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PENNY: Close call for Fey on Led Zep show

Close call for Fey on Led Zep show

By Penny Parker, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 27, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.

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Barry Fey

Barry Fey

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Denver music man Barry Fey nearly became famous for being the guy who refused to book Led Zeppelin.

It was Dec. 26, 1968, and Fey had sold out a Vanilla Fudge and Spirit concert in the Denver Auditorium Arena - what's now part of the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

"About 10 days before the show, I got a call from the agent saying, 'Barry, I want to add an act to our show,' " Fey said. "I said, 'Ron (Terry), all the tickets are sold.'

"He said, 'You've got to do this for me, Barry, this is a big, big act. Their name is Led Zeppelin.' I thought it was a joke."

Fey turned Terry down, until the agent showed Fey the money.

"Ten minutes later Ron called back and said 'Vanilla Fudge is going to give you $750, and if you give $750 of your own money, we still can put Led Zeppelin on the show.' " Fey caved in. The concert crowd had no idea that this new heavy-metal band from Britain was added to the show. That night marked the band's American debut.

"I got up on the stage and said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, give a warm Denver welcome to Led Zeppelin,' " Fey said. "They started playing, and it was incredible. It was an unbelievable show; people were gasping. That was a big day in Denver history."

ADIOS TULA: Tula, the Mexican-fusion eatery that's been open two years at 250 Josephine St., will close after service on New Year's Eve. Owner Chris Douglas, a Vail native, said he and his wife and 4-year-old son are considering reopening the restaurant in the mountains, but are also looking for a smaller space outside Cherry Creek.

"My rent's so much money that I need to be packed every single night," Douglas said. "We have great weeks, but when we have four bad days in a month, it throws off all the numbers."

Douglas encourages holders of gift certificates to use them by Dec. 31, but said he will reimburse anyone who can't make it into the restaurant before the closing day. Call: 303-377-3488.

THE SEEN: Actress Demi Moore riding the chairlift on the American Flyer at Copper Mountain on Sunday. She rode with a reader's husband and their two sons.

The husband noticed Moore's name carved on her skis and said to his sons, "There's a famous actress sitting next to you." Moore said, "That's right." Husband: "And she's married to a famous actor." Moore chuckled.

She said she was with a group of people just enjoying the day, according to my spy.

Houston Rockets' tall drink of water Yao Ming late-dining at the Denver Diner on Speer Boulevard and Colfax Avenue Friday after the Nuggets beat the Rockets in double overtime.

"For what it's worth, he's a giant," my spy said. "I'm 5-7 and my reaction was (dang), I feel like an Oompa Loompa next to this guy."

Hall-of-Famer John Elway obliging a party of 16 by taking their picture at Carmine's on Penn Sunday night.

EAVESDROPPING on a man talking about another man eating by himself at The Empress restaurant: "He's not having dim sum, he's having lone-sum."

Penny Parker's column appears Tuesday through Saturday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail parkerp@RockyMountainNews.com.

Comments

  • December 27, 2007

    7:41 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    TW writes:

    Led Zeppelin was not a "heavy-metal" band - especially not in 1968 when the genre didn't exist. The original name of the band was the "New Yardbirds" and played primarily blues influenced rock, as did the original Yardbirds of which Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page was a member. Led Zeppelin did indeed influence many of the heavy metal bands that came later, but it is similar to Robert Johnson's influence on British rock bands of the 1960's. No one could call Robert Johnson a "rock musician" and only the misinformed call Led Zeppelin a "heavy-metal" band.