.

[@roywatson8133]

page is a junkie

[@Fakename70]

Looks like someone’s been reading Hammer of the Gods

[@roywatson8133]

brought in 1985 good book page and plant disowned it said it was crap but was it @@Fakename70

[@howardjohny]

I was there and I agree

[@turnsufficient4971]

This isn't even a correct accurate account of the "Oakland Incident." I'm super disappointed in the researchers for Led Zeppelin documentaries - the A&E Led Zeppelin documentary is full of errors almost from the first moment.

[@bjones8470]

I’m not sure why people seem to be acting like they overreacted. If some asshole security guard slapped my son when I was on the road the same thing would have happened

[@AugustMedia]

...anddd if someone almost beat one of my team's people to a death almost, I'd be pressing charges and call the cops on you as well.

[@Fakename70]

Exactly this. The guy reportedly got physical with the son of the headliner and promptly got sorted out. What’s the problem?

[@naysayer1238]

Guy at 2:28 reminds me of "Drunk History", lol.

[@MShep-mh5xo]

I heard the guard's eye was hanging out of its socket.

[@audiotomb]

Is that Steven Tyler doing commentary?

[@jacktorrance2633]

Yes.

[@MrMojabo]

I was there it was the end of the tour and they were not good the music sounded tired. Page sat in a chair for the srt

[@jacktorrance2633]

That was the day after everything happened. Jones said in an interview Page was disgusted by what happened and was disinterested in the show.

[@TisTheDamnStickSeason]

Three days before Plant's son died

[@AugustMedia]

Yes very tragic end to the tour. They had arrived at the Superdome in New Orleans I think a day before the show when he got the call. That was the end as far as I can tell.

[@ph4rddesciple719]

I was at the concert the next day...They were not at their best, that's for sure...very subdued...I didn't know why until later...

[@rejuvenator8966]

Is that Steven Tyler voice in the beginning? 😄

[@surfingrandpa]

I'll bet the dude never touched someone else's kid again!!

[@highcurrent1125]

While its not a scintillating read, Bill Graham's book cover this incident in detail....according to him that is..

[@AugustMedia]

What’s the name of the book?

[@highcurrent1125]

My life inside rock and out...@@AugustMedia

[@stevemitchell5389]

Saw Zep several times live. Huge fan. Truth is they weren't that good live in those stadium shows. Too many people and bad sound. The Who in the same stadium kicked ass.

[@AugustMedia]

The Day on the Green shows were (as we both know) quite common, ...went on for many years with many bands, but this Zeppelin show(s) were a shame. They in a way extorted 50k from Graham and his people the night before this for drug money, unbeknownst to Bill Graham. Like "Give us this money now, or we don't play tomorrow" approach. They also threatened not to play the 2nd show if the charges weren't dropped against Bonham, Grant and that asshole thug John Bindon.

[@sid7088]

So true, I was in denial about that for many years until I saw Rush live. Then I admitted to myself that Zeppelin shone in the studio but were ultra sloppy on stage. Still, not one Zep tune I don't like though.

[@AugustMedia]

Damn you are a Floyd fan! I thinkkk Meddle is my favorite. @TerrencesClassicRockCorner24

[@danielevans9379]

Bad sound and Page’s heroin addiction. Some of those Stadium shows from that era are rife with his erratic playing because of smack.

[@danielevans9379]

@@sid7088 Page was such an incredible producer in the studio, it was difficult to reproduce their sound in a live setting with just one guitar. And then later add his drug problems to the mix and you have some live Zeppelin recordings that sound literally like a garage band.

[@Rahoorkhuitable]

That's why I always wanted to get into an argument with Ronny Van Zandt....

[@braddurian]

Grant’s son Warren was never harmed. He said that he was slapped. Janine Safer observed the incident. Matzourkis took the item in question from Warren Grant and did not harm the boy. Safer tried to calm Peter Grant, Richard Cole and John Bindon down to no avail.

