Not just Bath's 35th anniversary; go out and see a concert!

Lemon Squeezings today celebrates the 35th anniversary of a special occasion that is more than just a concert. As documented by Dave Lewis in a soon-to-be-released updated version of his book "The Concert Files," Led Zeppelin played well over 450 shows in a 12-year span. While I wasn't even a year old at the time the band broke up, I believe it's easy to recognize some of the concerts that to this day stick out in the minds of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, and might have stuck out in the mind of the late John Bonham.

The second year in a row that the group appeared at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music occurred on this day in 1970 and is covered at great length in this edition. This festival-headlining appearance goes down in Led Zeppelin history as a momentous early event in the group's career. My interview with John Paul Jones in 2001 revealed his previously untold side of a story in which he was directly involved: being accompanied by a motorcycle gang to arrive for the group's strategically timed set with seconds to spare.

Stories from the road make up a good part of what Led Zeppelin History is all about. And it's continuing. Two live concerts I attended last week were accompanied by great music and an outpouring of emotion among fans and the well-received artist, who was in this case none other than Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation. The group played two sold-out shows at the Tower Theater in the Philadelphia suburb of Upper Darby, Pa., last Tuesday and Wednesday. Responding to live renditions of "When the Levee Breaks," "That's the Way" and new track "The Enchanter," the unbridled Philly-area audience cheered and applauded feverishly, prompting Plant to comment on the second night that from his 36 years of playing gigs, he could tell there was something special happening.

Currently touring the United States in support of its album Mighty ReArranger and radio staple "Shine It All Around," the band plays a sold-out show tomorrow, June 29, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Then, they head off to play Chastain Park in Atlanta on June 30, followed by a July 4 holiday gig in Portsmouth, Va. The Strange Sensation's first Canadian date since its initial outing in 2001 will take place this July 5 at the Molson Amphitheatre. They will reach 10 more U.S. cities between July 7 and July 24. Dates in Europe will start July 29 at the WOMAD Festival in Reading, England, and continue into August. A full-fledged eight-city tour of Canada will keep the band busy in the middle of September, before they return to the United States for six West Coast shows and six more in Texas, Mississippi and Florida.

Writing today about my firsthand live concert experiences June 21-22 also gives me the opportunity to mention a Led Zeppelin tribute band I saw perform earlier this month. The four-member, all-female group Lez Zeppelin, which was featured in the pages of this month's Spin magazine, hammered out a two-and-a-half-hour homage June 16 in Falls Church, Va. They display a swagger undeniably akin to their rock-god counterparts while delivering faithful renditions of crunchy numbers from Led Zeppelin's first five albums. Seated atop stools for an acoustic set, three members of the band sang harmonies that accentuated the serene sounds of their mandolin and acoustic guitar. This sizzling quartet of Brooke Gengras (lead vocals), Steph Payne (guitars and theremin), Lisa Brigantino (bass, keyboards and mandolin) and Wendy Kidd (drums) will be set to repeat the performance with a show tomorrow, June 29, at the Mercury Lounge in Manhattan. They will also help to celebrate Plant's 57th birthday with a big bash to be held Aug. 20 at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, also in New York.

A classic-rock cover band I joined in April 2004 is scheduled to headline a five-band bill at a venue called the Grog and Tankard in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, July 9. I will be playing keyboards for the group, which is called World Peace Party. Among many other collective favorites, we have been working up a pleasing version of "Kashmir." If you happen to be in the area that night, come by and see our two-hour set. We'll go on at about 11:30 p.m.

Overall, what I'm trying to say is that live concerts are often filled with magic. Obviously, if you signed up to be on this mailing list, you must have some affinity for Led Zeppelin's music as I do. For my money, there is no better way to celebrate this with other fans than going to see a relevant concert to flirt with fame and to hear these songs performed to your liking. As I mentioned, Robert Plant is touring the United States now. To find Plant's concert dates, as well as reviews and photos of shows from his current tour, try his official Web site or the Tour Watch page at Tight But Loose. Led Zeppelin tribute bands pop up all the time. Here in the northern hemisphere, the summer concert season is already in full swing.

Upcoming Robert Plant tour to support album release

This news originally appeared in an edition of the newsletter "On This Day In Led Zeppelin History."

Upcoming U.S. concert appearances by Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation are currently being confirmed. Plant will tour beginning around March in support of a new album, said to bear a title of either Another Tribe or Mighty ReArranger.

Further information on the tour and album will appear in this newsletter as it becomes available. Surely beating me to the punch in reporting it, however, will be Dave Linwood and Dave Lewis, who still cover the Page-Plant-Jones beat full-time at TBL/Web.

Led Zeppelin members all working on solo albums

This news originally appeared in an edition of the newsletter "On This Day In Led Zeppelin History."

As announced in October, Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation will have a new album out in the new year. The title of the record to be released in or around March 2005 will be Another Tribe, according to an interview for Mojo magazine summarized by Siarl Davies for Tight But Loose [Update: This working title was subsequently changed to Mighty ReArranger].

Plant's eighth solo effort since the breakup of Led Zeppelin has been described as "a mixture of Delta blues and North African stuff, with a nice fireside lute-driven ballad too." These are the influences Plant spoke of in liner notes he wrote in August 2003 for Sixty Six to Timbuktu, a career-spanning double album.

The singer from the British Midlands expounded on his admiration for a lifetime of influences, stating: "I heard the voices of the high Atlas and pre-Saharan Morocco, the sound from the last juke-joints of south-side Chicago and the buzz of after-hours backstreet Bombay, performances so beautiful, remote and contrasting that I was never to recover."

In that message, Plant also stated that more creative output was on the way. "With abundant new material developing rapidly and connections in Morocco and West Africa moving at a pace unimagined back in '71, the future is ahead - bright ahead," he wrote. For that, he credits his diverse and powerful band, currently made up of Justin Adams and Liam "Skin" Tyson on guitars, Clive Deamer on drums, John Baggott on keyboards, and Billy Fuller on bass. "The musicians make this thing work," said Plant.

Also as recently announced, Robert Plant is not the only ex-member of Led Zeppelin hoping to release a new album in the new year. Both Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones are said to be working on separate recording projects. A brief clip of a new Jones opus can be heard in the Flash intro to his Web site, www.johnpauljones.com, where a Nov. 7 posting updates his progress.

"I have now started to write and record for the new album," he said. "I'm sort of doing both things at the same time, a new approach that I am hoping will make for a more organic process." After detailing a mandolin festival he'd taken time out to attend and participate in, Jones concluded his message: "So, all of my instruments have been restrung, no small matter, and I am writing / playing / practising / listening / singing / recording / walking, anything and everything necessary to get the music flowing!"

Meanwhile, sources say Page's project will pit the guitarist alongside several guest musicians with a different guitar for every song.

So, my dear friends, if everything goes as planned, there will be three new albums from the ex-members of Led Zeppelin in 2005. [Update: Only Plant delivered a solo album in 2005.] Many years have passed since the days that group walked this earth, and their music has evolved with that time. It would be impossible for them at this stage to try to recreate their earlier moments. However, as Robert Plant would attest, it is great fun to look back at it.