The Song Remains the Same

On 22nd January 1973, Led Zeppelin played a gig at the Old Refectory, University of Southampton. The 22nd January gig was not originally scheduled on the 1972/73 tour, but the date after the tour poster had been printed. The Students' Union Events committee issued tickets costs £1.00, and all attendees had to show their union cards to be able to get in. The Old (now called West) Refectory is not a large concert venue: If anything, it is more like a small sized Church hall. Led Zeppelin had played their once before, on 11th March 1971. However, along this time at the concert was a soundboard; an full-scale mixing console, from which the entire concert was recorded in pretty excellent quality for a live concert. The idea seems to have been that the recording could have been made into a live album, but in the end "How the West Was Won" was released instead, and the recording at Southampton University fell into obscurity. That is, until 2007, when it mysteriously reappeared. Several bootlegging companies have issued their own remasters or remixes, but the quality of the sound speaks for itself. At the beginning, it is evident that the band are rather tired. They had already done a concert the previous night at the Gaumont Theatre in Southampton for about 2,500 people. But there was something about the cosy, intimate nature of the Refectory that energised the band into a thoroughly rocking performance. In terms of bootlegs, Live at Southampton University has to be one of the best sounding there has ever been, but I've fallen in love with it for a much simpler reason. Being a Soton student, it makes me feel closer connected to the band. It just makes me lament that things like that don't happen nowadays. I agree totally with John Clark, writer in the university newspaper Wessex News (now Wessex Scene, of which I am an Editor); "The Old Ref. concert was just fantastic. There’s no other word for it. They enjoyed it, and we enjoyed it, and that’s what matters."

Listening to the bootleg album, there are some interesting tidbits of information hidden in amongst the songs. Robert Plant says the audience is 9/10th's male, which is unsurprisingly given Led Zep's image as as the forefathers of heavy metal. He also dedicates the "Whole Lotta Love" medley to Alan Whitehead, which receives a big cheer from the audience, because he was SU President the previous year. Today, Alan Whitehead is Labour MP for Southampton Test. Plant also joked that it was lovely to play in Southampton again after all this time, since the last time they had played there was just the previous night. The crowd manage to coax the band back for a long encore, comprising of John Paul Jones improvised Mellotron solo, "Thank You", "How Many More Times" and "Communication Breakdown". The performance also had a half hour long, improvised rendition of "Dazed and Confused", alongside the other long song, the "Whole Lotta Love" medley of about six other songs. If I were to pick my favourite tracks, I would suggest "Heartbreaker" and "Dancing Days" and "Over the Hills and Far Away" are definitely some of the highlights. But of course, the whole lot is awesome by definition, since it's Led Zeppelin. It all being recorded and performed so long ago at my university just works to make it that extra special in my eyes.

"And its a thoroughly knackered Good Night!" Robert Plant.

Livin' in the Future

Rhino Records normally means fantastic reissues for old albums. To give an example, I have a copy of The Velvet Underground's "Loaded" as the Fully Loaded Edition, which was released by Rhino. It definitely is a huge improvement over the original, and what with the meticulous way the reissue was put together (making a holographic cover with smoke that seems to move, luxurious linear notes, etc.), it makes me wish more record companies treated their back catalogues with such respect. Sad to hear then that the record company has been blighted by many layoffs (although with regard to that article, I don't personally care about The Cure or Depeche Mode). For some companies, it is evident that they just care about shovelling out the old music whilst concentrating on the new artists. So much of the music industry these days cares very little about what music they are actually putting out has actual quality of staying power. It is clear that the genuinely great music lasts and persists: Just look at all the classical symphonies, Jazz and Big Band from the 1920's and 30's running into Rock 'N' Roll and the sounds of the 60's. This music has proved itself worthy to stand at least forty years on its own feet, and still be listened to. But how many albums these days are we going to be listening to in 2039? I would predict very few, especially given the state of the charts.

But the bigger question is, how will music itself develop? Today, there are easily the greatest variety of musical genres ever, but will this expansion continue or grind to a halt? Difficult to imagine, but I suspect that growth cannot continue at the present rate, especially given the fact that stagnation is relatively common in music. There are periods of growth, and then periods where not much changes. I personally foresee musical development going backwards slightly, before any tangible progress is made. Already 2009 is sounding suspiciously similar to 1999. But in the quest of greater riches, perhaps we are overlooking what music is really about: Enjoyment. I listen to music because I enjoy it, and people tend to make music because they enjoy it, not to make money. Of course, the money is a nice incentive, but I'm sure that if The Beatles had never achieved critical fame, they would still have enjoyed playing "She Loves You". Some of today's musicians just don't seem to be in the industry for the right reasons, and that is what bothers me. Care, and attention to detail are evident for a band who are having fun, but a superficial, computer processed track will always be produced by a group who are just running in the rat race. Bizarre. I hadn't intended to critique the music industry, but there you go.

