Post by FLICKOFLASH on Jun 28, 2013 22:43:16 GMT -5
1969. Man lands on the moon. Half a million strong at Woodstock. Sesame Street makes its debut…. and Led Zeppelin perform in the gym of the Wheaton Youth Center on Georgia Avenue in front of 50 confused teenagers. Or did they? Filmmaker Jeff Krulik offers a preview screening of his take on an enduring local legend, on the very night this concert was alleged to have taken place, January 20, 1969, during the first Presidential Inauguration of Richard Nixon.
Featuring interviews with rock writers, musicians, and fans, and several who claim they were there witnessing history that night. Plus, a look at one of the most amazing collections of Led Zeppelin memorabilia ever.
"There was no Internet," he said. "Things were analog, and either you were a performer or you went and saw performers. You had to go out and see it."
Lore has it that only 55 people showed up for the Wheaton Youth Center show, quite possibly the smallest audience to see Led Zeppelin outside of Jimmy Page's living room. Jeff is confident it actually took place, having made contact with the man who organized the concert: Barry Richards, who at the time was a DJ on Gaithersburg radio station WHMC and now lives on the West Coast.
"It's unbelievable," Jeff said. "And the fact that it was a Monday night, January 20th, the night of Richard Nixon's inauguration."
Of course, he added: "They weren't drawing the same crowd."
Were you one of the 55 people who saw Led Zeppelin at the Wheaton Youth Center on Jan. 20, 1969? Jeff Krulik would love to interview you. E-mail him at jeff@jeffkrulik.com or call 202-966-5304. He's planning a reunion event at the center March 7.
Well, Washington survived another inauguration, the biggest ever, they say. We looked good doing it, too. Ceremony and symbolism work well here, but let's not forget that it's the people who make Washington what it is. For a while at least, "Washington" might not be synonymous with influence-peddling and pork-barrel politics but with hope and change. And who knows? Maybe we cynical natives might even start believing