Ten Years Gone...

...The Led Zeppelin Adventures of Andy Lee and Michael Tully

2005

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Success in Seattle

October 25, 1999 Over the years, we had seen Jimmy and Robert together a number of times but when John Paul Jones released Zooma in 1999 and scheduled a U.S. tour, Mike and I quickly whipped out our calendars and started the planning. It looked like this time our destinations would include Seattle, Portland, Ore. and San Francisco in October.  To get into the Zeppelin mood all over again, Mike and I caught one of the Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes� gigs at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles a week before heading up to the Pacific Northwest for the JPJ concerts. We flew up to Portland, rented a car and began our drive to Seattle arriving the day of the show at the Showbox Theater.  After hearing the guitar and voice of Led Zeppelin in 20,000 seat stadiums, a cozy 1500-capacity standing-room only venue was a welcome change � the perfect opportunity for an intimate up-close and personal view at arguably the most musically talented and diverse member of Zeppelin.

Like Jimmy and Robert before, we had a modest goal of meeting John Paul Jones once on our three-concert swing.  Given the size of the venue and the publicity of the tour, it didn�t look like it was going to be anywhere near the frenzy that accompanied JPJ�s more celebrated counterparts. After getting into Seattle, we headed directly over to the Showbox to check out the venue.  As always seems to be the case, our timing was spot on.  After hanging outside the front door for about five minutes, JPJ walked out of the theater.  He looked like he was in a rush, but we stopped him anyway hoping to get an autograph or a picture with him.  Unfortunately, he declined as he was trying to get to a local music shop to buy a wah wah pedal before they closed.  Hid did however say he would give us a couple of minutes when he returned.

Andy and Mike with JPJ in Seattle '99

We respected his wishes and watched him as he walked up the block to a nearby store. About 15 minutes later, JPJ returned and honored his promise.  He gratefully chatted with us for a few minutes and posed for a picture.  Mike and I each had a cutout from the local entertainment rag that featured an ad for that evening�s show.  JPJ penned his name on those and headed back inside the Showbox to rehearse for the show.

So officially, Mike and I had now met all of the surviving members of Led Zeppelin. (Mike actually met JPJ after his gig with Diamanda Galas in 1994 in Tempe, Ariz., but this was the first time I had met him.)  Wanting to preserve our flimsy newspaper-style ads with JPJ�s signature, we next found the nearest Kinko�s and had them laminated. That night, JPJ�s show easily met the standards we had been accustomed to seeing Page and Plant so many times.  After the show, it was time to head to Portland to get our pictures developed and see if we could catch JPJ again so he could sign them� Thanks for Reading, A.L./M.T.

John's John...Hancock that is