Houston 5/21/77

[Strider]

no camera people on the basketball court during a game either and they are filmed

The Summit had in house cameras throughout as most American arenas do to meet insurance requirements. The professional sports teams who leased The Summit had their own sets of cameras installed. The Summit contracted a local company to provide additional video exlusively for patrons throughout the venue- big screens, score boards and common areas. THIS is the video that is reported to exist and in the possession of a former pro athelete and its THIS video that said athelete has shown during New Year's eve bashes at his home. As for "Pro Shot" I do not know. It's difficult for me to grasp that several someones thought it was a bad and unworthwhile idea to record the #1 act in the world at the newest and best #1 arena in the country (at the time). I do not know anyone who recalls seeing the big screens used during the LZ show, I do know people who say 100% they could see the concert on small screens in the common areas within The Summit when they were not in their seats.

I want to thank you for this post, Dallas Knebs, for it has totally made me think about this question of whether Houston was filmed from a new angle.

I had ignored this thread for a while, figuring The Rover and other people who were at the Houston shows(both 75 and 77) had already answered definitively that there were no video screen projections of the concert, as there were for Pontiac, MI and Seattle in 1977. No clunky video cameras on stage equalled no proshot footage in my thinking.

Thanks to some free time tonight, I decided to catch up on the top threads in the Live section here, which is still my bread-and-butter and main reason I come here to this site. That is how I came to your post...and well, it was like a thunderbolt hitting me.

OF COURSE! This makes perfect sense. Most basketball and hockey arenas have eagle's nest booths high up in the arena, for which to position the cameras for tv broadcasts of the local basketball/hockey teams. These are usually out of sight of the fans.

And yes, like you said, when you went to the snack bar, you could still monitor the game on the tv screens throughout the arena. One reason this didn't cross my mind before, is that the LA Forum didn't have this technology until later in the 70...I certainly don't recall it in 77.

I do remember seeing the in house video feed at concerts at the Houston Summit in the early 80s when I was stationed at Ft. Hood, TX. But I assumed that was a technological marvel of the 80s. It never crossed my mind that the Summit had this capability during the Zeppelin shows.

Your post is the first valid sign that I have seen that video could exist of Houston despite the lack of video screens for the audience. Closed circuit is the new holy grail.

Thanks for giving us hope.

[Dallas Knebs]

you are welcome Strider

I would not have mentioned the above if it were not on a credible footing. Some day...

[magerogue]

you are welcome Strider

I would not have mentioned the above if it were not on a credible footing. Some day...

Indeed "some day"... Maybe when the Houston pro shot leaks, the pontiac footage will also leak at the same time.

[Dallas Knebs]

...we neeeeeeeed Pontiac

[Sathington Willoughby]

I want to thank you for this post, Dallas Knebs, for it has totally made me think about this question of whether Houston was filmed from a new angle.

I had ignored this thread for a while, figuring The Rover and other people who were at the Houston shows(both 75 and 77) had already answered definitively that there were no video screen projections of the concert, as there were for Pontiac, MI and Seattle in 1977. No clunky video cameras on stage equalled no proshot footage in my thinking.

Thanks to some free time tonight, I decided to catch up on the top threads in the Live section here, which is still my bread-and-butter and main reason I come here to this site. That is how I came to your post...and well, it was like a thunderbolt hitting me.

OF COURSE! This makes perfect sense. Most basketball and hockey arenas have eagle's nest booths high up in the arena, for which to position the cameras for tv broadcasts of the local basketball/hockey teams. These are usually out of sight of the fans.

And yes, like you said, when you went to the snack bar, you could still monitor the game on the tv screens throughout the arena. One reason this didn't cross my mind before, is that the LA Forum didn't have this technology until later in the 70...I certainly don't recall it in 77.

I do remember seeing the in house video feed at concerts at the Houston Summit in the early 80s when I was stationed at Ft. Hood, TX. But I assumed that was a technological marvel of the 80s. It never crossed my mind that the Summit had this capability during the Zeppelin shows.

