It was in December of 1972 when I had to chose a free elective for my second semester as a senior at Anaheim High School, and, being very interested, I chose to take a ‘Beginning Photography’ class. It was a really fun class! Over the semester I learned to make a ‘pin hole’ camera with a Quaker Oats oatmeal container, and I learned how to develop B&W film and how to make contact sheets and enlargements from the film - which was really cool!! A few times, I checked out a school SLR camera (an adjustable 35mm film camera that could switch out lenses) for field trips hosted by my instructor, Skip.
Anaheim High School - This is a recent photo I took, but it looks very similar to when I went to school here. I thought the school was pretty old back then, and it actually looks much newer now!
I specifically remember a trip to ‘Pershing Square’ in LA, which was a ‘skid row’ kind of area. When we arrived, all the students got off the bus and scurried off around the square to look for ‘interesting things’ from ‘interesting angles'. I avoided most of that, but one thing that caught my eye was this stoic statue of General Pershing standing at the square’s center. As I looked at the scene, I wondered if he would’ve thought it an honor if he happened to walk by and see his statue, so prominently positioned, yet completely ignored amidst all the activity around it, by virtually everyone, except for the pigeons who perched on and shit all over it. I shook my head and snapped a photo. Haha - THAT was interesting to me.
Anyway, Skip was always very encouraging to me. I was the kid with the dry sarcastic comments - which (usually) made him smile, and I think he saw something in me that most didn’t. He saw how interested I was in photography, and also, how I lacked confidence in myself. I wore some ridiculously thick glasses and it was challenging sometimes, with all the glass and glare, for me to see and focus through the viewfinder of the camera. But Skip didn’t seem to be bothered by all my nerdy quirks. He even encouraged me to enter a prestigious Kodak NATIONAL high school photo contest, even though I could barely make a B&W print, saying, ‘Why not? you’ve got nothing to lose!’
The ‘official’ supervising teacher and THE photography teacher for the school kinda scoffed at the idea. He did not encourage the ‘newbies’ to bother with this prestigious contest until they had sharpened their skills. He was working hard to help his 3rd year ‘Allstars’ prepare the intricate and extensive portfolios that they’d been working on for many months, to make sure everything was perfect for their entries…
(Skip was doing his final semester of ‘student’ teaching in order to qualify for his teaching credential and then be hired to teach in our school district. All the photo beginners were dumped into one class which he was given charge of.)
This is a photo of the actual print, mounted on thick cardboard, that was sent to me from KODAK - they required the negative with my submission so they could make prints for the exhibition. It made me smile when I discovered this in a box a few years ago….(haha - so now I’m thinking of putting it on a T-shirt….just for old times sake)
…and that would be the same ‘official’ teacher whom I heard loudly moaning after excitedly opening (in class) the ‘Notification of Winners’ envelope he had received to read its contents, because, as it turned out, MY single photo entry, ‘Pershing’s Pals’, (Skip told me I had to give it a title…) was actually selected to be displayed in the Kodak National Museum Traveling show (I don’t remember the official name) as one of the top 100 (or maybe 50?) student photos in the country…and no one else, with all their heavily labored over and highly technical portfolio submissions, even got an honorable mention for a single photo.
I think I got some money, which was pretty cool, and I remember going to LA to this massive Museum to see my photo on display with the other national winners, (which was pretty surreal), but I really didn’t put much thought into it and I, for sure, didn’t get the significance of it. But that ‘official’ teacher made it clear, he thought it was a complete travesty!
Fortunately for me, it was Skip who was in charge of MY class and MY grade and he was so proud of me!
And over the semester we became friends.
So….with about a week left of school, Skip came up to me and said, “Hey Dave! I hear you’re going to see Led Zeppelin this weekend. You should take my camera and get some photos.” And I thought, ‘Wait, What? OH YEAH! That sounded like a GREAT idea!’
I went to Skip’s house the morning of the concert. He had his camera already out and took some time to show me how to use the zoom lens and how to adjust the shutter speed and aperature, and how to use the light meter and also how to double-wrap the end of the film when I loaded a roll so it wouldn't slip out. He discussed with me which film I should use and how I could develop the film myself and 'push' it to increase the ASA, (film/light/sensitivity), making it easier to capture images in the low-light environment.
Then he sent me on my way.....
I used High Speed Ecktachrome (Daylight), (which was color slide film), for all my color photos - mainly because it had the highest ASA I could get in color film and also I could develop the film myself to save money and also ‘push’ it to get more exposure out of it.
I stopped at a store to pick up the film I needed - I had enough money to buy 4 rolls - then I left, early, to pick up three friends who had tickets next to mine and we headed into LA to the Forum....
