Promo photos taken of reunited Led Zeppelin

Thirty-eight rolls of film were shot of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones in a two-and-a-half-hour photo session on Oct. 6, according to a blog displaying the photo shown at right.

The blog posting, available here, explains that the photo session took place immediately following another photo session by Starbird.

Early Zep stint in Detroit ranks among top all-time shows

Journalist Jaan Uhelszki has written about Led Zeppelin on several occasions, but her latest mention of the group calls an early show in Detroit one of the 50 best gigs ever. The group's three-day stint in January 1969 at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit was attended by Uhelszki, as she recounts in the October 2007 issue of Uncut magazine.

Led Zeppelin's first album had just been released only days earlier when they spent the weekend in Motor City. They were only a few weeks into their first tour of North America. A print ad appearing a week earlier in the Fifth Estate misspelled the band's name as "Led Zeptelin." That's just how unknown the young group was at the time.

Pam Brent was at the third show reporting for Creem magazine. Despite using the word "capable" to describe the talents of both Robert Plant and John Bonham, she admitted in the article that appeared on March 29 that the band didn't leave a huge impression on her personally.

The opposite was true for future Creem reporter Uhelszki, then a 15-year-old working at the concert venue. She explains in Uncut that her job afforded her opportunities to stand onstage during performances, and that was the case for the Led Zeppelin weekend as the band made an instant impression on her with a show she recalls as containing only nine songs.

"Making sure I didn't ruin my brocade satin trousers, I managed to squeeze in behind Jimmy Page's Marshall stacks, moving centimetre by centimetre until I was almost on the same latitude as John Bonham's drum kit," Uhelszki writes. "So moved and transfixed by 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You,' and 'How Many More Times,' I found myself leaning on Jimmy's amps in order to take it all in.

"All four wore impossibly tight jeans and leather jackets, looking very little like the foppish dandies they later became," Uhelszki continues. "Page smoked a cigarette, the ash dangerously dangling only inches from his black leather jacket -- while we waited for Bonham to tighten some doo dad on his rather modest kit."

Led Zeppelin returned to the Grande Ballroom for a fourth show on May 16. "After that they sold out auditoriums," writes Uhelszki. She spoke to Page and Plant during the 1977 tour and reported on ticket sales of 700,000 in four cities, in a piece that first appeared in New Musical Express on June 11 and was reprinted in Creem the following month.

The October 2007 Uncut magazine is sold with a CD that includes the version of "Win My Train Fare Home" Plant recorded with Justin Adams in Timbuktu, Mali, at the Festival in the Desert in January 2002. The CD, titled Global-A-Go-Go! Celebrating 20 Years of World Music, also includes a cut by Tinariwen, a group from Mali that Plant in recent years has cited as one of his favorite acts. He has performed with and alongside Tinariwen, both at a tribute concert for the late Ali Farka Touré and at the 2003 Festival in the Desert (DVD, CD).

Uncut's "Best Gigs" feature lists Tinariwen's performance at the premiere Festival in the Desert two years earlier as No. 11 (Led Zeppelin in Detroit makes No. 46, topping shows by only the Arcade Fire, Nirvana, Guns N' Roses and Oasis). Nigel Williamson recalls the performance as "the most remarkable, unforgettable night I have ever experienced." Tinariwen just beats out an early U.K. show by The Who.

Jeff Buckley, another of Plant's favorite performers, also makes the cut, at No. 21, with a solo show on March 18, 1994, that started in the basement of one London bar and continuted at another venue down the street. "Bunjie's was too hardcore to bother with mics, and the somersaulting range of Buckley's voice was more apparent than ever," writes John Mulvey. "He played for an hour or so, and wanted to play longer, but the venue was closing."

Everyone there followed Buckley to the 12-Bar, where the singer-guitarist sat unaccompanied on a "miniscule stage" and "tried to play every songs he'd ever heard: The Smiths; Led Zeppelin ...," Mulvey writes. In fact, Buckley had covered the Page-Plant-Jones composition "Night Flight" from Zep's Physical Graffiti during a performance the previous summer in a New York cafe; a recording of that is now available on the Legacy Edition of Live at Sin-é released 2003.

Led Zeppelin promoter: Reunion tickets not transferable

In the most plain language available yet, promoter Harvey Goldsmith has just made it clear that anyone who paid for a passcode to the Led Zeppelin reunion concert is out of luck.

An e-mail delivered today to the winners of the first-round ballot process included Goldsmith's bold declaration, "If you have sold or have given away your passcode whomever you have sold / given it to will be denied entry into the concert."

This notification is the first to clarify that ticket orders placed with names that do not match those selected in the pre-registration process will be canceled, making more spaces in the upcoming second round of the ballot drawing.

Some people within the Led Zeppelin fan community have argued that the language used in the original ticket notification three days ago permitted resale of the passcodes. Any such ambiguity is cleared in Goldsmith's stronger pronouncement.

"Unless the original winning registration name and passcode match the ticket booking, the booking will be cancelled and you will be notified," Goldsmith's e-mail reads, in part. "All cancelled bookings will go back into the ballot for reselection."