[@roywatson8133]

im sure thats true madman grant was on drugs is wife left him he was hurt and angry the least little thing and it had to be over the top him along with bindon he could have ended up in jail for murder

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Warren Grant said he was slapped. End of story

[@braddurian]

@@lyndoncmp5751 Read the Bob Spitz biography on Led Zeppelin specifically page 505. What kids say is not always accurate. The whole thing could and should have been avoided.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@@braddurian Of course it should have been avoided. Starting with Warren Grant not getting slapped in the first place.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@@braddurian "What kids say is not always accurate." Same as adults with an agenda.

[@johnclark7633]

There ain’t no 30 dollar bills with Bill Grahams picture on it! Mojo Nixon

[@davidpaterson3443]

No mention of John Bindon?

[@AugustMedia]

Good point. I heard he was the worst. Grant was not happy with Richard Cole hiring him that tour.

[@poitor492]

Yes i was also about to mention bindon he smashed some head crew member before the incident with grant’s son😏

[@dylanwatson1287]

​@AugustMedia Grant was instrumental in hiring Bindon to "protect" him and the band. Grant always loved and allowed violence to happen on his own watch within the band wherever they went and had deep connections with thugs and mafia. The hard drugs mainly cocaine turned him to a deep down paranoid and scary psychopath which pretty much costed his one close relationship with the band mostly Plant.

[@dylanwatson1287]

@@poitor492 Yeah he was walking up the ramp to the stage with Grant when they walked passed by another one of Graham's guards who saw Grant looking really exhausted and drugged out and asked them if G needed any help. They got mad and offended for no reason at the man because they thought he was making fun of Grant for his extreme obesity but actually was offering to help him out if needed.

[@poitor492]

@@dylanwatson1287 yes johney bindon was bad ass but for all the wrong reasons😩

[@Dave-xs9dm]

Theres another story i better not go too far into. We know friends and enemies of bill

[@AugustMedia]

Dave, there's two sides, but ...'yes' Bill probably pissed off alot of people in his day. One person mentioned on here he didn't like Zeppelin to begin with, ...simply, Grant would not allow him to rip them his band off.

[@luvbasses5487]

All the angst and ill-fated vibes that was the ‘77 tour is what fueled this incident. Unfortunately for Matzorkis, he had to endure the brunt of it. Rocks’ greatest-ever guitarist was as unreliable as ever by now and no one knew from night to night if he’d rise to the task of three hours of war. The inventor of the greatest rock band on earth was fading before everyone’s eyes and it must’ve been terribly frustrating. On top of it all, Grant was the one manager that Graham couldn’t rip off. Ten percent of Zeppelin was better than zero percent of nothing though!

[@danielevans9379]

Well stated. Page was fading alright, it’s shocking to hear how erratic his playing was during those heroin years. He was so smacked out during that ‘77 tour some of those live bootlegs are really bad. You really have to go back to that ‘73 tour to hear Page in his sober majesty.

[@AugustMedia]

The LA Forum shows stand out as pretty good, but yeah overall Page wasn’t on his game for a lot of those shows… Chicago was a mess I read.

[@luvbasses5487]

One Chicago show needed to be stopped and aborted…an hour after liftoff. It’s on 8mm video and can be seen here on YT. By Ten Years Gone, Jimmy is pacing aimlessly onstage and finally resting on the drum riser. Then, he disappears into the shadows and they take a five min break to assess the situation. Obviously it was canceled and then the Easter Sunday make-up show is the one showing him in the German SS uniform! Another disappointing disaster was San Diego ‘77. Bonzo was not well and playing too far behind the beat and basically missing cues. Very sad to hear. Tempe, Az. 7-20-77 was another debacle. Jim launches into Kashmir leaving the entire band in the rear view and wondering “what the fk are you actually trying to do here?” It’s very disturbing. Yes, the LA Forum six-night killing spree saw them at their best, as always. It was a favorite haunt since 1970 for them and they always played their best at that venue.

