Sonic Boom: The Impact of Led Zeppelin. Volume 1 - Break & Enter. Frank Reddon
to very often. So I was very much looking forward to seeing The Yardbirds that night. I was very surprised to find out about The New Yardbirds. But it turned out to be a happy surprise!
REDDON: What did you think of The New Yardbirds when you saw them that night?
RITZ: I thought it was the best band in the world, right away!
REDDON:
How does it feel to know that you saw The New Yardbirds play their first-ever public performance on Saturday, September 7, 1968?
RITZ:
It feels wonderful! I am very lucky I was there. I have a funny story about this fact. I have a friend who is a famous radio host in Denmark. One day, I was listening to him on the radio. He was talking about how Led Zeppelin made its debut at the Brøndby Pop Club in September 1968. He said that was their first performance ever. However, Led Zeppelin actually played two shows as The New Yardbirds on Saturday, September 7, 1968. They played first at the Gladsaxe Teen Club and then they went to Brøndby Pop Club later that evening to play a second show there. I wanted to set the record straight, so I phoned him up and told him! It was very funny and we’ve had a great deal of fun over the years, going back and forth with that event. It’s all in good fun but it is a fact that the Gladsaxe Teen Club was the first performance Led Zeppelin ever played.
REDDON:
That’s a neat story and your friend the radio host must have been very shocked when he was brought to task for saying Brøndby Teen Club was the first performance of Led Zeppelin.
RITZ: Yes, he was very surprised when I called in!
REDDON:
Do you remember if they were called “The New Yardbirds” on that night of their first appearance?
RITZ: Yes, I remember the sign at the Teen Club said “The New Yardbirds”.
REDDON: Jørgen Angel also told me about that sign that read “The New Yardbirds”.
RITZ:
Yes, he would know that as well. I also have recently been going through a box of materials from those Gladsaxe Teen Club days. They bring back so many great memories! I came across something in that box that says “The New Yardbirds”. The programme said “The Yardbirds” because it was printed ahead of time. But this was something else. I’ll look for that for you.
I’m going through these old things because we’re having our own 40th Anniversary celebration at the Egegård School where we used to have the Gladsaxe Teen Club. It’s in honour of Led Zeppelin playing its first concert ever, there at the Teen Club. It should be a fun time. Many of the original volunteers are coming back and we hope to have an excellent Led Zeppelin tribute band perform. We’re beginning to organize it now, and it’s going to be most enjoyable doing that. Jerry and I are very excited about this, as are Jørgen Angel and many others.
REDDON: Speaking of Jørgen Angel, aren’t his photos of Led Zeppelin’s first night incredible?
RITZ:
Yes, those photos are unbelievable. He was using his mother’s camera which was okay, but it wasn’t the best camera in the world. He was the photographer for the Gladsaxe Teen Club. We all had jobs to do and being the photographer for the programme was his. That was a very important job and he captured so many amazing photos when the Teen Club was open. He did a great job with it though; those pictures of Led Zeppelin are breathtaking.
Jørgen has taken so many other great photos of musicians through the years. We also saw many great concerts at KB Hallen and he took photos there, too. KB Hallen was used for tennis matches and other events as well as being a larger place for concerts. Led Zeppelin played there later, too. Jørgen is a fantastic photographer.
REDDON:
What did you think when you heard the Led Zeppelin’s first album, after having seen them play live at the Gladsaxe Teen Club?
RITZ: It is a great album.
REDDON:
Did you see Led Zeppelin perform when the band returned to Copenhagen in March of 1969?
RITZ:
Yes! After the concert, Jerry and I went to a disco with the four guys from Led Zeppelin.
REDDON:
Your husband, Jerry, was the tour manager for Led Zeppelin’s first Scandinavian Tour. What has it been like being married to someone who is in the music business like that? I would imagine it must be quite exciting.
RITZ:
Yes, it is very exciting! It is also very hard work with lots of travel. Jerry has worked with many great musicians since he was very young. Bands like The Small Faces, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Ten Years After, Deep Purple. It’s a very, very big list if you were to write it all down!
REDDON: I guess it would be.
RITZ:
We have had the opportunity to travel for Jerry’s work. I’ve been to Japan, Thailand, China…many, many beautiful and exotic places. I’ve also been able to be a part of so much great music and meet many of the people who make it. That has been a great experience.
REDDON:
Any favourite memories about living your life with music being such a big part of it, both personally and professionally?
RITZ:
Well, the years at the Gladsaxe Teen Club hold such great memories. Seeing Led Zeppelin there at the beginning was great. There were many other groups I saw at the Teen Club like Ten Years After. It was amazing. One great memory is seeing Deep Purple play off to the side of the stage at the Teen Club. I recall that very clearly and they were another of the best bands. Memories like that come to mind immediately and I am so very fond of them all. I have met many, many nice people over the years through my association with the Gladsaxe Teen Club and Jerry’s work with musicians. It has been a wonderful experience.
REDDON:
Thanks very much for your recollections, Annie. It has been great talking to you. I hope you, Jerry and Jørgen have a wonderful time at your 40th Anniversary celebration in September 2008 at the Egegård School to commemorate Led Zeppelin’s first performance there in September 1968.
RITZ: You’re welcome, Frank. Good luck with your book!
JØRGEN ANGEL
CAPTURES THE RAW ENERGY OF LED ZEPPELIN’S FIRST-EVER PUBLIC PERFORMANCE ON FILM
Danish rock photographer, Jørgen Angel’s limited edition The First Performance lithograph captures the raw energy and passion of Led Zeppelin’s first-ever public appearance:
September 7, 1968 at Gladsaxe Teen Club, Copenhagen.
Lithograph reproduced with the permission of Jørgen Angel (www.angel.dk). Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc.
Jørgen Angel has been a rock photographer since the late 1960s. He has photographed so many groups and people who made the music happen, including: Alice Cooper, Ten Years After, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and a host of others. He has taken photos extensively in Scandinavia, Great Britain and the United States. Angel’s professional accomplishments are considerable.
On one of his most memorable and noteworthy excursions, he took pictures of a rock band from England that was performing at the Gladsaxe Teen Club in Copenhagen on Saturday, September 7, 1968. Much to Angel’s chagrin, he learned that The Yardbirds – which he had seen twice before in Denmark – had become The New Yardbirds, according to a sign outside the venue that