Your post is the first valid sign that I have seen that video could exist of Houston despite the lack of video screens for the audience. Closed circuit is the new holy grail.

Thanks for giving us hope.

Also don't see any big screens or camera men onstage here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAr7yuQqz54

[Glyn]

KISS recorded damn near everything, so I wouldn't really cite their footage as evidence.

Here is Aerosmith at the Summit only a month after Zep. Notice none of the cameras are on stage (except for maybe one off to the side). Also note how in between songs there is the slow motion replay, much like on the Zep Seattle dvd. I am unsure if Aerosmith used video screens or not. If they did, this is the feed from the screens.

[Sathington Willoughby]

KISS recorded damn near everything, so I wouldn't really cite their footage as evidence.

Here is Aerosmith at the Summit only a month after Zep. Notice none of the cameras are on stage (except for maybe one off to the side). Also note how in between songs there is the slow motion replay, much like on the Zep Seattle dvd. I am unsure if Aerosmith used video screens or not. If they did, this is the feed from the screens.

Cool! Thanks man. I wonder if we'll ever know for sure.

[scotts]

Hello, I just joined this forum and this is my first-ever post.

Be gentle please if I cover something already rehashed a million times.

I will say, this thread and the quest for the mythical Houston video from 5-21-1977 is fascinating.

Just a comment and a question about this Houston show.

I read recently an online article from November 1975 regarding the opening of The Summit and its video capabilities.

If I recall correctly, the article indicated all sporting events (lease tenants) would utilize the in-house camera system as part of their agreement, but video cameras would be used on a case-by-case basis for concerts. If a band were to use the cameras, an agreement had to be reached between the band/promoter/venue and there was a fee charged for the use of the camera system.

Whether Led Zeppelin did or did not pay the fee doesn't totally play into if the show was recorded.

I hate to even suggest the following scenario:

Led Zeppelin - "We're not paying the fee."

Venue - "Fine, no cameras tonight."

My questions is: The soundboard recording of the show exists, where do the members of this forum think it originated?

From the actual soundboard (duh) or from the video?

[Sathington Willoughby]

Hello, I just joined this forum and this is my first-ever post.

Be gentle please if I cover something already rehashed a million times.

I will say, this thread and the quest for the mythical Houston video from 5-21-1977 is fascinating.

Just a comment and a question about this Houston show.

I read recently an online article from November 1975 regarding the opening of The Summit and its video capabilities.

If I recall correctly, the article indicated all sporting events (lease tenants) would utilize the in-house camera system as part of their agreement, but video cameras would be used on a case-by-case basis for concerts. If a band were to use the cameras, an agreement had to be reached between the band/promoter/venue and there was a fee charged for the use of the camera system.

Whether Led Zeppelin did or did not pay the fee doesn't totally play into if the show was recorded.

I hate to even suggest the following scenario:

Led Zeppelin - "We're not paying the fee."

Venue - "Fine, no cameras tonight."

My questions is: The soundboard recording of the show exists, where do the members of this forum think it originated?

From the actual soundboard (duh) or from the video?

Nice post and welcome! As for the source of the audio, that also seems to be a source of some debate. Multiple reviews on the Undergroud Uprising website seem to think it comes from a video source:

http://uuweb.led-zeppelin.us/1977.html#houstonsnake

[Glyn]

One issue I have with this being from a video source, there is no high pitched video signal noise. I would expect at least some if this was indeed from a VHS video source.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love for it to be from the video...but I'm going to continue to think it's just a nice soundboard.

[Gandolf]

Well, there's still Pontiac.

[badgeholder]

While I do still hold out hope for these rumored videos, I gotta say, I have NEVER believed this "pro athlete has it and shows it at his parties" bs. It just sounds totally made up to me

[Glyn]

Yes, that does sound a bit too ridiculous.