[@luvbasses5487]

@@danielevans9379 …I’m well aware of 1973 Zeppelin. I’m sure that by ‘77 even they wondered what the happened to them! Zeppelin was a band that was in constant state of evolution. Every year saw some sort of change about them. They way they appeared in ‘73 was not deliberately fabricated (as hundreds, possibly thousands of spawned would-be bands would go on to emulate) as much as it was by chance. It’s just another storied way they appeared and have evolved into. The US ‘73 tour was their crowing achievement. ‘75 found them physically depleted and struggling at times to deliver what they delivered two years earlier. I don’t think they were about that though. Us fans want ‘73 to never end! It’s a non issue though and an impossibility…unless they avatar it! Really though, that Whole Lotta Love medley was phenomenal. It was the final year they played like an actual rock n roll band. Drums were at floor-level with the others and it was intimate…and still innocent. The innocence would leave and all but be gone by ‘77. Things simply got larger and messy by then.

[@tomcarl8021]

No, the problem was the band you worship like a pathetic fool had a group of psychopaths as their management. And they would stomp YOU into a coma and leave you for dead if you got in their way. Those are your heroes. Congratulations.

[@markiosty8748]

Alcohol and drugs and the keys to the country........what do you expect ?

[@AugustMedia]

haha good point.

[@dukecraig2402]

A lot of people are saying things like that but I come from a different place in life, you slap a man's kid and you can expect him to come for you, especially if that kid's 13 years old and he's Peter Grant's son.

[@markiosty8748]

@@dukecraig2402 I feel the same way but I was there some 47 years ago and this is the first time I heard that he was slapped ! The original story is that Peter Grants Son grabbed the Zep sign of the wall and was told to put it back and that was enough for Peter Grant who saw red anytime somebody tried to control or use the name Led Zep for any reason and then my point is him and Bonham drank and used on tour all the time and that was no reason to almost kill a guy !

[@dukecraig2402]

@@markiosty8748 I've heard that quite a few times about the incident and never found it hard to believe because Bill Graham and his crew did their share of bullying acts, he'd short them money, have agents selling unauthorized concert shirts outside if venues and all the other things unscrupulous promoters were notorious for back in those days and he was the biggest promoter of them all. Peter Grant "saw red" because he promised the guy's in the band from day one that he'd never allow anyone to rip them off back in an age when promoters were notorious for ripping off bands, he single handedly changed the business of being a bands manager, he took things from an age of "Oh well, what can you do" to the age of "You'll give my band every cent they have coming or you'll get your head cracked open", everyone accuses him of being a gangster but nothing's further from the truth, the reality is he stood up to the gangsters who back in those days was the promoters, they were the notorious thugs that would rip people off.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@markiosty8748 Warren Grant said he was slapped.

[@terrycollins3940]

I was at the show as well I wasn’t there for the opening acts. I caught Rick Derringer but yeah, they actually stopped the show halfway and yeah it was one of the last shows that they would ever do on the West Coast. If I remember correctly, they didn’t perform for a little while after that, but for two years I went to every bill gram down the green. It was in the summer every other weekend some amazing times imagine a boy from Chicago 19 years old and seeing the Grateful Dead in the who for the first time I went to Berkeley university up telegraph Avenue before the dead show and I swear I thought I was in a zoo man like I had to feed the people. It was just like a free show. I’ve never seen anything like that before and those were some different times, Bill Graham stay on the green yeah there’s a lot of it. I don’t remember though the purpose for going to Berkeley university was to pick up the Scooby snacks. That’s what we call him these days lol.

[@davebennett4087]

B E S T. B A N D. E V E R.

[@AugustMedia]

This is true. This video was not meant to 'dump' on their reputation or whatever. The fact that it did happen, I thought it was appropriate to address it though. Perhaps there is something learn from all of it, despite we don't know 'exactly' what happened.

[@roboi2241]

Interesting it happened just at the time in 77 when The Sex Pistols and punk were setting about bringing all those rock behemoths back to reality. I'm sure the artists themselves knew the whole thing had blown out of proportion including their egos and arrogance. The revolution came at the right time and those great musicians took the chastening of a younger generation and came back humbled and reinvigorated apart from Mr Bonham sadly.

[@AugustMedia]

Yeah, true... but by '79 it was pretty much over.

