*Unconfirmed
John Bonham books the Lafayette Club in Wolverhampton for his wife Pat's 21st birthday party.
Conflicting reports whether the band actually performed (it appears they did not), as a local newspaper wrote that only John Bonham took to the stage with Dave Pegg and other local musicians. "We'd have liked to see Led Zeppelin in action, but the fog prevented it. As it was, we heard a tribute to their kind of music which is the next best thing".
John's brother Mick described the night in his book "Bonham By Bonham": “The party itself was a great success. The place was full of friends and family so I spent more of the night dancing with Pat’s sister Beryl and friends Ross, Jill and Joyce until the highlight of the night was about to commence. John took to the stage along with Jimmy, Robert, John Paul and they began to stun the audience with some superb music. They really were amazing and everyone was enthralled with this exhibition of unbridled talent. Like me, most people present had not seen the band before and were all amazed as I was.” - Mick Bonham
January 14, 2008 - 6:28am — Dave Stephenson
I was at the gig - as far as I remember they were just back from a tour (their 1st) of USA. Excellent gig - VERY loud. Jimmy Page played a Telecaster and they had some weird shaped speaker cabs - can't remember the name?
My band (Honda) was supposed to be playing support on the original date (I think one week before), but they were late back from the states so we supported Lowell Fulsome instead! Anyone else remember anything of the gig?
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I was there too!
January 14, 2008 - 12:52pm — Les Marshall
Hi all.............
Yes I was there too on that most memorable of nights. In the support band! I was the drummer in a band called Galliard. We actually went down well, even though Led Zeppelin were to blow us all as well as the crowd completely away with their music! A cracking night and one i'm so proud to have been a part of!
Cheers
Les Marshall
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The Laf
May 13, 2009 - 6:35am — Amarjit
Hi Les
I'm doing my dissertation on the Wolverhampton music scene and Club Lafayette. I note you were playing at the Club on John Bonham's wife's birthday. I just need some information and was hoping you could help. To my knowledge LZ played at the Laf twice, the first time was 17/10/68 was this the second official date? Or was it an impromtu performance? Also I would appreciate if you could comment in greater detail on the event please as so far I have a lot of Led Zeppelin were great comments? How popular had the band become by this time and what were your feeling knowing they were there too at the time considering it was in the early years of their career.
Any help would be very much appreciated
Thanks
Amarjit