Led Zeppelin - February 1972 at The Sydney Showgrounds
December 01, 2021
“It was the sheer noise that got me. The kind of music that pounds percussion into your chest. It was the first concert I ever went to & I jagged one of the best. Incredible. I still remember it so vividly. I was at high school. It was February 1972 so I was 14. I was young and anything was possible.
I went with school friends. We all had Led Zeppelin records at home. We caught the train from Berowra to town then walked the rest of the way to the Showground. It was such a hot day with stormy unstable weather like it might rain. The band had already been turned away from Singapore. Long hair was the problem apparently. But here they were in Sydney.
We were in the stands up the back and all out in front they had a grass area and like a 50 metre setback from the stage. As soon as the band came onstage and started playing though, people just surged forward and over-ran it all. The police tried to stop them but they didn’t stand a chance.
I just sat up the back and watched it all. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Phil Bonham. The sound was amazing; so clear & incredibly loud. No distortion. It was incredible. When the Immigrant Song started with that wild howling - my God. The hairs on my arms stood up. I was so loud & I felt so alive. These people were Gods.”
My Dad has always been a Rolling Stones fan. I remember coming out of the show and the endorphins were absolutely pumping and we were all so happy and so pumped up. And everyone’s singing and walking back to the hotel singing all the songs and all together.