Shortly following the Oct. 1 notification to ballot winners, more than 100 sellers on eBay claimed to offer passcodes to log in for Led Zeppelin reunion concert ticket purchases. In nearly all cases, the auctions demanded pricetags that exceeded the price of tickets themselves.

Goldsmith first responded to such resale of passcodes in a press release on Oct. 2, stating the following:

"Unfortunately a small number of unscrupulous people have decided to take advantage of the fact that they had been awarded the opportunity to purchase tickets. It is even more unfortunate that eBay and a number of ticket scalping sites have chosen to take advantage of this situation. Please note that unless the ticket, the code and correct identification match, those tickets will be invalid. Anyone who chooses to purchase tickets in this way will lose their money!"

Scott Colothan of Internet site Gigwise yesterday posted an article that summed up the opinions of some fans who thought Goldsmith was, in essence, ripping off fans. From that article:

One wrote: “Why are they making this so hard for everyone? True fans will fork out thousands and travel all over the world for these guys but they are being shafted by this fat git!!”
Another disgruntled fan added: “Unfortunately this policy will hurt the fans who bought the codes not the seller who has already been paid.”

Know what? Cry me a river. Who's forking out the thousands? Who paid the seller? And you're blaming Harvey for shafting you?

We've known all along:

1. It's a charity fundraiser. You should feel ashamed either raking in or shelling out large chunks of money that won't benefit the charity.
2. A no-resale policy was announced the very first day.
3. Anyone using the pre-registration site agreed to abide by its terms and conditions.

Therefore:

1. Anyone selling an authentic, unique code knowing violated not only the terms and conditions but also the specific rules of the confirmation e-mail.
2. Anyone buying a passcode, or a ticket, sold in this manner was knowingly violating the no-resale policy.
3. Anyone buying a passcode, or a ticket, sold in this manner was knowingly making a scalper richer when the intention was to prevent that from happening all along -- partly because, what? Say it with me: It's a charity fundraiser.

Bottom line:

1. If you really want to keep the scalpers from profiting, the last thing you should do is give them money.
2. On top of that, if you thought you would be somehow rewarded for helping a scalper make money, you were grossly mistaken.

White, clean and neat: Jimmy Page's head of hair

Look at the calendar; this is October 2007. Jimmy Page is three months shy of 64. The guitarist is getting up there in age, and it's showing a little. Check out the latest images of him in this newly created photograph collection from Ross Halfin.

Jimmy Page's hair is gray.

Or is it white?

There are some new lines on his face.
He looks at his guitar as if it were a foreign object. Is this a sign of memory loss?

No, thank goodness he remembers how to play.

And how to rock.

Led Zeppelin scalpers are only defrauding buyers

A search on eBay using the terms Led Zeppelin and O2 would at first appear to nullify the efforts by Harvey Goldsmith to prevent "touts," or scalpers, from profiting from the resale of tickets to the biggest reunion concert of the century.

Ultimately, anybody using eBay to get themselves tickets to the Ahmet Ertegün tribute at the O2 arena on Nov. 26 will find out just who is being defrauded: the buyers. And who they have made rich, at least for the time being: the profiteering scalpers.

These scalpers have seemingly found a loophole through which they can make money regardless. It is one that appears not to be a violation of eBay's policy against the unauthorized sale of event tickets. It's not the tickets they're selling; it's simply a passcode that allows access to purchase on Ticketmaster's U.K. site up to two tickets to the event.

Think about the possibilities: If you have a legitimate passcode, you can go to eBay and sell and resell it, infinitely, as long as people keep buying the same passcode. Will it work for everybody? No, it will not work only for the first person to use the passcode; subsequent attempts to reuse the passcode will result in failure.

Won't the people who paid all that money to obtain your passcode feel cheated? Yes, they will, but smart sellers will have included in the terms of the sale an adequate disclaimer such as "Tickets are NOT included in this auction." The seller in one particular auction was particularly clear on this point, emphasizing:

You are bidding on a PASSWORD to see Led Zeppelin (Ahmet Ertegun Tribute) in London at the O2 Arena on November 26. Password is valid for purchase of 2 tickets.

PLEASE NOTE THAT NO ACTUAL TICKETS ARE INCLUDED WITH PURCHASE, JUST THE PASSWORD THAT ENABLES YOU TO PURCHASE TICKETS

Not that I'm advising anybody to defraud the public. Just the opposite, in fact!

These sellers may be exploiting a loophole in eBay's system. However, does that mean the process is still permissible? Whether this practice is illegal under any territory's laws remains to be seen, but it does seem an awful lot like fraud. Even if illegal, whether it would be prosecuted by any government is a whole separate matter. Investigations would have to transpire quickly in order to find out who is selling the passcodes; these auctions are around for only 24 hours, and the clock is ticking. Some even use the "Buy It Now" feature, allowing the sale to take place immediately, ending the auction. Besides, the 72-hour window under which this first round of tickets must be purchased is also closing.

All legal arguments aside, will the resale of these passcodes result in actual tickets being given to people who purchased them but who did not receive a passcode e-mailed to them by the promoters as part of the pre-registration process? No.