The Great Western Forum, Inglewood California. I spent many a night attending shows here as well as many an over-night in line to purchase tickets for upcoming shows.
Our ticketed seats were in the WAY BACK and WAY UP, (just slightly above the oxygen level!), which is why I wanted to get there early. I’d been to a few concerts before and knew that there were always a few random empty seats spread through the arena and the floor area. I also knew that it would be a lot easier to sneak down to the floor area and claim one of those empties if I got there before all the ushers were in place to guard the floor access points….and I HAD to get onto the floor or I wouldn’t be close enough to take photos!!
So, as I’d hoped, the ushers were just getting set up when we finally got inside the Forum. I split from my friends at that point and was able to get down onto the floor area fairly easily. I then looked for a place to land quickly and get myself sorted. I knew I couldn’t just stand there because one of those helpful ushers would soon spot me and ask to see my ticket - which would mean I would be kicked off the floor and sent back to my actual seat - which would mean that I would have to again find a way back down to the floor - which would be much harder as the arena started filling up and ushers were keeping an eye out for people like me - and specifically me if they’d already caught me once!
(Fortunately, nobody cared that I had this big camera and telephoto lens with me. They just didn’t back then.)
I spotted a few empty seats on an aisle close by and landed there for a few minutes… looking around. I spotted another set of empties about 4 rows up so I assessed the usher situation and, when they were distracted, I moved forward, acting like I ‘belonged’, and sat in the closer seats. I kept doing this, slowly as the arena filled up, and as I got closer and closer to the front, it got more and more challenging. My ADHD kicked in so I was hyper observant/focused. I had to keep an eye out for people coming for my current parking spot while also looking for a place next to land to get closer. If I had to bolt, I had to find another spot quickly and without causing too much attention….or else an usher would be right there to ‘assist’ me.…
At some point, I spotted a couple of empties towards the middle of the SECOND ROW CENTER - which was about 10 rows up from where I was currently parked. I figured it pretty likely that they would not remain empty so I was looking around for other options, but it was close to start time, and I’d seen pretty good seats go empty before, so, noticing that a group of 4 was coming down the aisle accompanied by an usher - who was looking at the tickets and then at the 4 empty seats I was currently camped in - I jumped up and went straight for the second row, ‘excusing’ my way over several people…..and sat down. I saw that the usher had kept an eye on me, but once I sat down, eyes forward and ignoring him, he moved on, getting distracted with others.
And now I’m thinking…”Wow! This is SO CLOSE to the stage! What a great spot to shoot from!”
I was pretty nervous though and was constantly looking around to see if anyone was coming because I wanted to have a chance to head in the opposite direction. This close to showtime, I certainly did not want to get caught and kicked off the floor! It would be almost impossible to get back anywhere close this late!!
While I was sitting there, I also took the opportunity to get a little more familiar with Skip’s camera, adjusting the shutter speed and trying out the zoom lens I’d never used before. So as I’m looking through the lens at one of Jimmy's amp speakers on the stage, trying the zoom out, suddenly the lights in the arena went out! The crowd ROARED and JUMPED to their feet!…and I started FREAKING OUT!! I was trying to figure out what to do with my lens cap as the crowd was CHEERING, getting MORE and MORE REV’D UP!!
A few random instrument noises were heard in the dark…(MORE REV’D UP!!)…and then…all of a sudden…still in the dark, Bonzo starts into his drum intro to ‘Rock and Roll’ - and it was SO LOUD it sounded like CANNONS going off!
HaHa - I don’t think this photo is from that night (it could be, though), but it IS John Bonham, and he IS pretty-much in the dark - so this is to help with the imagery
....AND THE CROWD GOT EVEN MORE REV’D UP!!
(I’d never been to a Zeppelin concert before and I really had no idea what to expect….at this point I was starting to feel a bit NERVOUS/ANXIOUS/OVERWHELMED!!)
As Bonzo was POUNDING out his ‘cannon fanfare’, I was squinting, my very thick glasses were pressed against the viewfinder of the camera, trying to be ready, as I struggled to focus to see what was happening - in the dark.
Then the lights came up FLASHING - BLAZING as the guitars came into the song. Jimmy (wearing an all white suit), came CHARGING out from just to the right of Bonzo’s drum stand.
This is when the lights were just coming up. Notice how Jimmy is pushing off of his right foot as he launches out onto the stage…
Then he headed RIGHT FOR ME!! ...GUITAR FORWARD!
It was really hard for me to believe how much sound was coming from one single guitar….it was awesome, but IT WAS SO LOUD!!!
It was WILD!! I tried to follow Jimmy as he ran all over the stage tossing his Les Paul around like it was a toy. It was a struggle to keep up, to focus, to keep him in the frame as I was frantically trying to track him around and through the arms and heads jumping all around me…
Every time I see these, it reminds me of how crazy it was that night!
