Every story has a beginning. Every epic saga has a foundation upon which legends are created. Here is the beginning of our tale.
A simple idea that has since evolved into an obsessive pastime was born in January of 1995. As the initial and rather innocent scheme was first hatched, little did we know that the fusion of my passion for adventure and Mike�s infatuation with the music of Led Zeppelin would produce a revolutionary distraction from the norm.
With spring break holiday on the horizon and neither of us really into the idyllic Daytona Beach/Ft. Lauderdale clich� that often times dictates the mid-semester plans of restless youth, we chose a path less taken. Call it a minor Midwestern coup d'�tat.
After the 1994 Unledded project and ensuing No Quarter release, a renewed excitement in the music of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant had us thirsting for more. While at school in La Crosse, Wis. during Christmas break for the start of track season, I received a call from Mike asking me if I wanted to go to Austin and Houston, Texas during spring break to catch a couple of shows on Page and Plant�s recently announced 1995 No Quarter world tour. Without hesitation, I agreed. I think more so because at that point I had never really traveled anywhere except for the occasional childhood family vacations. The Griswold-like trips to Yellowstone and Disney World still stir up fond memories and one day I even hope to return to the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota with my own family as gay and cheesy as it is. Sadly, as a 20-year-old junior in college, I had never even been on a bloody plane. So with a potential adventure on the horizon, we began to plan.
The Tickets
Funny enough, we thought this would be the only time in our life we�d do something like this, so we opted to go all out and purchase the best pair of tickets we could, regardless of cost, for at least one of the two shows. A call to ticketmaster yielded a pair of average tickets for the Austin show which we bought without debate. Later though, we called a plethora of ticket agencies in Texas and eventually bought a second pair of tickets � fourth row, dead center � for $260�each. We figured we�d just scalp our first set, so we didn�t hesitate on opting for some choice seats.
Our wad blown, we decided to take it in the ass and dial up ticketmaster again for the Houston show. Years later we eventually figured out how ticketmaster actually worked, but at this point we just called and settled on the �best available� tickets which were somewhere in the nosebleed section. It didn�t really matter though as we had great seats for Austin.
Armed with three pairs of concert tickets for two shows, we booked the flights and hotels and researched the cities, venues, directions, etc�
The Journey
On March 11, Mike flew from Phoenix and me from Milwaukee rendezvousing in Austin. We hadn�t even considered renting a car, but as soon as we got there, we recognized our mistake. Initially, we dragged our over-packed behinds to a city bus stop at the airport and took the bus to the nearest stop to our hotel. In this case, �nearest stop� is defined as a mile or so. Dragging our suitcases along a busy freeway frontage road at 10:00pm, we quickly became hungry and decided to hit the first establishment we came to. As you�ll later read, this is how the Red Lobster tradition was born. We dragged our luggage into the restaurant and had our first meal of the trip before again hitting the road, hobo-like, in the general direction of our hotel.
Eventually we made it and the first order of business was to find a rental car. Like our classic rental car story from Boston, we knew being under 21 would be a problem. The next morning though, we stumbled upon Longhorn Car Rental. A quick call to my dad had the necessary insurance papers on the way and later that morning we were stylin� in a maroon Ford Taurus. I guess it was a little ironic�ate at Red Lobster, stayed at the Red Roof Inn and got a Maroon Ford Taurus.
Without the patience to wait at this stage in our career, we eventually ran into a couple of forty-something dope-smoking Led Zeppelin fans just hanging around the venue. Paul and Jeff were in town for the show and were on a similar mission to meet Jimmy and Robert. In fact, Paul had an original hard copy of the Hammer of the Gods that he had gotten signed by John Bonham, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones over the years. All he needed was Robert�s.
That afternoon we went to a local strip mall to check out the Miller Genuine Draft Page and Plant truck that was acting as a traveling museum for the tour. It was pretty impressive, especially the first time we saw it.
Day of Show
With no real progress made towards meeting Robert and Jimmy we returned to the venue to take another crack at catching a glimpse of the Led Zeppelin front man and guitarist. We again ran into Paul and Jeff who were in the same spot as the day before. Sitting on a grassy knoll that overlooked the loading docks for the venue, we watched and waited all afternoon until finally something happened.
A couple of two-toned blue and silver vans with tinted windows pulled into the service entrance. The doors opened and obvious members of the band began to exit including Robert. The men headed into the arena and we quickly realized that we weren�t going to get any closer than we just were.
Bittersweet dejection and excitement were the emotions that followed until we decided to head back to the hotel to get ready for the show.
Upon returning to the Erwin center that evening, we had our two sets of tickets in hand. Firstly, we needed to unload the set we bought on ticketmaster and reclaim our investment. We went to the box office and inquired about the tickets that were still available for that night�s show. The quick inquiry revealed that the pair we had was far better than anything that was available from the ticket window so we should have been able to get rid of them quickly.
