Led Zeppelin Takes Flight: ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ in Theaters Now
I was lucky to win tickets to an advance screening of “Becoming Led Zeppelin” at the event center at 102.9 WMGK last week. Hosted by Tony Harris, it was the first event that the station presented in the intimate space.
The two-hour documentary, directed by Bernard MacMahon, chronicles the band’s origins and focuses primarily on the period from ’68 to’70.
Featuring old family photos of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham; lots of groovy live performance footage, some of which has never been seen; new interviews with the remaining members; and a never-before-heard interview with Jon Bonham, the film provides a musical and cultural backstory on the period and re-counts the formation of one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most influential bands.
As the surviving band members tell it, each childhood memory and story became the building blocks of Led Zeppelin’s epic story.
You’ll hear first-hand accounts of the musical beginnings of session musicians Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, the influence of all the R&B coming out of the U.S. that inspired Robert Plant, and the unheard John Bonham audio that visibly touches Plant, Page, and Paul Jones.
I won’t get into the specific concert footage or what is revealed in the storytelling, but I’ll tell you that it was very difficult for me not to sing along and play air guitar. It was a quiet movie screening, after all.
The film is in theaters now. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I recommend it. It’s a must-see for Zep fans.
