by the time the starship had touched down at LAX that day, the sun was at its peak, amidst the preamble to yet another scalding summer in the states . . . that is, ‘scalding’ in the eyes of englishmen accustomed to the dour gloom of rainset britain. california was particularly hot, though paled in comparison to the florida humidity from which the band had just departed not too long before.
it would be a week until their next shows ; foremost, san diego, inglewood, & san francisco, and then they would be off to the east coast of chicago & detroit. this was their first ‘break’ of the tour, and G O D -- were they elated to spend it in their home away from home. rodney’s, the rainbow, the whisky . . . the hyatt r i o t house. the strip welcomed led zeppelin with arms wide open.
in celebration of the week to come, peter and richie treated the boys to a night at rodney’s, a promiscuous little glam club held court by none other than mister rodney bingenheimer himself, with whom they were well acquainted with. rodney did just about anything for zeppelin . . . as did the girls who prowled the disco like prepubescent lioness, hungry for even a g l a n c e.
though within the confines of the so-called ‘vip’ section, the four men and their entourage were crowded by old mates and glittery strangers ; they laughed and drank, beers and joints in their hands, drifting away into the demise of night. robert mingled with rodney’s kooky friends, talking aimlessly. bonzo hurled vodkas faster than lightning. jonesy lingered, talking here and there, stoned. but it was the guitarist who sat rather quietly, sipping on a watney sparingly as his gaze instead casted out into the crowds beyond their sectioned-off area where women GIRLS and men danced, flailing their dresses and singing along to glam ballads . . . GROPING each other, hormones bouncing from wall to wall like a ruthless game of ping-pong. it was loud.
it was a swaying mass of bodies out there -- yet, his eyes searched each one, amused and wanton. it was then that he caught sight of a posse of what looked like girls (it was hard to tell with the sprouting androgynous population) who were CURVELESS, squeaky, and done up with makeup, sky-high platforms, and garter belts g a l o r e. one girl came into vision . . . long knobby legs & wild chocolate waves . . . she was captivating. jimmy took absent swigs of his beer, eyes lingering -- fascinated.