I have been listening to the music of Led Zeppelin ever since I can remember.Although Pink Floyd is my all-time favorite band, Led Zeppelin has always been up there at the top as well.Of course, the classic "Stairway to Heaven" brings back memories for a lot of people, and I am no exception. I remember going to summer camp one year. I was at the age where I was just starting to get interested in boys. There was always a big dance the last night of camp, and it was a big deal having a boyfriend to dance with. Well, I had a boyfriend, and I was looking forward to that dance. I remember thinking all night, "I hope they play my favorite song so we can slow dance to it." Well, they did play "Stairway to Heaven,"and it was the last song played. Since it’s a long song, that slow dance seemed to last for an eternity. I’ll never forget that dance. I just wish I could remember the boy’s name that I slow-danced with!
I never did see Led Zeppelin in concert, but I always wanted to. In college, I listened to Robert Plant’s solo music and the work he did with the Honeydrippers. "Sea of Love" was a top hit when I was a freshman or sophomore, and I loved that song. "In the Mood" and "Big Log" are two of myfavorite Robert Plant solo hits. I never would have thought that one day Iwould be able to see Robert Plant and Jimmy Page in concert.
In July of this year, immediately after I was hired at my current job as agraphic artist for a publishing company, I made a new friend. His name is Jordan and he is 30 years old. (I’m 29). We hit it off right away, afterlearning that we both had journalism degrees and we both liked Pink Floyd, among other things. We had a lot in common and we did a lot of talking atwork. After knowing him only a couple of weeks, he told me that he had two tickets to the Robert Plant/Jimmy Page concert in October. I told him that I was dying to go to their concert when they came to San Diego earlier this year, but I wasn’t able to.
Jordan was very possessive and very proud of those tickets (rightfully so), and I was surprised when he invited me to the concert. "What about my husband?" I asked. Jordan said, "I only have two tickets." So I asked John if he minded if I went to the concert, and he approved. The concert was three months away, but I couldn’t wait! The deal was that I would take pictures in exchange for my ticket. No problem! The concert was at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in Irvine, California. That's about an hour drive from my house in Oceanside.
We took a half day off work, and headed to Laguna Beach, which is about a half an hour from the Irvine Amphitheater. I wanted to make a stop in Laguna for lunch, and also to show Jordan one of my favorite art galleries there. We ate lunch at the Laguna Beach Brewery, and then decided to walk around for a while. It was about 5 p.m. by now, and the concert was going to start at 8p.m. Plenty of time to walk around for a little while. We looked for the Wyland art gallery, and when I got to the spot where I remembered it being, there was nothing but a vacant store. Bummer. So we kept walking.
I spotted a surf shop, and since Jordan is an avid surfer (and he's slowly teaching me how to surf), I decided to go into this one particular store. Actually, I’d like to think that something told me to go into that store. We’d already passed quite a few stores without going in. But there was something about this store that pulled me in. (The store is called the Boardriders Club). We walked in, and I noticed that there were only a couple of people in the store. We walked in, and I showed Jordan an itsy bitsy wetsuit. It looked like the size a newborn would wear. "Look how cuuuuute," I said. About then, two of the people in the store left. Now it was just me, Jordan, two employees and two men.
I noticed a cool fish tank in the middle of the store, and saw a cool fish that I wanted to point out to Jordan. I said, "Look, it has lipstick on!" (it did look like it had lipstick on!) One of the other guys in the store kind of chuckled at my comment. So we continued walking around, and then Jordan came up to me, tossed his eyes over in the direction of a man with his back to me and said, "Doesn’t he look Robert Plant? He looks like Robert Plant!" I thought he was kidding, and just playing with me, since he loves to tease me. And I figured he was just saying that since we were on our way to the concert.
I turned around, and all I saw was a tall man in a dark colored really cool jacket. And that blond hair. As soon as I saw the hair, I knew. It WAS Robert Plant!!! I said, "Yes, that IS Robert Plant!" Then we looked at each other, our eyes got really big, and I don’t know about Jordan, but it was about that time that my heart started beating about a thousand times a minute. We started trying to casually check Plant out, without him noticing. But there was no mistaking. It didn't take long for us to decide that it was definitely Robert Plant. He had the hair, he looked like him, he had a cooljacket on, he had some guy kind of watching over him and that hair. No doubt about it. It was him.
Why he was in a surf shop in Laguna Beach three hours before a show was beyond me. And why I happened to walk into this particular store was another story. But here we were, in a surf shop, alone with Robert Plant and another man who appeared to be his road manager or stage hand or something like that. As soon as we caught our breath, we went into that mode where you try and decide what to do next. Do I walk up to him and be a total geek and say, "Are you Robert Plant?" Do I scream and say "OMIGOD! It’s Robert Plant!" Do I run up to him and say, "I love you. You’re God. I bow down to you." Do I just say, "Can I have your autograph?" Do I ask the guy he’s with if it really is Robert Plant? What do I do?
Well, Jordan happened to have the tickets with him. He pulled them out of his organizer and I took them out of his hand and walked right over to Robert Plant and said jokingly, (with a huge smile on my face and a heart rate way above normal) "Excuse me, you wouldn’t happen to going to this concert tonight, would you?" And he sort of laughed and the other guy said, "Yes,he’s going." Jordan asked very politely and respectfully, "Could you please autograph these tickets for us?" And Plant said, "Sure, of course." When I heard him speak, in his British accent, it was so cool to know that was the voice that sang "Stairway to Heaven" and countless other classic songs. Jordan said something about how he enjoyed the concert tremendously when they played San Diego a few months back, and that he was looking forward to tonight's show. I said, "Me too, I've been listening to your music since the sixth grade." And the other guy said, "You'll really enjoy the show, it's a great show."