Robert came out GRITTY and INTENSE…
…STRUTTING around the stage with this ‘TAKE-NO-PRISONERS’ attitude…
…flipping his hair constantly! There was so much happening all at once…
..with the LIGHTS FLASHING, with Jimmy and Robert RUNNING ALL OVER THE STAGE, it felt so CHAOTIC!! It was INSANE!! And (as I may have mentioned), IT WAS SO LOUD!!!
The VOLUME, LIGHTS, ENERGY and the RAW ATTITUDE that Zeppelin exuded when they came out sent the entire arena into an ABSOLUTE FRENZY!! I’d never seen or experienced anything like it - especially from THIS CLOSE!!
SHAKING! HEART POUNDING! in a STATE OF SHOCK! -
My MIND was RACING, ‘HOLY CRAP!! H-O-L-Y C-R-A-P-!-!-!-!’
I really struggled JUST TO KEEP IT TOGETHER, trying so hard to take photos - trying to focus (and re-focus…and re-focus), trying to follow them and keep up as they ran around the stage, trying to remember how to work the camera, having no idea if this would even come out.
I functioned somewhat reflexively because there was literally NO TIME TO THINK! I was frantic taking as many photos as I could, as fast as I could, advancing the film and shutter, then immediately tracking for the next shot, trying to capture what was happening right in front of me, feeling a sense of urgency, knowing I could figure everything else out later….and I just went for it!!
Then all of a sudden….I felt someone grabbing and yanking my right arm…
It took a bit of an effort (by him) as I was focused, trying to get some last shots off, but in the midst of all the chaos, an usher proceeded to drag me down the row (I did not say ‘excuse me’ this time)….and out to the aisle….because…..standing there in the aisle were the two VIP’s, who had waited backstage for the show to start, and now wanted to sit in THEIR seats!
And I was like, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!!?!’
So….I was ‘escorted’ ALL the way back to my actual ticket section, (which was a long trip). I was still vibrating, trying to collect my thoughts. I could not believe how CRAZY it was back there at the epicenter of all the POWER and ENERGY and the INTENSITY and the VOLUME!
WOW!
WOW!!!
When we finally got back to my section, I could NOT just sit up there in my seat, so I immediately started off to find a way back down to the front. Watching the show from back there was no longer acceptable me. I slowly worked my way back down on to the floor and to the front using the same basic steps as before but under much tighter scrutiny - and as I did, I continued to take photos along the way.
I struggled with shutter speed and steadiness and lots of heads and arms in the way, but it’s still cool to have these shots now, 50 years later! This is what it looked like looking through the crowd - and what you would've seen if you happened to be standing (smashed) next to me!!
By the time I got back down to the floor, the crowd had already ‘stormed’ the stage, which meant that it was jammed packed with people as you got closer down the aisle to the front row. It was a real battle, but I was motivated(!!) and was eventually able to fight my way through to a position right in front of Jimmy, about 3 people back from the stage, for the second encore. I was (unfortunately) out of film by this time, but I was there again in the thick of it - jammed packed so tight in the crowd in front of the front row, holding on to protect Skip's camera, looking up, with a big smile on my face! Back then, the concert stage was much lower, so I was very close, and I don’t know if Jimmy remembered me from when the show started, (he HAD to have seen me getting pulled out), but during the encore, he looked right at me and gave me a smile and a wink just as he started into his solo in ‘Communication Breakdown’.
OK, WOW! THAT was so cool….
I left the concert stunned, shaken, ears ringing, still vibrating as I walked through the parking lot to the car. The cool night air on my sweat-drenched T-shirt gave me cold shocks - which helped to bring me back to 'Inglewood, California'. Skip’s camera was lightly bouncing on my chest and I felt the exposed film rolls stuffed in my front pocket - and I was pretty curious/excited to see what I may have captured on film.
When I got back to my car I met my friends - who had stayed in their seats for the entire show. They were raving on about how great the show was doing some air guitar moves and screeching out their best Plant vocals….and I could hardly talk. There was no way I could explain what I’d experienced, and because my ears were ringing so loud, it was hard to hear them anyway, so I just said, “yeah, they were great!”
Over the next couple of days, I continued to think a lot about that opening to the show and what it felt like.
I realized that I’d gone through a life change that night. I had a whole new perspective of concerts and what they were like - which I would never have known - or even imagined - from my original ticketed seat. They didn’t even have big screens back then so you only saw and heard a show from the perspective that your ticket afforded you - and it was a VERY different show when you could actually see the sweat on their faces! I’ve always struggled to explain what it was like that night, and the closest I could think of is to say that it felt like I was at ground zero during a MASSIVE EXPLOSION of Led Zeppelin blasting out to the far reaches of the arena!! (**At that volume, I’m pretty sure it spilled out through the neighborhoods around the Forum as well…)
Now I had to collect the things I needed to develop the film. The set of chemicals required for the process came together in a kit, so I picked that up at the photo store.
