New Led Zeppelin Project Cancelled – You Can Help Bring It To Life

Sad News For Fans

A two-day music festival honoring the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham has just been canceled and tickets have already been refunded. The JOHN BONHAM A CELEBRATION II was supposed to take place in his hometown of Redditch, Worcestershire, England on September 20 and 21. Aside from live performances, there would also be workshops, showcases, and they’re even slated to launch the Young Drummer of the Year competition.

In a recent announcement by the organizers through their official website, they wrote:

Plans to celebrate the life of Redditch-born Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham with a two day music festival in the town have been scaled down.

The “John Bonham A Celebration II” event has been cancelled after organisers decided they were not able to deliver the event to a standard that would do justice to the town’s most famous musical son.

Organisers hoped to build on the success of the town centre festival last year which was timed to coincide with the unveiling of the John Bonham memorial statue and helped raise more than £23,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. They hoped to establish an annual festival in memory of the rock legend known to fans worldwide as Bonzo.

More than a hundred tickets had already been sold for the event in September – to fans as far afield as the USA, Canada, Norway, Australia and even Turkmenistan. Full refunds have already been paid.

Eight acts had been booked with legendary blues singer Maggie Bell among the headliners. The decision to cancel was taken after consultation with John Bonham’s sister Debbie, whose band performed at last year’s event.

Promoter Ros Sidaway said:”We can only apologise to people who have been inconvenienced and were looking forward to what promised to be another memorable event. I’m sure we have made the right decision in cancelling this year with a view to providing something even better in future. We were doing this in the name of one of the all-time greats of rock music and it would be wrong to deliver anything less than the best.

“John’s family recognise this, and we wouldn’t want to embarrass them or sell his memory short in any way. It’s encouraging that we know people are prepared to travel from all over the world to honour his memory in his hometown.”

CODA – Led Zeppelin tribute act, who were due to close the festival on Saturday September 21st will now play at the nearby Queen’s Head and the Black Tap will also host live music.

The organisers are hoping to put on a full scale tribute next year – the 40th anniversary of Bonzo’s death. Anyone locally interested in joining the Organising Group to help with this should contact Ros via the website www.JohnBonhamAC.com as soon as possible.

The organizers were aiming to replicate the success of last year’s festival but even Bonzo’s family had a say in this decision. While this news is heartbreaking, at least there’s still something to look forward to next year. And we can only hope the surviving members of Led Zeppelin will also participate. After all, Bonzo was an integral part in creating their sound.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Led Zeppelin, there will be an upcoming documentary film which will also featured archived interviews of Bonzo.