In November 1971 Led Zeppelin gave two legendary shows at the 10,000-seat Wembley Empire Pool in North-West London. (The venue had been constructed to host swimming and ice skating competitions during the 1934 Empire Games. Over the years it hosted tennis, boxing, table tennis and cycle racing, and was even home to Gibraltan refugees during the Second World War.

At the War’s end the swimming pool remained closed, so the building was adapted for other large-scale events.) To meet the public’s hunger and to put an end to ‘Bolan Quits Tours’ stories, T.Rex were confirmed as the next group to take on the huge venue.

Tickets for Saturday 18 March 1972, priced at 75 pence, went on sale on 18 February and sold out in days. An additional matinee concert was added; this, too, sold out. In the months following the T.Rex dates, the Moody Blues, Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd performed at the Pool, confirming it as the UK’s leading indoor concert arena.

Ringo Starr had approached Marc Bolan in 1971 with an idea to include him in a series of documentary films about superstars of the era, such as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, and troubled footballer George Best. These plans never came to fruition, but when Ringo discovered that Bolan was intent on filming the Wembley shows, the idea was revived, and so a deal was struck to make a movie (50/50 between Apple and Bolan’s Wizard Artists company) with a working title of ‘T.Rex In Concert’...next >>