After entering the arena for the show, we headed down to our fourth row seats. Once we got down there, I was quickly reminded as to why we agreed to pay $260 a pop for these seats. Fourth row in an 18,000 seat arena is pretty cool.
Finally, the boys took the stage and launched into the Wanton Song, officially beginning our string of 40 live performances by the surviving members of Led Zeppelin. The look on Mike�s face when Jimmy broke out the Gibson SG Double Neck and blasted into the Song Remains the Same later in the show is, to this day, the most memorable moment I have from any of the live performances we�ve seen in the last ten years.
During the encore, Robert pointed out the rather attractive young woman sitting directly to my left to Jimmy. After some hand signals to one of the stage hands, one of the road crew made their way to row four and gave the girl next to me a backstage pass. We offered to buy it from her of course, but she wasn�t interested�
Still wanting to meet Robert or Jimmy, we had only one option left. Knowing how and where they arrived to the show that afternoon and in what they were traveling in, it became clear that a covert operation was our last chance. We quickly loaded into our trusty Ford Taurus and pulled it around back. Waiting just outside the service entrance, we positioned our car so that we�d be able to follow any blue and silver two-toned van with tinted windows that exited the premises. Ears ringing, we waited and waited and waited.
We were persistent and didn�t yet know the standard method of operation, so we continued to wait. We then noticed a familiar-looking car parked behind us a few spaces back. It was Paul and Jeff. They had the same idea we had.
Rookie mistake.
As the van and two cars ahead of us crossed the first intersection equipped with stoplights, the light changed to amber and quickly to red before we could make it through. As we sat there stopped, watching the van fade away into the distant downtown Austin night, a decision had to be made. No cop, no stop.
We looked both ways and proceeded through the red light.
The van was still in our sights, but to keep our chances alive, we had to sneak through a few more red lights in order to get close enough to see where it was going. A couple of right turns later, the van pulled upside the Driskill hotel. We ditched the car, almost surely illegally and headed inside the main lobby. As we entered, Robert was there, surrounded by a bunch of fans signing autographs. We approached him and got our first autographs. Mission accomplished. As the crowd subsided a little, Paul emerged with his copy of the Hammer of the Gods in his hand and a look of disbelief on his face. He had gotten Robert�s signature, completing the ultimate Zeppelin fan�s souvenir.
On to Houston
With the show in Houston the next day, we woke up early and drove 160 miles due east to our next destination.
While at the concert in Austin, we learned the first rule of ticketmaster. Before the show, we curiously asked some of the people around us how they had gotten their tickets. Some we the typical radio station contest winners, some shelled out a small fortune like we did, but one woman said she bought hers at the box office at face value a few hours prior to the show. Perplexed, we later realized that ticketmaster holds a handful or VIP-like seats for corporate sponsors and other important people. If these tickets go unclaimed, they release them to the public days or hours before the show.
Although we already had a couple of tickets for the show, we had to put the theory to test. Upon arriving in Houston, we headed directly to the Summit where Page and Plant were playing that night. I went up to the window and asked if they had any tickets available for that night�s show. After punching a few keys on her keyboard, the ticket sales agent informed me that the best seats available were 13th row, dead center. How could we refuse that after being spoiled the night before? Since they were only face value, we upgraded.
Perhaps even more valuable though is the lesson we learned. In the future, we routinely scored excellent seats by waiting until a few days before the show to purchase tickets.
Wanting confirmation ourselves, Mike and I headed over there to see what we could find out. After waiting in the parking garage across the street for a while, we eventually spotted some of the tour management staff, thus confirming the accuracy of Paul and Jeff�s tip.
Now that we knew where to go after the show, we headed back downtown and played tourist for the rest of the afternoon.
After another fantastic show at the Summit, we high-tailed it back to the Park Hyatt. As we walked up to the front door and towards the lobby, we noticed security guards keeping a few fans at bay. As we tried to enter, the security guard asked if we were guests at the hotel to which we honestly replied �no�. He told us to leave.
Eventually, security kicked everybody off the property and we returned to our car. An hour or so later, the vans pulled up to the front door, Robert and Jimmy got out and went directly into the hotel undisturbed. We had been denied�but not completely.
Hungry for an autograph or a photo or something, we waited a bit longer. Then, a handful of the �Egyptian Pharaoh� orchestra that toured with Page and Plant that year emerged from the hotel and began to walk down the street. �What the hell?� we thought, so we exited the car and followed them on foot.
All in all, the trip was a successful introduction to what would become an incredible and amazing journey � one that is immortalized on the pages of this website.
Thanks for Reading,
A.L./M.T.