[@roboi2241]

@@AugustMedia Zep or punk? The initial punk wave was brief but it was like an earthquake culturally. It changed the whole landscape and the established artists started to change by 79. The older generation were no longer wearing flares and cutting their hair short (Brian May apart lol). As a teen at the time I knew people who would pretend their old Zep and Genesis albums were left behind by their parents hippy lodger or some such excuse.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@roboi2241 Punk lasted a year or two then was largely irrelevant.

[@roboi2241]

@@lyndoncmp5751 Punk and post-punk influenced just about everything that came after from hip hop to metal, grunge and other genres to this day. It initiated a cultural change, so much more than the media hysteria, 3 chords and cliches attached to it in 1977.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@@roboi2241 No it didn't. It lasted a year or two then was irrelevant.

[@dofnad]

Bicknell criminal - worst decision employing him - P Grant

[@johnwolf3294]

Peter looks like Jabba The Hut

[@AugustMedia]

Peter be a damn good 'confrontational' business man too.

[@drumdad54sdl47]

He was one intimidating mofo.

[@richieroo4844]

He was a dab hand in the wrestling ring apparantly , in earlier days.,a fairly rotund gent ,to say the least...@@AugustMedia

start at the battery, why did he slap his son?

[@AugustMedia]

That's the problem, there is only testimony...these days there probably would have been footage of the scene.

[@cbsundance]

Zeps people were always pushing folks around! Bill Graham hated them and for good reason.

[@shaykosovac8722]

How so? Do you have other examples ?

[@AugustMedia]

@@shaykosovac8722 He's right, Zeppelin's entourage we're dicks that tour. They would push a 13 year old girl around just for saying hello to the band, they were assholes. Richard Cole the tour manager hired thugs that tour... guys with criminal records back in England, trust me. They were just bullies. Bonham you couldn't even look at him, he would just violently erupt, why? Because he could and get away with it.

[@shaykosovac8722]

@AugustMedia yes. This show and the 1977 tour were dark and had ugly moments. Outside of 77, they were not violent or bullies. They broke a lot of hotel rooms but had no interest in hurting anyone.

[@AugustMedia]

Not so much the band themselves. Hell, this band didn't even need promotion or anything, millions of tickets just sold. Just everything, it's beyond the beyond. They did so well in 1975, made alot of money. 77 was supposed to be their Triumphant Return. Lotta obvious mistakes and sloppy playing on Page's part on the first leg, the LA Forum shows were fantastic though. @@shaykosovac8722

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Graham hated Zeppelin because they had more power than him and he had to bend to THEIR rules, like all the promoters did. Zep changed the rules. A lot of people didn't like that.

[@promark5317]

Bill Grahams guy shouldnt have put his head in front of Bonzo's fist. His fault. What was he thinking?

[@r.uthere.6201]

Led Zeppelin on stage was something to see. Who really cares what happen off the stage.

[@patlatorres7000]

Yeah, they put on one of the most BORING shows ever that Saturday!

[@jamesvincent1434]

Derringer💀Judas Priest stole the day. 1977💀RIP

[@Fender73472]

Bill Graham and zeppelin never got along from the time they played the Fillmore west in 69. The beating happened before the show Bonham cole binden grant charged with assault they never played another show again in the USA. shortly after plants son died the 2 1/2 years later Bonham died and zeppelin was over 😮

[@AugustMedia]

In a way, to me, this was their last show as Led Zeppelin. They just didn’t seem like the same band after this. The Knebworth 79 and 1980 tour of Europe just seemed apart from who they were for the past 8 years. Dunno , that’s just me though.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Graham never liked "Limeys" coming along and telling HIM what to do in HIS back yard. Therein lies the problem.

[@Fender73472]

@@lyndoncmp5751 Led Zeppelin were The assholes that day Bill Grahams employee did not deserve the beating he took from Peter Grant 😮

[@lyndoncmp5751]

@@Fender73472 I didn't say he did but the guy shouldn't have slapped Warren Grant either. Warren insisted he was slapped. I've not heard of Zeppelin's entourage going around beating up security guards at other venues for no reason.