A Great Day for Freedom

On the day the wall came down,
They threw the locks onto the ground,
And with glasses high, we raised a cry, for freedom had arrived.

Today is 20 years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall. I'm pretty sure my Dad has a copy of "The Independent" from 9th November 1989 up in the attic somewhere, which he kept for posterity. I can't remember it. Afterall, I was only 9 months old at the time, so I'm afraid I wasn't up to examining important political and social events. The Iron Curtain divided Germany and the Eastern Bloc from the rest of Europe from the end of the Second World War, until the collapse of the USSR in 1991. There was something incredibly revolutionary and moving about the wall coming down. I suppose it was the division that was the most shocking, and so the reunification was all the more wonderful and dramatic. I still haven't seen the end of the German-language film "Good Bye Lenin!" which is about an East Berlin boy whose strongly Socialist mother falls into a coma, and awakes from it after the wall has come down. Attempting to keep her happy, he tries to pretend that the East Germany still exists. It was hilarious when I first saw some of it, and I really want to finish it some time. I think that this week is one which has strong themes of both war and peace. In peace terms, we have the Berlin Wall coming down, and we also have Armistice Day on Wednesday. But in war terms, we have Afghanistan, which has definitely turned into another Vietnam, and Modern Warfare 2, which is probably the largest game release of the year. I personally find it rather ironic to release a game which revels in war the day before Armistice, but that may be just be.

I don't understand why war continues to rage. It isn't necessary, and it isn't glorious. "Catch-22" spells this out extremely well, I thought. Games such as MW2 show that war is exciting, dangerous and fun, but in reality it is none of these things. Such are my rather mixed feelings towards most shooters. I enjoy playing them, but I worry about the consequences. The War in Afghanistan seems to be just an elongated repeat of the Soviet-Afghan War of '79-'89. In just under a decade, the USSR didn't manage to achieve victory, so I don't see how the NATO coalition can hope to do any better. John Simpson, the BBC's World Affairs Editor, seemed pretty convinced in a book of his that Afghanistan was a country which simply couldn't be conquered. The longer the war goes on, the more people will inevitably die, on both sides. I'm no pacifist, but I really don't see or understand the reasons behind this war. If it were originally in retaliation for September 11th, I think we have already responded in kind. At the moment, we just seem to be staying there in order to prove the point that we haven't 'lost'. The United States is terrified of loosing two wars at the same time, and since Iraq has disappeared from the picture, some are anxious to get out of the whole region. I don't know what President Obama is doing, but I hope he makes up his mind soon.

Tongues of Fire of Idris

Although only a quarter Welsh, I am quite proud of my Welsh descendence. My Dad grew up in Barmouth, which is this small seaside town in North Wales district of Gwynedd, close to Harlech. I sometimes visit semi-occasionally, and I am always struck by the rugged beauty of the landscape. Snowdonia National Park starts right behind the town, and it always feels very windswept and wild. It isn't really a place I'd want to live, considering the rolling hills and pleasant sunshine of the Cotswolds, but I do like it nonetheless. My great aunt used to live in this fantastic house on the hillside overlooking the sea, which had a secret staircase hidden behind a tapestry, I kid you not. She also had a billiard table. For a child, it was definitely a magical kind of house, because you could invent games concerning the staircase or the billiard table. Sadly she had to move out of the house to one in the centre of the town, since she was unable to make the long walk down the mountainside to do shopping each day. I also grew up listening to the fantastic stories of "Ivor the Engine", from Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin, about a small steam engine that worked for the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited in the top left-hand corner of Wales. This location seemed to fit perfectly with that of Barmouth, and so I liked to imagine that Ivor's trainline was that which ran across the bay between Barmouth and Fairbourne.

Anyway, I was reminded of this when I was travelling back today listening to the Remembrance Sunday service in the car, and one of the songs the band at the Cenotaph played was "Men of Harlech", a very stirringly patriotic tune. Recalls when Harlech Castle was defended for seven years whilst under seige, or when Owain Glyndŵr defended the castle against Prince Henry (who would later be Henry V). In fact, Glyndŵr was the last Prince of Wales to actually be Welsh. Afterward the title has always been given to members of the English Royal family. "Men of Harlech" was also part of BBC Radio 4's "UK Theme" music they used to play, before they axed it in 2006. My favourite Welsh song is a hymn the name of which I can't remember, but it is very pastoral and peaceful. It is kind of like the Wales National Anthem, but slightly different. Harlech Castle itself used to be right by the sea, but the rising coastline has meant that it is now almost a mile inland. Anyway, Idris is a giant or dragon from Welsh mythology (as well as the name of a mountain), and the opening line of that song. I think that's probably enough of this before I drown in nostalgia.