[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by 67drake

... He said he called, my sister answered, and said I wasn’t home!

I'm trying to honestly decide whether I would have torched her car , or poisoned her food , after that stunt. DAMN !

My cousin didn't get to go with us to see Lynyrd Skynyrd in 77 in Gboro because his mom searched his room that day (Friday) while we were at school and found a half ounce of pot hidden in his winter coat.
That was also their last tour.

Going off the rails here a bit -
But had another cousin and an uncle who were big Grateful Dead fans.
One year at a Gboro show the Dead came on stage just to announce that they would not perform due to the massive amount of counterfeit tickets that had been made/sold.
The coliseum was over packed in every square inch standing room only even in the breezeways and concession halls and entrance lobbies. (according to them)
There were still another estimated 5,000 -10,000 "ticket holders" waiting to get in.(according to newspaper)

The place went ballistic after the announcement and a wonder it was left standing.
Employees, Security, Cops - all abandoned the place as quick as they could.

Pretty sure the Dead was banned afterwards also.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

At Zeppelin in Gboro
The coliseum would not open the gates from the parking lot , or unlock the entry doors of the building.
Usually they would have opened up around 7:00 - 7:15 for an 8:00 show.

So we knew something wasn't right , right away.

The parking lot where probably 90% of us were waiting and waiting , was encased with a 7 or 8 foot tall chain link fence. Along the side where the entry gate to go to the building was , it had barb wire across the top.
It was a loooong looong walk to go back out of the parking lot and circle back to the building.
But there were people who did go to the building and banging on the glass doors.
We could see them doing it.

Finally about 8:15 they sent someone out with a bull horn to announce the show was being delayed but they expected it to play and would open up soon.
Rumors were floating about it being Bonham's Bday , and that their jet was definitely seen at the airport earlier in the afternoon.
Those were reports from the rock radio station people had heard in their cars.

About half hour later another bull horn announcement - the plane will be landing very soon and we will be opening the coliseum shortly.

Its almost full dark and starting to get real cool outside.
People are hollering BullSh*t and etc... because its already been said the jet was at the airport earlier in the afternoon. What the heck is going on.

Within a few minutes angry people are taking out anger on the gate more aggressively.
More join in , and they're pushing it and shoving on it.
My buddies want to join in - I told them NO WAY.
If it goes down there will be a stampede.

More join in , and more
Its bending more and more , then it goes down. Uprooted the poles.

We stay back and wait out the stampede.
A lot of people were trampled and injured and hospitalized.

The people who were already at the building and had been banging on the glass doors see the stampede coming.
They grab trash cans and bust the glass out of the doors.
All the doors get opened from the inside and people are pouring in.
Charging right past the turnstiles that were un-manned.
I knew quite a lot of people who still had their full ticket , un-ripped.

Ambulances and cops rolling in from every direction.
Some people were refusing to go to hospital so they wouldn't miss the show.
Just getting bandages and going onward.

We waited out most of the chaos and then we left the parking lot and went in.

That night none of us knew it was Bonham who was holding up the show and coming in on a private flight. I wonder if the Bday song would have went over as well if it was known to us.

But John knew , and I think he was probably extremely relieved when we sang to him.

The show didn't start until close to 10pm. iirc
But once everyone got inside there wasn't anymore anger at all.

The roof almost blew off the place when they took the stage.
Plant was trying to make some small talk over the crowd but it was useless.
They were all just bowing and laughing and glowing.
Finally he could speak
He announced Bonzo's Bday and asked if we would sing along - and he started out
Everyone joined in and you couldn't even hear Plant singing anymore.

He started banging the drums and then the night was on.
What would usually have probably been about a 90 minute show lasted almost 3 hours.

The coliseum was pissed about the delay , that caused the forced entry - but not a terrible lot of destruction. Just a damaged gate/fence and some broken glass.
But their manpower expense doubled due to the delay and the long performance.

That's why they banned Led Zeppelin