Fudge is who we were going to see though, and I loved The Fudge at that time. We had no idea what we were in store for that night, certainly. I remember it was a chilly day, the date of that concert when we went to the Coliseum. As I said, I remember seeing Led Zeppelin vividly because it just had such an impact on me. So there we were, at the Pacific Coliseum, you know, just starting to sort of float away with absolutely no idea of what the opening act was going to be. In fact, we didn’t even know if there was going to be one because it wasn’t advertised at all.
And so these guys I’d never seen before came walking out on stage. It was Led Zeppelin. I had no idea who they were. I don’t even think they were announced. There was an emcee; maybe I was just distracted or wasn’t paying attention but I don’t remember him introducing them at all. They started to play. Immediately, it was like a tidal wave hit you! It blew me away instantly. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen and heard start up. I and everybody else in the place were so amazed. Who were these guys, anyway?
REDDON: Did Zeppelin seem loud to you?
DAUM:
No, I didn’t find Zeppelin was loud at all. Mind you, the sound in the Pacific Coliseum isn’t great. Things sort of bounce around and wash, and stuff like that. Just the novelty of Zeppelin’s music, its uniqueness and the sort of power in it…just the way the guitar sounded. And, of course, Plant’s vocals. John Bonham’s drumming was quite dramatic. Most of the performance, including the way Zeppelin carried themselves on stage, and the sound they were able to produce was just…well, for a young guy like I was at the time, I had never seen anything like that up to that point.
I would go as far as to say seeing them was almost “life altering”. You know, here are four people up on the stage in this cavernous coliseum and really, in the grand scheme of things, they didn’t occupy a lot of space in that building. But you just couldn’t keep your eyes off them. It was just so phenomenal in every way; they had this power all about them. I suppose it’s a personal thing. I suppose maybe my mom or someone else would have run from the Coliseum screaming when they heard Zeppelin!
I really had no interest in seeing Vanilla Fudge at all after Zeppelin started. I forgot all about The Fudge in nothing flat! Isn’t that something? Four unknown musicians stole my interest completely away from The Fudge within seconds. I didn’t see how Vanilla Fudge could even come close, as soon as Zeppelin started. It was jaw-dropping instantly. “What is this?” we were all saying to ourselves.
REDDON:
That is a powerful experience. You know, it’s not the first time I’ve interviewed someone along that First U.S. and Canadian Tour of 1968-69 who could suddenly care less about the headlining band, after having heard Zeppelin open. The same thing happened in New York City on that February 1, 1969 tour stop when Zeppelin opened for Iron Butterfly. You can clearly hear someone angrily shout in a bootleg recording of that concert, “F#ck the Butterfly!” So Zeppelin really did do that to people, sight unseen and song unheard. That must have been something else for you to experience. How were your seats at that gig?
DAUM:
We had really good seats. We weren’t on the floor or anything. We were on the sides, not that far back from the stage. I can distinctly remember seeing the Zeppelin. I could easily see Jimmy Page. I remember him using the violin bow on his guitar at times. The whole band was just sort of all there, unleashing the most extraordinary sounds in their performance.
As I said, I was totally taken by surprise by Led Zeppelin. I had absolutely no idea. I don’t even remember Vanilla Fudge because we didn’t even stay! I have no idea what Vanilla Fudge was even like!
But it didn’t take more than a few bars to just go, “Wow, what is that?” when Zeppelin started up. From then on in their set, it was just totally captivating. From forty years ago, there’s only so much you remember. Especially Plant, because his hair was…you know, this big, bushy crop of hair. And Page just kind of stood there and played. Page wasn’t flashy at all. He was probably the least flashy of all of them. He didn’t jump around, he just seemed to be totally stationary but he sure managed to wrestle some incredible sounds out of his guitar. I’d never seen anybody drag a violin bow across a guitar before. I thought that was very cool. And he was getting some great sounds; he was playing it. It was haunting to hear that coming from the guitar he was bowing.
What else do I remember? I don’t think there was much in the way of a light show or anything. No, the lighting wasn’t anything special. It was a pretty “plain Jane” concert that way. Actually, it was very bare-bones as far as lighting went. Just more or less the house lights. I don’t even think there were any spotlights. But you know, at that time I don’t think we were expecting that.
REDDON: Did you see Zeppelin the second time they came to Vancouver, in 1970?
DAUM: No, I didn’t and I don’t know why. But I did see the first show.
REDDON: Do you remember where you got your tickets?
DAUM:
I probably would have heard about the show from a poster, the one I’ve still got. Or perhaps, but less likely, The Georgia Strait. It was the underground rag then in Vancouver. I remember The Georgia Strait was sold outside the high school, in the street. It wasn’t receiving very much advertising revenue in those days. I don’t think the concert promoters would have placed an ad in it…I’m not sure. I think it was mainly the posters put up around Vancouver and word of mouth about Vanilla Fudge coming. Maybe it was mentioned on one of the local radio stations, too. I don’t know for sure. Mostly, I always learned about that kind of concert through posters, back in those days.
REDDON:
After you saw Led Zeppelin open up for Vanilla Fudge in December 1968, did you buy the self-titled record Led Zeppelin?
DAUM: Oh, yeah!
REDDON:
So what did you think of what Led Zeppelin had done in the recording studio a couple months earlier, instead of on the stage?
DAUM:
Well, their first album was almost the concert I saw. I don’t think there was anything they played that wasn’t on that disc. They basically went through what I learned later was their whole first album. I could be wrong, but most of what they did when I saw them was on their first record, anyway. They had some extended stuff, with Page bowing the guitar.
REDDON: Did you ever see Led Zeppelin again after that?
DAUM:
You know? I don’t think I ever did. I’m not sure how many times they were in Vancouver. For whatever reason, I didn’t see them ever again. As to why? That’s a good question. I’m very happy I saw them at the very beginning, though. That Vancouver 1968 show was one of their very first in North American performances, wasn’t it?
REDDON:
Yeah, that Saturday, December 28, 1968 Vancouver date you saw them, was their third North American appearance and their first ever in Canada. They opened up that First U.S. and Canadian Tour of 1968-69 in Denver, Colorado on Boxing Day, December 26, 1968. Then Seattle on December 27, Vancouver, December 28, 1968. To me, Vancouver has always been a bit of a “hot bed” for touring bands. Just to get an overall sense of theVancouver music scene in the late 1960s, who else did you see around that time
