I Was A Teenage John Bonham
The above photo is taken from the 1984 Riverside High School yearbook in sunny WIndsor Ontario Canada. My home town. The kid with the shit eating grin with John Bonham beside his photo is yours truly. The full story is this. You know when they do yearbook photos in school? They herd all the kids down to the gym or auditorium where they’ve got the local photographer set up to take the photos. So our class gets called down and my mind starts plotting a little harmless scam. I already knew that to drink alcohol you had to be 19 or have a fake ID. So the concept of a fake ID was already known and here it seemed was an opportunity to get a real fake ID. So we waited in line and when I got to the front the administrator asked my name. I blurted out “John Bohnam” and the game was on. She didn’t even bat an eye. The guy took the picture and that was that. Except 2 weeks later after the company processed our student ID cards, I was sitting in homeroom waiting for Mr Cousineau (a former pro football player) to bust me for impersonating a drum god. He read through the cards that had been sent to him one by one. Since they were sorted alphabetically, I started sweating when almost instantly (Since Bonham starts with B) he looked up at me after after a few seconds and said something like “Ian it seems like somethings wrong with your card” I instantly ran up to the front of the class and basically snatched it out of his hand and said something like “oh, ok sir, I’ll make sure it gets fixed” making sure I got the card in the process. I acted like I was curious when I looked at it. I said something like ” Weird” as I starred at the most awesome piece of contraband I had ever seen : A student ID card with my picture and John Bonham written beside it. I knew I was about to be a legend. At least in my own mind. At lunch time, I went to hang out with all my stoner friends and waited until they had all shown and laughed at each other’s pictures when I unleashed my prize. I was a teenage John Bonham and I had the ID to prove it. This was met with awe. Or maybe we were all very high. But the story doesn’t end there. 2 other chapters would unfold over the next 2 years. The end of the year came and I wasn’t...
Back Into Hiding or On Tour
The next 2 weeks I’m on tour with my regular rock band Led Zeppelin2 (www.LedZeppelin2.com) I made a huge (for me) breakthrough on Monday when I went out to the Embarcadero in front of the Ferry Building in SF and played for an hour. Made $35, highest per hour take in a single setting. This really was the biggest challenge for me, mentally. And I’m not usually mentally challenged. It’s really the bare bones of the busking gig. Can/Will you set up in a highly populated spot and really make it happen? It’s one thing to set up in a park in a moderately populated spot, with easy, free parking and no buildings around. People walk by, but they can walk away if they want. Setting up in the middle of a busy walkway in the middle of the city is the real deal. Found a parking spot. Paid $8 (meaning I went in the hole if I made nothing) for 1 hour 20 min. Jumped out. Ran 1/2 way through the park so I could see the spot was open. It was. Back to the car. Piled the drums on my shitty cart. Bungee strapped them down. Started pushing it through the streets. “I must look crazy to these people” running through your head the whole time. Pulled up to the spot. Started unpacking while hundreds of people walked by. A couple of guys stood there waiting for me to start. Its hard to explain the sensation of having just finished setting up your drums in the street. Because once you’ve come this far, you can’t stop. You have to start the next thing immediately. And that means playing. NOT “warming up” or “sound checking” So I started and I kind of sucked, was tense, couldn’t remember if I ever played the drums before. Seriously weird sensation after probably thousands of gigs played in my life. After a minute I found my sweet spot and relaxed and started rocking it. Whew. So, this week I’m back into the safe zone of sound checks, people paying in advance to see by band. Getting on stage in front of 1000...
Zeppelin 2 Tour January 2010
Led Zeppelin 2, The Ultimate Live Experience, is starting off the new year with some exciting shows, hopefully you can be a part of it. For up to date info and new photos and new video, check out www.ledzeppelin2.com Fri Jan 8 – House of Blues, CHICAGO – performing their set from “The Legendary 1977 Chicago Stadium Show” – 17 & up 9pm. Sat Jan 9 – House of Blues, CHICAGO – performing their set from “The 1972 How the Mid-West Was Won Tour” – 17 & up 9pm. Attend one and have fun, but attend BOTH nights for a discount when purchased together as a two-day pass at http://www.ticketmaster.com/Led-Zeppelin-II-tickets/artist/891609 Fri Jan 15 – House of Blues, DALLAS – deep cuts and classic hits- all ages 9pm – tickets: http://www.livenation.com/edp/eventId/414988 Sat Jan 16 – House of Blues, HOUSTON – deep cuts and classic hits- all ages 9pm – tickets: http://www.livenation.com/edp/eventId/415105 Fri Jan 22 – The Paradise rock club, BOSTON – deep cuts and classic hits- 18 & up 9pm – tickets: http://www.livenation.com/edp/eventId/415136 Sat Jan 23 – The Fillmore at Irving Plaza, New York City – deep cuts and classic hits- 16 & up 9pm – tickets: http://www.livenation.com/edp/eventId/415483 Tickets for ALL shows available thru Live Nation www.livenation.com and Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.com search for Led Zeppelin...
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