[grasbo]

May I deviate from '77 a moment and ask a question as i can't seem to find much of Sydney Show ground 1972.My late father was at this with a journalist friend and was up front near the side steps near the television camera.All my father would say about the gig was they were bloody loud and hated the band along with 'that other noisy bastard Hendrix' forever.The only reason he was there is his mate was there to do a write up for the gig and had the car.My father was a lounge jazzer so I can see his point.My question is this is there anymore footage and is there a recording of this show on a boot.The name of the journalist friend was Miles Quarter main and his whereabouts or if he is still alive are unknown.My father has been dead nearly twenty years but i can still remember him saying that he thought the wrestling was on after it when he saw Peter Grant.P.S Miles was at wood stock and stayed for Hendrix.I remember him saying he was twenty rows from Hendrix .

[grasbo]

My apologies,I meant to post the above in another discussion,i'm not that good at this fang dangled technology

[Sagedrummer]

First time poster here and I thought I would share my 2 cents. In regards to a previous poster that Kiss filmed almost everything is unfortunately not true. Like all bands, the only footage that exists from the 1970's that is pro shot is from the in-house arena video systems. In 1977, the same shows that are available from most big bands one from : The Capital Center in Largo, MD as well as the Summit in Houston as they were some of the first arenas to film their shows. Kiss did not bring their own cameras. As far as not being able to see camera men in photos, that is not going to happen as they were positioned stage left and right in the pits and one at the soundboard. If you look at the KISS and Aerosmith videos, the angles are the same and would not be seen in any photos. The Who 75 show did have a higher angle suggesting it was taken from the lower bowl for that show.

To really get to the bottom of whether a Zeppelin show was filmed in Houston, one would have to get a list of all the concerts that took place at the Summit in 77 and then find out how many have made their way to Youtube and the public. If Zeppelin is the only band that does not have a publicly available video then it could be surmised that Peter Grant put the nix on filming the show. It was a closed captioned system so the show could have still been filmed and projected on screens but he could have asked that the show not be recorded to tape or he took the tapes after the show.

Another question is do the tapes from 1977 show at The Capital Center in Largo/Landover exist as they had a similar setup and those shows exist for a large number of bands such as Kiss and Aerosmith that played there that year.

[Sagedrummer]

Hopefully, these tapes are safely in someone's possession and they will see the light of day one day.

[Sathington Willoughby]

First time poster here and I thought I would share my 2 cents. In regards to a previous poster that Kiss filmed almost everything is unfortunately not true. Like all bands, the only footage that exists from the 1970's that is pro shot is from the in-house arena video systems. In 1977, the same shows that are available from most big bands one from : The Capital Center in Largo, MD as well as the Summit in Houston as they were some of the first arenas to film their shows. Kiss did not bring their own cameras. As far as not being able to see camera men in photos, that is not going to happen as they were positioned stage left and right in the pits and one at the soundboard. If you look at the KISS and Aerosmith videos, the angles are the same and would not be seen in any photos. The Who 75 show did have a higher angle suggesting it was taken from the lower bowl for that show.

To really get to the bottom of whether a Zeppelin show was filmed in Houston, one would have to get a list of all the concerts that took place at the Summit in 77 and then find out how many have made their way to Youtube and the public. If Zeppelin is the only band that does not have a publicly available video then it could be surmised that Peter Grant put the nix on filming the show. It was a closed captioned system so the show could have still been filmed and projected on screens but he could have asked that the show not be recorded to tape or he took the tapes after the show.

Another question is do the tapes from 1977 show at The Capital Center in Largo/Landover exist as they had a similar setup and those shows exist for a large number of bands such as Kiss and Aerosmith that played there that year.

haha Glyn was wrong.

Welcome Sagedrummer!

[therover27]

i want Houston 1977 for ZZ Top as well as Zeppelin....and lets not stop there, GIVE US PONTIAC! its hiding somewhere, someone has seen these shows and all the skeptical people on here will seem strange by the end of this

[The Rover]

So, re-visiting this topic, I will admit that the Zeppelin Houston show *may* have been remotely filmed and broadcast to concession stands (I did not personally see this. But that still does not prove that Zeppelin authorized them to *record* the video feed to the concessions stands. They certainly did not agree to have the video feed displayed on the video screen inside auditorium, above the stage.