[@Fender73472]

@@lyndoncmp5751 throughout the tour, they were acting like assholes they hired a known convicted felon John Bindon so I don’t know if kid was slapped or not . The violence that the Zepplin entourage displayed was wrong, and they were rightly prosecuted. Grant himself even said that he regretted the incident, and the band was never the same again Karma .

[@myobmyob2215]

Remember when a guy fell right off the top and out of Coliseum.

[@drummer78]

Bill Graham’s security guard who was beaten by Bonham, Bindon, Cole and Grant was named Jim Matzorkis and he died of Covid on December 20th, 2020.

[@Workerbee-zy5nx]

Most Britt rockers are east ender blokes. They may sound amazing on stage, but most are bruisers, think drummers cant whoop some tail? Think again.😉💪

[@Blues.Fusion]

Hmmm. You might want to find out who's kid you are slapping. Everybody was at fault and the violence escalated at each step.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Is the right answer.

[@Fender73472]

I’m from the Bay Area and I was at that show that day zeppelin sucked Jimmy page was smacked out they came on late and played sloppy music all day The previous San Francisco show was Kezar Stadium 73 tour and they came on 2 1/2 hours late also.

[@Krunch2020]

His son was not touched by the Bluecoat. Lies.

[@rambladesmanmoe6291]

I was at that concert. I don’t doubt it was drug fueled. The band was terrible that day. Probably the worst concert I’ve ever been to. Very disappointed.

[@daveshawaii]

This is the most poorly out together summary about this incident. Doesn't name Bindon or Grahams guy, who went on to be a big figure in the SF Bay transportation world, actually. This is a bad, poor piece of journalism with some people clearly talking about a story they have no understanding of. F. As in Failed. Remember, from school?

[@AugustMedia]

Your mom gets an F!

[@user-cm4rh2gj7i]

Their The Sunday show was a disaster

[@dancingtrout6719]

maybe the kid lied...lol

[@Fakename70]

Geez, the Yanks sure do love their flag. The gig was in Oakland, but they’re bringing the flag with them to the show. Not sure what they hoped to accomplish there. Maybe expecting the “national anthem” beforehand?

[@francoamerican4632]

They thought this was the Lynyrd Skynyrd Day on the Green.

[@AugustMedia]

You’re just pissed because America was first to recognize this band as brilliant before their own country did. The UK just saw them as ‘ the new yardbirds’ at first, no big deal. America was first to embrace Zeppellin, andddd ofcourse Britain followed. As usual.

[@paulnewsom4988]

Was Not Great Concerts At All Page in Bad Shape Had To Be Helped To Stage. Grant Was A Idiot For Even Later He Said he Did Not Want To Look Like The Bad Guy WAY to Late For That His Ego Was His Worst Enemy The Drugs And Grant's Ego

[@ericandrews1661]

I just never could get into zeppelin. I tried as a kid, because everyone loved them. But they were so sloppy sounding that i just couldn't. I respect Jimmy Page for his accomplishments for the time, but there's so much better. They suck.

[@johnnynbk]

Youve got to give them credit for Stairway to heaven

[@newspapertaxis1]

The WHO is a much better band....By far!!!!

[@johnnynbk]

because you can't get into them, "they suck". you're a real intellectual bro

[@ericandrews1661]

@johnnycardboard4982 just a guy with an opinion and free speech

[@johnnynbk]

so say we all.@@ericandrews1661

[@birchsongsltd.6831]

Bonham and Grant behaved like thugs. Nothing to celebrate and could very well be why karma later literally choked the life from him.

[@edwardlagrossa1246]

It doesn't pay to worship the devil, Jimmy!

[@AugustMedia]

Jimmy outright said he didn’t worship the devil , but black magic did intrigue him. Problem is, you start messing with that shit, bad things happen as well. He was also a junkie on this tour.

[@allendelbrouck1393]

whose the fat guy?

[@AugustMedia]

Lol, that's Peter Grant, the manager of Led Zeppelin.

[@Strydr8105]

Drugs involed pure speculation....

[@bobbymeyerti9300]

If you look close enough you can find me

[@francoamerican4632]

Do you mean there's someone hiding behind all of that hair?