(Classic Rock) Phil Collins reveals that he was tempted to walk off stage in the middle of Led Zeppelin's reunion set at Live Aid where he joined the surviving members of the group to perform at the event. The Genesis drummer looks back in an excerpt from his new autobiography Not Dead Yet.
"I know the wheels are falling off from early on in the set. I can't hear Robert clearly from where I'm sat, but I can hear enough to know that he's not on top of his game. Ditto Jimmy. I don't remember playing Rock And Roll, but obviously I did. But I do remember an awful lot of time where I can hear what Robert decries as 'knitting': fancy drumming. And if you can find the footage (the Zeppelin camp have done their best to scrub it from the history books), you can see me miming, playing the air, getting out of the way lest there be a trainwreck. If I'd known it was to be a two-drummer band, I would have removed myself from proceedings long before I got anywhere near Philadelphia.
"Onstage I don't take my eyes off Tony Thompson. I'm glued to him. I'm having to follow - he's taking the heavy-handed lead and has opted to ignore all my advice. Putting myself in his shoes, he's probably thinking, 'This is the beginning of a new career. John Bonham isn't around any more. They're gonna want someone. This could be the start of a Led Zeppelin reunion. And I don't need this English f*** in my way.'
"I'm not judging him, god rest his soul. Thompson was a fantastic drummer. but it was very uncomfortable, and if I could have left that stage, I would have left, halfway through Stairway... if not earlier. But imagine the coverage of that? Walking off during The Second Coming? Who the f*** does Collins think he is? Geldof really would have had something to swear about.
"After what seems like an eternity, we finish. I'm thinking, 'My god, that was awful. The sooner this is over, the better.'" Read more here.
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