If someone wants to dig into this deeper (I know I won't) they could try and locate and contact the video operators that were employed at the arena at that time, and ask them if they remember sending a Zeppelin video feed to the concession stands.

IF a hundred people have seen video Zeppelin footage from Houston over the years, don't you think there would be more mention of it by now, what with Zeppelin in the headlines so often for so many Zeppelin related events???

[Nutrocker]

IF a hundred people have seen video Zeppelin footage from Houston over the years, don't you think there would be more mention of it by now, what with Zeppelin in the headlines so often for so many Zeppelin related events???

Shh...don't say things like that...don'tcha know that's how rumours get started?!

Seriously, though...the trouble is that over the years too many people have stated that they've seen the supposed footage from Houston. That, and considering footage of just about every other band to have played the Summit in the mid seventies has appeared sorta kinda -and I really hate to say this- does give credence to the rumours.

Doesn't matter, though. Fact is, none of us -the Great Unwashed- have seen the footage, if it exists...we must not have the Secret Zeppelin Decoder ring or know the proper Masonic like handshake or whatever the shit in order to gain access...sigh. As an aside, another problem is that, these days, it's too fucking easy to be simply written off as a member of the "gimme, gimme!" crowd if you even express the slightest hint of desire to see or hear uncirculating Zeppelin material...no matter how you may have payed yer dues to the 'community. In my experience, these so-called 'hoarders' -though there are exceptions- are nothing but hoarders who have otherwise contributed sweet fuck all in the way of uncirculated recordings or footage back to the collectors, but they sure do like to brag about the stuff they are supposedly holding on to. I mean, quite a few of us here -myself included- have contributed quite a bit back into the Zeppelin community in the way of hitherto uncirculated materials, and what have we gotten in return? That may be a rhetorical question in a lot of ways, but the short answer (besides the gratitude of other collectors) is basically...zip. Quite frankly, that pisses me off. I've given out a fair bit of stuff myself, and don't kid yerselves that I did it simply out of the kindness of my heart. Once, just once, I'd like to see somebody pony up something in return...I'm still waiting.

Personally, I've never been that worked up about seeing the Houston video because I think it's a fairly mediocre performance (especially when compared to the next night in Fort Worth). Now, Pontiac, on the other hand...if the fabled footage of that were to appear, then I'd be on it like white on rice...

[Sue Dounim]

Yeah honestly Houston never excited me either. Good Ten Years Gone, Over the Top and Noise Solo. That's about it. Everything else is just good enough or sloppy.

[ListenToThis]

The version of NQ from Houston is particularly poor. I do return to the show with some regularity due to Bonham's exceptional playing, which is my favorite thing about 1977 on the whole. But the night is not great by any means.

It really does seem that Pontiac is the best combination of potential video and great playing.

Let's be honest, after 20+ years of people wanting these visuals and nothing to show for it, not even a clip, there's no reason to lust after them anymore. Its a nice fantasy, but we're all growing older and I'm not waiting with baited breath on labels to out bid each other for the stuff. Screw that.

[Nutrocker]

I'm not waiting with baited breath on labels to out bid each other for the stuff

Indeed...the bootleg labels need to realize that the collectors who actually give a shit about this stuff generally speaking aren't getting any younger. Especially since nothing as big as the Houston or Pontiac videos will ever appear to collectors any other way than through a bootleg company (i.e. you won't see some collector uploading 'em to a torrent site in the manner of the Louisville '77 show, for example). I'd be brazen to say that the longer whoever may have possession of these videos waits the market value will drop day by day. I'd reckon ten years ago would have been the optimum time for such items to have appeared- there was still an insane amount of "new", previously uncirculated Zeppelin material popping up in those days. The well has pretty much gone dry since then. Ask yerselves: new soundboard recordings/alternate sources etc aside, when was the last time anything previously UNCIRCULATED appeared in Zeppelinland? It's already been a few years, I think...

[Sue Dounim]

There was Paris 69, and look how long the hype lasted for that...