Jordan made a comment about our tickets, and I said, "Yeah, we’ll be watching you from waaaaay back." I was kind of hoping to get better tickets or passes or something by making that indirect comment, but that was wishful thinking. Plant signed both of our tickets, and we were totally stoked. So then we said thank you, and we continued to let Plant do his shopping. There still was no one else in the store. We had Plant all to ourselves. We went to the back of the store, where I let out very quiet screams while covering my mouth with both hands, jumped up and down and kept saying, "Oh my God!!! I can’t believe it!"
Jordan told me to calm down and not scream oranything or get too excited. Not get too excited? Are you kidding? I just met Robert Plant!!!! So now what do we do? I was trying to think straight, to think logically. But it was too exciting. And soooo unexpected! About then, Jordan tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Look, he's trying on clothes." (Damn! I just thought of something. I should have bought whatever he tried on and didn't buy himself). So I looked over at Plant, and saw him up close and personal, and he had no shirt on!!! He looked so sexy! I almost screamed out loud! Jordan made a comment about how he wished I had my camera with me. I told himthat I had only brought a long lens, and that it wouldn't work in this store. But I had an idea. Plant was still gingerly shopping, so I ran across the street, where there luckily happened to be a pharmacy. (Talk about a good luck streak!) I ran in and said, "I need a disposable camera, now!" Then I saw one with a flash behind the counter, so I pointed to it and said, "That one. Hurry! Please!" So the lady got so flustered she started to give me change for a $20, and I hadn’t even handed her any money yet. I said, "Robert Plant is across the street." And she said, "Who's that?" I said, "You know, Led Zeppelin."
And then she said, "Ohhhh yeah..." Duhhhh!!!! I ran across the street, showed Jordan the camera, and then we tried to decide how to handle the situation. Plant was still shopping, so we decided to wait until he was finished. Then we asked if we could please have our picture taken with him, and he said, "Sure, no problem," or something along those lines. (Everything is still kind of hazy for me, I was so excited, and my adrenaline was pumping like crazy). We went to go to the front of the store, and Plant said, "How about over here?" (He didn't want to be by the storefront where all the people walk by).I handed the other guy the camera, and we stood next to Plant for a picture,me on his left side and Jordan on his right side. Immediately, Plant put hisarm around me, so I figured I could put my arm around him. He’s so tall! And firm. I could feel how tight his side was. We had two pictures taken, not wanting to be intrusive, and then I took a close-up of him alone real quick.
Jordan asked him if the surf clothes in the store suited his style, and he said something about how they did, and then I have no idea what Plant said after that because I was so much in awe of the fact that I was standing close enough to him to see every detail of his face. We hung around the register while he was paying for his clothes. I didn't even look to see what he bought or how he paid for it. I was too busy checking out his dominant facial features. I was surprised at how handsome he was in person, much more so than in videos or interviews. He was so nice and polite, I was trying to think of something I could do for him. The only thing I could do in such a short amount of time was buy him something. So I got him a black men's bracelet. It actually looked like something that might be his style. I walked up to him and said, "Here's a gift from a California native." He looked me right in the eyes, and said, "Oh... thank you very much." All he said was thank you, but he melted me. And with that, he was gone.
Jordan and I recovered momentarily, and then realized too late that we should follow him. By then, he had disappeared. But he left us with a wonderful treasure and a great start to our evening. I had been looking forward to the concert for so long, but after meeting him, my night was already made. The concert was just the icing on the cake. I never would have ever thought in my wildest dreams that on the day I am going to see Page and Plant in concert that I would run into Plant at a surf shop half an hour away from where the concert was being held. And I never would have thought I'd get his autograph and have my picture taken with him. I kept repeating to Jordan, "What are the odds of this happening?" Jordan said we were lucky. We had a very short window of time. If we’d taken 10 more minutes eating lunch, or if we’d left later, or if I never even stopped in Laguna to show Jordan that gallery, or if we hadn’t gone into that store . ..
But we did. And I feel very lucky. You always think you'll do exactly what you want when you meet someone famous, but when it comes right down to it, it's hard to stay calm, and think straight, and remember things you've always wanted to say to them and ask them questions you've always wanted answers to. And the time flies by so quickly! I never dreamed I’d meet Plant, so I never thought about what I’d do if I did. I guess that's what made it so exciting. It wasn't like we were stalking him at his hotel, or chasing his limo, or storming the stage. We were just in the right place at the right time, and we got his autograph and a photo. We walked around for a little while longer, and then ended up finding the Wyland gallery after all.
We went to the concert a bit early, and partied in the parking lot with other fans. Then we decided that our tickets would be more valuable to us if they were left intact, without the stub being torn off. So we went to the box office and told them that our tickets were signed by Plant. They let us go through a side gate, and we got to go home with the whole ticket! I thought for sure I'd lose it or tear it by accident. But I have it now at home, safe and sound.
The concert that night was very special to us because of our chance meeting. Out of the thousands of fans there, we were two of the lucky ones who got to meet Plant, have a conversation with him, get his autograph and have our picture taken with him. It was hard to wipe the smile off my face all night. To top it off, I borrowed a pair of binoculars to see if he was by some chance wearing the bracelet that I gave him, and he was wearing it on hisright wrist!!!! I shot three rolls of film at the concert, and got some great shots of Plant and Page and the rest of the band from different seats.
Highlights of the show for me were "Thank you," "Ramble On," "Whole Lotta Love," "All of My Love," "Gallow's Poll," "The Song Remains the Same," and"Kashmir." His voice is so awesome in concert. And all I did when I watched Jimmy play his guitars was shake my head in disbelief. How does he play those guitars so well anyway? It was a night when I met true greatness and then got to see him perform. I only wish the concert could have lasted longer.
