Re: I feel your passion....read this please feel mine

["Tim Fricke" <oldstyle5150@xxxxxxxxx>]

Great story, man. I am envious, for sure, but moreso happy that
someone like you had the means to make it happen. I am 35, but the
youngest of 6 kids. Most of my siblings were Zep fans so I literally
starting listening before I could even talk. Unfortunately I was
barely 5 years old the last time they played Chicago. My
brother-in-law still has the Chicago Tribune from September 1980 with
a full page ad for the upcoming Zeppelin shows at the old Chicago
Stadium. I don't remember the exact date of the paper at the moment,
but I believe it was literally within days of Bonzo's death. He never
had the chance to clip out the order form and mail it in for tickets
(it's crazy to think that's how they used to do that). I want him to
get that framed and hung on his wall. Or my wall. ;-)

On Tue, Dec 9, 2008 at 5:18 PM, Zeppelin Mad <zeppelinmad@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi Tim,
>
> I was one of the lucky ones - well not really lucky in the true sense - I 
> didn't "win" a ticket I was in a situation that allowed me to "buy" my way in.
>
> Not wanting to rub your face in it but I paid a fortune for a ticket and paid 
> for flights to and from Australia to get to this show.
>
> Like you I've loved Zep since being a boy - I'm 42 now and English so really 
> not many people my age or younger have seen zep - that's about 3 billion 
> people that are disadvantaged due to age alone !!!
>
> I have worked hard and been lucky-  my business (last year - thank Christ it 
> was last year!!)  was doing well and I justified to my wife (God knows how) 
> that I should go (to be honest she just said "Go - or I'll never hear the 
> last of it" and she's right - having the ticket in my hand I cannot even 
> think about how I'd feel now had I not gone....)
>
> I still remember being 14 and feeling the pain in my heart when I told myself 
> numorous times "Andy you're too young - YOU WILL NEVER SEE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN 
> LIVE"  And then 12 months ago I closed my eyes and heard those 
> notes,,,,,bliss-  life is not about how many breaths you take - it's about 
> how many times you have your breath taken away....
>
> What a show....
>
> I mean come on everybody  - what a show ?
>
> Black dog and IMTOD were superb.,...
> No quarter????? How good was that....
> Dazed - sublime  the last bit -- Jimmmy slamming the De De DE DEr Der DER DE
> Misty Mountain - just listen to that filthly guitar intro...Slam....
> Kashmir....
>
>
> How can that be it?  No - I won't accept it...
>
> Oh my Jesus, oh my Jesus, Oh my Jeeeee sus Oh My je Je Je jE je jEsus
>
> Got to feel those hairs stand up....
>
> I know the lucky bastard purist that saw the REAL zep will say it's not the 
> same - I agree "OK IT'S NOT THE SAME" - but hell - what chance to I have to 
> see LA 21/6/77 or LA 27/3/75?  None - so the O2 for me is something that I 
> will take to my grave.
>
> I'm sure that Zep heads like Nech, Rocky, Steve Priest, Slooby, JCE, Clay B, 
> Jeff S etc , some of which saw the real deal numorous times will agree with 
> me in saying that O2 was special - the parties, the feeling of "oh my God I'm 
> not weird - there are others that feel the same as me..."
>
> Whether you agree or not Jimmy, Robert and JPJ agreed to call it Led Zeppelin 
> - to me that's good enough - even at live aid they didn't call it that 
> (thankfully) so O2 has to be considered important - particularly for folks 
> like me that love this band and never, through no fault of their own other 
> than when they were born, had the opportunity to see it in it's prime.
>
> As I get older I realise more and more that life is about what you've done - 
> not what you aspire to do.  I saw Led Zeppelin at the O2 - it cost me over 
> $6,000 to do it.  And if you asked me if it was worth it I'd say it was a 
> bargain....
>
> Numorous people that I deal with (I'm training managers for a living) are as 
> jealous as hell that I saw Zep... It was like Live aid, Nov 1962, VE day, 
> Coronation day, Pink Floyd the wall..... these are life defining moments and 
> to me O2 is something that I will never forget and will think about at least 
> weekly for the rest of my life...
>
> Let's hope it gets superceeded....
>
> Regards
> Andy
>