This is an important point that the buyers in such auctions are missing. Let me be clear: You and your guest will not be given tickets you have already purchased when you arrive at the concert venue in London if the name of the purchaser does not match the name of the recipient for that passcode.

The author of this blog has posted today a claim that this is what Harvey Goldsmith's office says it is going to do. Now that same claim is being reported in the press: See New Musical Express.

Those who purchase passcodes are allowing people to profit from illegitimate and unauthorized sales. These purchasers will also end up only hurting themselves by wasting money buying passcodes that will yield them only a mistaken claim to tickets they will never end up possessing. Those who sell, or claim to sell, passcodes associated with the Led Zeppelin reunion concert are anathema.

I can only hope that, from here on out, the words in the e-mail notifications --

The original conditions of sale will be enforced. These tickets are non-transferable and any resale will void the transaction without refund. ...

We are doing our best to keep the tickets for this event out of the hands of secondary ticket sellers and in the hands of the fans so please help us by adhering to the above.

-- are taken more seriously.

What a real concert notification looks like

By now, everybody who was lucky enough to be offered two Led Zeppelin reunion concert tickets in the first round has been notified via e-mail. Here's what an authentic e-mail will look like.

Somebody's e-mail notification has been forwarded to me (alas, I did not receive one). Since it is an HTML e-mail will graphics, etc., it starts with a line that says if it isn't showing up properly to click this link to bring it up in the Web browser. So, click that link to see it with the HTML, or just view below for the text; I have redacted some portions in an attempt to prevent fraudulent activity.

Congratulations we are very pleased to be able to offer you tickets for the Ahmet Tribute concert at the O2 Arena in London on the 26th November 2007. Please read the below information carefully before you proceed to booking, by continuing to the booking page you are agreeing to all the below.

1. You have 72 hours to book and pay for your tickets.
2. Your individual passcode can only be used once and will be invalid after the deadline as mentioned above has passed.
3. NO tickets will be mailed out. All concert goers must pick up their tickets and non-transferable wristbands in advance of the show at the O2 Arena between 10am and 6pm on Sunday 25th November and between 10am and 6pm on Monday 26th November. To avoid long queues on the day of the show you are strongly urged to pick up your tickets and wristbands on Sunday 25th November or arrive as early as possible on Monday 26th November, please be aware that ticket collection will be busy at peak times and you should anticipate having to wait to be served.
4. To collect the tickets each original purchaser and the person accompanying them to the show must be present in order to pick up the tickets and wristbands. NO exceptions
5. Each original purchaser must provide the actual credit card used for the purchase along with valid state-issued PHOTO ID in order to receive the tickets and non-transferable wristbands. All wristbands will be fitted immediately.
6. There will be no exceptions to the above, no name changes or letters of authorisation will be accepted under any circumstances.
7. On the night of the show EVERYONE will be required to present BOTH the WRISTBAND and TICKET for entrance to the show. Wristbands must NOT be removed or tampered with prior to entering the show or your access will be refused. Original ticketholders must bring photo ID to the show as they may be required to present it upon entry to the venue.
8. The original conditions of sale will be enforced. These tickets are non-transferable and any resale will void the transaction without refund.
9. If you book the tickets and are unable to attend we will refund the face value of the tickets (£125 per ticket) if you contact us before the 20th October 2007. No refunds will be accepted after this date.
10. Customers with disabilities should forward this email and contact phone number to ticketing@theo2.co.uk to book accessible seating (subject to availability).

We are doing our best to keep the tickets for this event out of the hands of secondary ticket sellers and in the hands of the fans so please help us by adhering to the above.

Your Passcode is [redacted]

To purchase tickets please go to the below link and follow the instructions to enter your passcode. [redacted, but the link is to a page on www.ticketmaster.co.uk]

Thank you for supporting the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund we look forward to seeing you there! For more information and FAQ please go to http://www.ahmettribute.com/
http://www.mothershipiscoming.com/

New month: Still awaiting ticket notification

Now that it is Oct. 1, it is odd that I know of nobody who has been notified that they may purchase tickets to the Led Zeppelin reunion concert. Originally, the plan was for lucky selected pre-registrants to have been notified by today, but that deadline was reported to have shifted along with the pre-registration deadline due to difficulties experienced in accessing the overloaded Web site. Has anyone been notified?

UPDATE: Thanks to the anonymous tipster who pointed out that the official Web site has been updated today to say the following:

1st October 2007
The registration has now closed. Successful applicants will receive
notification emails in the next 24 hours. For further information please see
FAQ’s.

The updated FAQs say:

If I am successful, how will I be contacted?
The ballot has now been drawn and the successful applicants will receive an email in the next 24 hours. This email will contain all the information you need to purchase your tickets.
...
What happens to any remaining unsold tickets?
Once the successful applicants have completed their purchases any remaining tickets will be offered in a second round of random selection of remaining applicants from the original registration.

When will the second round of tickets be offered?
Please keep checking this website for updates. ...

As such, any updates to that Web site will be carried here.