Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page discussed a Beijing Peace concert’s cancelation in a recent Instagram post.
“On this day in 2010, a Peace Concert in Beijing was announced.
There had been a move to do a Peace Concert, hosted by the Chinese Government, at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing and I had been invited to appear. There had been a full-size classical orchestra offered and I saw a possibility of doing an instrumental set including Chengdu percussion and the orchestra. It could have been an interesting blend.
There had been a meeting with some officials where it was said that they would need to see the artists’ lyrics up front and I thought that was fair enough, but a Peace Concert in Beijing could have had its moments of mischief. It was fascinating to see how it might proceed; in fact, after a postponement from 17/04/10 to 11/11/11, it ran out of steam. At the press conference at the Beijing Ritz I was given an award called ‘Pathways To Peace’ – it was the first time the award was given from the United Nations.”
A fan commented, “For the record…The Chinese Government wanted 25,000 troops at the show, eliminated all venue parking and kept upping fees by millions of dollars. Any and all resemblance of an assembly under the heading of music or peace scared the Government. Ultimately they just made it logistically impossible for the show to go on!”
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