Just Zep Things

See you in the dark

Led Zeppelin, Bath Festival of Blues, June 28, 1969.

“Led Zeppelin cost us £200 – probably the least they ever got paid for an outdoor event. But [manager] Peter Grant did push me up to £500 before they’d signed the contract.

All the bands’ fees were much higher for the second festival because we were now competing with the Isle of Wight and we wanted the biggest names. Led Zeppelin’s fee went up from £500 the previous year to £20,000. And Peter Grant insisted their name was double the size of anyone else’s on the poster.

As I’d already given my word to Bill Thompson that that wouldn’t happen, he was very cross with me. But Zeppelin were making it very big in America and we had to have Zeppelin.

They were simply so enormous by then we knew that they’d bring in all the people. The sum of £20,000 was the equivalent [then] of the price of a house in Knightsbridge, I can tell you that!”

Happy Birthday Jimmy Page // January 9, 1944.