Reykjavik rescheduled

[Eddie Edwards <eddie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Badgeholders,

Those of you that were paying attention may recall the announcement a
few weeks ago that Simply Led were due to visit Reykjavik in early
October to play at a special event organised to celebrate Led Zeppelin's
visit to Iceland in June 1970.  Following the horrific terrorist attacks
on the USA on September 11th and the subsequent uncertainty about what
was going to happen to the world, it was not possible to proceed with
the event on the originally intended date.  Of course, the attacks
caused shock waves and knock-on effects all over the globe, not least in
the geographically vulnerable land of Iceland - let me tell you that our
friends over there are extremely glad that the Americans and Russians
are good chums nowadays!

I hope not too many of you made the trip to the Haskolabio concert hall
on October 6th, only to find a conspicuous absence of Led Zeppelin
related activity (and possibly a large banner outside the place bearing
the letters "NZC").

There was never any suggestion, however, that the event would be
cancelled altogether, and I'm happy to say that the rescheduled date of
Saturday 24th November 2001 is now confirmed.  Moreover, the organisers
are determined to use the extra time afforded by the postponement to
make the event even bigger and better.  In fact, publicity has reached
the point where Icelandair are considering offering special deals to
those wishing to fly over for the event.

Negotiations are at an early stage at the moment, but if you are at all
interested in making the trip, give Icelandair a call right now and ask
whether they have any special deals available for the event.  They
probably won't be able to give you any details yet, but the more
enquiries they get the more likely they are to do something about it.

Icelandair's telephone number in the UK is 020 7874 1000.  At present, I
believe that they are considering offering special deals only for
travellers from the UK, but there's every chance that similar
arrangements could be made elsewhere if there is sufficient demand.  If
you fancy making the trip from the USA, or indeed anywhere else, give
your local Icelandair office a call to enquire, and also let me know by
private email to eddie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx so that I can ask the organisers of
the event to tell their Icelandair contacts of the more widespread
interest.

Our trip to Reykjavik is sure to be a fabulous experience whatever
happens, but it would be better still if it turned into something of an
international gathering of Zep fans from FBO and beyond.  I realise that
Reykjavik, being even further north than Bangor, Maine, would not
necessarily spring immediately to mind when compiling a list of the most
likely places for such a gathering, but its significance is undeniable.
In the land of the ice and snow, the midnight sun and the hot springs,
where Reagan and Gorbachev's historic 1986 meeting signalled the start
of the thaw in superpower relations, perhaps Thor Iverson will shake
hands with Zerxes Bhagalia or Bill McCue will give Jean Lorrah a big wet
kiss.  I, for one, wouldn't want to miss that.

For further info on the event, visit the news page at the Simply Led web
site:

http://www.simplyled.net/news.html

- -- 
Eddie Edwards