During a recent Dave Grohl live conversation with Michael Rapino, Rapino recalled seeing Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant make it sound like he specifically loved Toronto, rather than it being a somewhat contrived part of the show.
Michael Rapino said, “I always remember being from Thunder Bay and driving from Toronto to see Robert Plant. And that was my big, big moment. But I do remember and I still think of this, I believed when I was in the audience that he cared about us; you grabbed onto something when he threw the lemon and yelled, “Toronto!” Like, me and the boys talked about it later, like he looked our way. Like, he liked Toronto, right.
Dave Grohl jokingly said it wasn’t the truth, “You realize he was full of shit though, right?”
Grohl told Rolling Stone in the past, “Heavy metal would not exist without Led Zeppelin, and if it did, it would suck. Led Zeppelin were more than just a band — they were the perfect combination of the most intense elements: passion and mystery and expertise. It always seemed like Led Zeppelin were searching for something. They weren’t content being in one place, and they were always trying something new. They could do anything, and I believe they would have done everything if they hadn’t been cut short by John Bonham’s death.
Zeppelin served as a great escape from a lot of things. There was a fantasy element to everything they did, and it was such a major part of what made them important. Who knows if we’d all be watching Lord of the Rings movies right now if it wasn’t for Zeppelin. They were never critically acclaimed in their day, because they were too experimental and they were too fringe. In 1968 and ’69, there was some freaky shit going on, but Zeppelin were the freakiest. I consider Jimmy Page freakier than Jimi Hendrix.
Hendrix was a genius on fire, whereas Page was a genius possessed. Zeppelin concerts and albums were like exorcisms for them. People had their asses blown out by Hendrix and Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, but Page took it to a whole new level, and he did it in such a beautifully human and imperfect way. He plays the guitar like an old bluesman on acid.
When I listen to Zeppelin bootlegs, his solos can make me laugh or they can make me tear up. Any live version of ‘Since I Been Loving You’ will bring you to tears and fill you with joy all at once. Page doesn’t just use his guitar as an instrument. For him, it’s like some sort of emotional translator.”
