On September 4, 1970, Led Zeppelin played a concert at the Inglewood Forum in Los Angeles. Seven minutes of previously unreleased footage of the show has now been released after being forgotten for over 50 years.
The performance was part of Led Zeppelin’s sixth tour of America. They performed the hits “Since I’ve Been Loving You”, “Thank You”, “What Is And What Should Never Be”, “Whole Lotta Love”, “Some Other Guy” and “Lemon Song”, among others. The footage was recorded by Led Zeppelin fan Eddie Vincent, who smuggled a wind-up 8mm Kodak Brownie and two rolls of film into the concert hall.
In an interview with Classic Rock he said: “I had really great seats. They were right behind the band. I had front row seats, right behind John Bonham’s kit. The only problem was you couldn’t really see John because the gong was there, but he came around and chatted with us while they played their acoustic set.”
Almost forgotten
Vincent had the exclusive footage lying around for more than 50 years until he remembered it after watching live footage of The Who from 1970 online and got the idea. He then cooperated with video bootleg dealer John Waters, who transferred the material to a digital file. Waters was overwhelmed by the tape. “My collector’s heart raced. A few days later, the reels arrived and the magic began,” says Waters.
To ensure that the film recordings also matched the sound perfectly, they were sent to Etienne Marchand – a French Led Zeppelin expert and audio dubber. He identified the material and matched it to the appropriate parts of the “On The Blueberry Hill” soundtrack.
“Music needs to be shared”
Waters further stated, “It is an honor that we have inscribed ourselves into the history of Led Zeppelin. The music has to be out there. I know a lot of collectors and dealers who don’t give their stuff away and I think that’s a shame. Music needs to be shared and today you need it to escape from the crazy world. And if this film makes a lot of people happy, then we’ve done a good job.”
Vincent also recalled being interrupted mid-record: “I had a small microphone that I mounted on a floor stand under my seat. I think at one point the light shone on this microphone and suddenly Peter Grant, the manager of Led Zeppelin, was standing at the edge of the stage and looking at me, and then he came towards me. I was like ‘Oh no!’ and he walked right up to me and started tugging at my mic. You can hear it all on the tape. Eventually you hear him say, ‘You can’t record the concert,’ and then it’s over,” says Vincent.