Viewing again close-up footage of 21-year-old John Bonham performing Moby Dick at Led Zeppelin’s now legendary January 1970 show at London’s Royal Albert Hall is as astonishing now as it was when it first appeared in 2003 on the glorious live DVD collection. Powerful, brutal, pagan. When he gently lays down the sticks a few minutes in and begins playing the drums with his bare hands, it becomes shamanistic. Not just pitter-patter tom-toms, but snapping at the snare, beating the big bass drum, the skins, the rims, the cymbals… Bonzo, as he was known with great affection and fear, performing his showcase live was never just about music.
Moby Dick may have begun as a relatively modest instrumental filler tucked away near the end of Led Zeppelin II, but live on stage it had already become emblematic of Bonham’s thrillingly belligerent spirit. No vocals, no cheap talk, this was all action, all the time.
