‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ – Go See It In the Cinema!

[Ed Driscoll]

My wife and I saw Becoming Led Zeppelin yesterday afternoon in a packed Imax theater in Dallas. If you’re a Zeppelin fan, you owe it to yourself to see this while it’s theaters. It’s effectively two movies: a look at the band as they scuffled through their early days as workaday musicians, and then their meteoric rise to stardom once they joined together as “The New Yardbirds.” The film is an incredible technical exercise in how to make a successful documentary when there’s so little early footage of a group. Reels of 35mm still photos are animated together, news footage from 1968-’69 is incorporated (Vietnam, Nixon, Apollo 11, etc), and rare super 8 fan footage is incorporated, along with some of the material of the group’s earliest TV appearances from the Led Zeppelin DVD of 20 years ago. The latter has been beautifully upscaled, to look surprisingly well on a 50-foot high screen. The sound is loud, in stereo until “Whole Lotta Love,” which does the full surround sound pan across the front and rear speakers.

When the Les Paul that Page bought from Joe Walsh appears, you know it’s from the very early days because it’s usually sporting Kluson tuners, not Grovers. There are also several shots of Page's Black Beauty three pickup Custom, and lots of footage of Page’s "Dragon" Telecaster.

There are no salacious details to be found here, it’s all party-line material. No mudsharks or red snappers were harmed in the making of this documentary; no groupies appear, of legal age or otherwise. But for fans of the group, it’s a great ride, nonetheless.

 

[jb_abides]

... Yes ...

Nothing truly revelatory, and while there's small quibbles [for example, they show a photo of 19 Gerrard Street with Gooseberry Studios when discussing the famed first rehearsal, where the 'Gooberry' name didn't emerge until circa 1970], it was a glory to see on such scale, with sound to match.

I won't add much too Ed's review other than echo it's worth going to see it in IMAX. As a reminder it's 'Becoming' i.e. not a career-spanning restrospective, so make sure that frames your perspective. It's a tale of formation from individuals with intriguing backgrounds into a cohesive unit who enjoyed a meteoric and momentous rise; a moonshot of sorts given the state of the industry at that time.

Also note there's no narration: a good thing! Just interspersed recollections from the band members providing color commentary as the happenings unfold. Somewhat rare audio-only interview(s) from Bonham provides the only 'present tense' commentary concurrent with the narrative.

Particularly touching to witness were band member reactions to Boham's summation regarding their journey up to the release of LZ II and the January 9, 1970 Royal Albery Hall performance: the essence of which has him praise them as 'good blokes' ...

This really affected me, and deepened my regard for the band's famous goodbye:

“We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend, and the deep sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were.”

...

Per Number 1: very clearly shown is the uncovered double white in the bridge position.

As the film has been completed for some time, it has been well-noted at Gibson. So of course the new 'Jimmy Page x Gibson' collaboration will feature a Number 1 with the double white exposed era to line up with this 'Becoming' era, in the wake of the legal push and subsequent releases of uncovered 'Double Cream' we've seen in the Pickup Shop, the Yardburst, and now more broadly.

 

[Elmore]

I saw it Saturday and really liked it. Great video of the number one burst with classic color. I liked the us against the world feel they had. It is amazing how big they became. And, in my opinion, well deserved.

 

[garywright]

saw it yesterday, loved it !