At the end of June 1971 I was sent to Milan by Saverio Rotondi, editor in chief of the legendary Italian rock magazine “Ciao 2001”, to cover Led Zeppelin who were to play the Velodromo Vigorelli in Milan, as very special guest of the Italian Summer Song fair, Cantagiro. My point person was Luciano Giacotto, press officer of Dischi Ricordi, the Italian distributor of Led Zeppelin label. This photo was taken outside the Sonesta Hotel, now Hilton near the Pirelli Tower and it was used as the cover for “Ciao 2001” -  my first magazine cover ever!

The concert was a disaster. No much security, and the police charging the kids outside,  “i capelloni” - the long hair hippies, who were trying to get in for free. There were tear gas and Robert Plant asked me to come to the mike and tell the people to blow the gas smoke away. “We can do it - all together!” he asked me to say it in Italian. It was a magical moment and the band went into “Whole Lot of Love” until a tear gas was shot right onto the stage forcing the band to abandon it and leave the place in chaos. I always wondered who was the idiotic policeman that fired the shot to the stage. Never trusted authority after that.  There!