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While these minor dramas were taking place, the audience had been enjoying some great music with Ten Years After, featuring the amazing Alvin Lee, blowing everyone’s minds. There was also a nice set from the idiosyncratic blues veteran Champion Jack Dupre, who in my opinion showed everyone how the blues should really be played. However, it was left to Led Zeppelin to steal the show. Peter Grant, already showing his managerial flair, made sure the band was on stage at just the right moment for them to make the maximum impact. Wendy and I were in the office with some friends when we heard this tremendous commotion. I immediately shot out to see what the hell was happening only to bump into Brian doing the same thing.
'I think there's a riot going on,' he said.
When we reached the stage area we both relaxed as we realised it was nothing more sinister than the audience reaction to Zeppelin's set.
Later that evening Peter Grant called into our office for a chat.
‘Good crowd wasn't it? Done all right today - just broken even?’ He enquired politely. He went on, ‘see Freddy, I told you the boys wouldn't let you down. They were worth the extra money weren't they?’
He was obviously delighted with the way they had been received and he was right. Zeppelin was already worth a great deal more than we had agreed to pay them. It was obvious, even then, that they were going to be really huge. Listening to the departing kids all I could hear was Led Zeppelin this, Zeppelin that. It was the biggest buzz since we saw the Beatles break some six years or seven earlier.

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For the relatively short time they were in existence we used Cream a lot, usually without any problems. They were enormously popular and always drew a large crowd. This particular evening in Malvern was no exception. The place was packed. Cream was due on stage around 8.45.p.m. By 9.15.p.m.they still hadn't arrived. I was pretty pissed off. These were professional musicians being paid an extremely large fee and the least they could do, I thought, was to arrive on time, after all they had the whole bloody day to get there. I was, I must admit, in a pretty foul mood and finally decided I had no option but to give the kids their money back and sue the band. Informing my stage manager that I would make an announcement at 9.30.p.m. I stormed back to the box office. Two minutes later the door opened and in marched Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker and without a single word of apology for their late arrival demanded to know why the stage manager had refused to allow them to play.
'Because your too bloody late,' I said bluntly.
That did it. Instant mayhem - all three of them shouting at me at the top of their voices and all at the same time.
'We got lost,' one of them explained when they had calmed down a little, as if this feeble excuse made everything all right.
‘Too bad’ I said. ‘You should have given yourselves more time. Anyhow I'm giving the kids their money back so you might as well bugger off.’
With that they left the office and I prepared to go on stage and make my announcement. Before I had time to leave the office, one of my stewards came rushing up and told me that Ginger Baker was on stage explaining to the crowd that this arsehole of a promoter was preventing them from playing and it wasn't their fault, as they didn't want to disappoint the audience. Running like hell, I arrived towards the end of his tirade and, grabbing the mic’, pointed out that it was the bands fault for arriving so late, and to compensate for this I was prepared to give every one a full refund. However, to be fair to everyone who had turned up that evening, I was offering to put it to the vote to see whether they wanted to see Cream perform or have their money returned. It was a landslide victory for the band. I don't think there was a single vote for a refund. I had lost in the biggest possible way. However, I consoled myself with the thought that at least I didn't have to return the evenings profits. Pausing only to check with me that they would definitely be paid, Cream at last started to play. A large percentage of the audience relied on public transport, which finished running at some ridiculously early hour, so after the show there were long queues for the telephones to call taxis or poor long suffering parents. This didn't concern the band of course as by then they were long gone - I bet they didn't get lost on the way home.