This shows the box of chemicals and some of the gear I used during the processing.
Skip had worked with me to create a set of PVC tubes round enough and tall enough to hold the chemicals and then have enough room to lower the film spools down into it using a thin metal rod with a 'T' at the bottom to keep the spools from sliding off. He also loaned me a ‘glow-in-the-dark’ timer, which was essential….and I was ready!
My ‘dark room’ was the shared bathroom for me and three siblings. I got everything into the room including measuring cups and the chemicals kit, a thermometer, film spools with a rod to hold them, and a can opener to pry the film canisters open. Once I got all the chemicals mixed and loaded into the tubes, I placed the tubes in the bathtub in the specific order required for the process and filled the tub with warm water. This was to heat the chemicals to the specific temperature required for the chemicals to best do their job (per the instructions).
Finally I was ready to start the development process. I closed my eyes and rehearsed to make sure I could tell where everything was in the dark and where the first chemical tube was, and then I turned out the lights…..and as I was sitting down to start, I realized there was a ton of light coming in under and around the door, so I started stuffing bath towels into all the cracks - which helped, sort of…
I then sat on the toilet, (closed - but very convenient during long process times..), with a counter and sink on my left and the bathtub on my right. I reached for the bottle-opener and the first film canister and pried the end off. I carefully pulled the film out, fumbled for a film spool and then fed the film into the spool after which I loaded the spool onto the rod. I repeated this process with the other three rolls and was now ready to start the actual processing! (This had been several hours of work for me as I was navigating this new process so I was READY to get it going!) I gently lowered the rod full of spools down into the first chemical tube and gave it a little shake to get all the bubbles off…and I started the timer. Occasionally I would gently lift the rod slightly and lower it a couple of times to agitate. Each step had its own specific time for the film to be in that chemical and I was ‘pushing’ the film which meant that I had to add extra time to the developer step. With each step in the process, I had to reset the clock to the new time… so I had to remember (and keep straight) the times of each step all the way through, which, over the years, I almost always got right…
After a full hour of chemical processing, I pulled the film spools from the last chemical tube and lowered them into fresh water to rinse...
...and I was FINALLY able to flip the lights back on …..and to see, for the first time...
THE VERY FIRST PHOTOS I HAD EVER TAKEN AT A ROCK CONCERT!
(I was pretty nervous, because everything was so crazy, so surreal, so unexplainable to someone who wasn’t standing right next to me… I was curious to see what I'd gotten, but my expectations were not very high.. I just held a hope for something somewhat intelligible…)
The color film I used was slide film so when I pulled the first film spool off the rod and I started to pull the film from the spool, I could clearly see the series of shots I had taken during that first 90 seconds or so of the show…
...and I FREAKED OUT!!!
These shots brought me right back to that night's experience - which was exactly what I had hoped!
...and as I was looking through them....I zero’d in on this one shot of Robert Plant…
and I thought, ’OH MAN! THIS IS SO AWESOME!!’
…and I was HOOKED!!
So as an 18 year old ‘kid’, just finishing high school, living at home, sporting coke-bottle-thick glasses (legally blind without them), having no money - (burning through a few part-time jobs), no camera of my own, no real photography experience, no encouragement from my conservative family, no connections or access to tickets, no photo passes, being very-much on the ‘outside’ of things, receiving no directions as to who I should buy tickets to or photograph, I spent the better part of the next 2 1/2 years working, hustling, doing everything I could to get to as many concerts as I could and take photos of all my favorite performers.
Over this time, I developed various ‘skills’ and ‘tricks’ and I became much more aware of how the ticket system worked. Every single concert was a new challenge and a new adventure, yet I went to every show with complete confidence that I would figure out some way to get close enough to get some photos. The concert world was constantly evolving and I continued to adapt and find new ways to get the shots. As I look back to it now, I must have been INSANE to do some of the things I did. I took a lot of risks and did a lot of CRAZY things, fearless and determined….and finding SOME way became a big part of the fun/adventure for me. During this time I was able to see up close, some of the most iconic performers of our time, at their peak, during the most epic era for rock concerts - when the ‘show’ was simply JUST the band playing their instruments performing their music live for their fans.
This is all my exposed film from shooting concerts - each of those green sleeves holds at least 40 images
And as it turned out, I ended up taking over 10,000 images at these shows, (most-all developed in my bathtub!)
…and I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT!!!
DS
