Outrider (1988)

[SteveAJones]

4 hours ago, PeaceFrogYum said:

White Summer is just a re-interpretation of a re-interpretation of a centuries old song in the public domain. That is not plagiarism.

The point of contention here is Page claimed the tuning and arrangement as all his own just six years after Graham's version. Anyway, enough said.

[luvlz2]

I have the 10/7/88 show at the La Forum on a vinyl called "The Return of the Led Gremlin" from the Amazing Kornyfone Record Label. It doesn't sound too bad, but the recently surfaced Mike Millard recording of this show is a great improvement!

 

Edited September 22, 2020 by luvlz2

[The Pagemeister]

 

[1975NQ]

In 1988, I was at peak Zep mania. I was 17 years old, and no one loves a rock band in a way that you do at that age. When you're that young and innocent you put these guys on a pedestal. Which back then, I absolutely did. I had already been to my first ever rock concert in summer 88 - Plant in Sacramento. When Outrider was released, I was frankly underwhelmed. I did enjoy the "demo" aspect of its sound. I didn't want anything super polished, just the basics of Jimmy playing with no frills. But the songs kinda fell flat for me, except for "Hummingbird" (a classic that is almost impossible to fuck up) and the one with Plant on it. It felt almost like a calling card. Like Page was saying, "here's a taste of what's to come - which will be much more fun in person".

And indeed it was. On October 11, Page played at Oakland Coliseum, and everyone was going nuts. There was so much love for the guy .. you could feel it. It felt like an endearing, protective kind of love, almost parental. Jimmy was the coolest person I've ever seen on a stage to this day. And the show was a lot of fun. Highlights for me were the Zep songs and "Midnight Moonlight". And of course him playing STH and the whole crowd singing along. Magical.

I got the boot for this show almost immediately after. I listened to it quite a bit, which at the time surprised me. Because at least one third of the songs held no interest for me. But his playing ... it just comes from somewhere else. The crowd is right there with him through all of it. He could have been playing old Chuck Berry songs, he could have been playing ANYTHING, we wouldn't have cared. 

[Toxic34]

I wonder what the original double album of this record would've been like, if JP's demos hadn't been stolen.

[jsj]

2 hours ago, Toxic34 said:

I wonder what the original double album of this record would've been like, if JP's demos hadn't been stolen.

I’ve always doubted this actually happening

[SteveAJones]

2 minutes ago, jsj said:

I’ve always doubted this actually happening

Me too as anything even remotely interesting would have surfaced on bootlegs.

[jsj]

22 minutes ago, SteveAJones said:

Me too as anything even remotely interesting would have surfaced on bootlegs.

It seemed to me to be a kind of excuse, in case the album wasn’t wasn’t received very well. And, it’s difficult to trust much of what he says

[bluecongo]

Here’s a track that didn’t make final cut so there’s more somewhere in his vaults 

 

 

[The Pagemeister]

 

[Badgeholder Still]

Outrider doesn't garner much interest or respect anymore, but if you were there singing STH while Jimmy played, it was awesome. Probably more so for those of us who weren't old enuf to see Zep.

 

[Badgeholder Still]

[The Pagemeister]

 

[luvlz2]

November 5th, 1988 - Troy, N.Y. -

 

Thanks Led Zeppelin Boots!

Edited February 15, 2023 by luvlz2

[SteveAJones]

[luvlz2]

On 4/1/2023 at 3:01 AM, SteveAJones said:

Wow, what a very interesting piece of memorabilia, thanks so very much for sharing it SteveAJones!

Edited April 7, 2023 by luvlz2

[luvlz2]

October 22, 1988 - Joe Louis Arena - Detroit, MI.[Aud cam] -

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by luvlz2

[luvlz2]

October 17, 1988 - UIC Pavilion - Chicago, IL. [Aud] -

 

[luvlz2]

September 8, 1988 - James L. Knight Center - Miami, FL [Aud] -

 

[luvlz2]

September 9, 1988 - USF Sun Dome - Tampa, FL. [Aud] -

 

[SteveAJones]

4 hours ago, luvlz2 said:

October 22, 1988 - Joe Louis Arena - Detroit, MI.[Aud cam] -

 

The same person filmed Detroit and a few of the other concert length Outrider tour videos. Every time I see them posted it remind me to reach out to him again to complete a deal for a full set of 1st generation copies. I obtained mine in 1991 and I believe they are 3rd generation.

[1975NQ]

On 1/31/2010 at 3:36 AM, SteveAJones said:

 

I found the album to be eclectic and the songs enjoyed best in a live setting.

Hey Steve,

LZ Boots recently posted a show on YouTube for the Outrider tour - November 24th (day 1), London, Hammersmith Odeon. The source/tape was provided through Susan Hedrick, an extremely reliable source whom you yourself have known many years. However, there are some other Outrider shows on YouTube that are much older of the same show, and both of those posts claim the show is from November 25th (day 2).

If memory serves, you were at these shows, and I'm sure have copies of both shows/boots. So, my question to you is - which show is this? The 24th or the 25th? One quick way to differentiate is to listen to John Miles' pre-song chatter with the audience before "Prison Blues". Here's a link to the show in question:

https://youtu.be/SmBhXd5GGnY

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed here. 

 

[John M]

On 2/14/2023 at 8:33 PM, luvlz2 said:

November 5th, 1988 - Troy, N.Y. -

 

Thanks Led Zeppelin Boots!

Just seeing this now.  I was at this show.  Nice opening set by Mason Ruffner too.  That old RPI Field House though- what a dump.  They had plywood over the ice hockey rink.  It was quite cold standing on the floor.  But a great show.  Hard to believe it was 35 years ago.

[1975NQ]

26 minutes ago, John M said:

Just seeing this now.  I was at this show.  Nice opening set by Mason Ruffner too.  That old RPI Field House though- what a dump.  They had plywood over the ice hockey rink.  It was quite cold standing on the floor.  But a great show.  Hard to believe it was 35 years ago.

That's awesome that you were at this show. Syracuse Nov 4, the night prior, gets a lot of love - but I actually think Troy 11-5 is a hotter show. It's one of my favorite shows of the tour. I think Jimmy was hitting some kind of wall, physically, by the time he got to Syracuse. The energy level in his playing (and the band brings it down a little to match him) is noticeably lower compared to the following night in Troy. I also think the prior night in New Haven on the 3rd he's playing a bit better.

At the Troy show, the fatigue does still surface. There are trip-ups in both Midnight Moonlight as well as The Chase/Dazed (and in a couple of other songs that escape me at the moment). However, when he's "on", which is the majority of the evening, he's playing with an incredible amount of confidence and swagger. Just a really, really strong showing. And the crowd sounds very rowdy lol. What was your memory of the crowd that night?

Jimmy definitely got his rest after the 5th, as he sounds quite energetic for the remainder of the US tour. In particular, the final 3 shows Nov 11 - Nov 13 are all fantastic. 

[John M]

4 minutes ago, 1975NQ said:

What was your memory of the crowd that night?

The first thing I thought was man I am getting old !  I was 29 and the crowd was mostly younger.  The enthusiasm for Page was off the charts.  The crowd was really into it.  When I saw Zeppelin the crowd was crazy of course (1977) but there was some element of the crowd then who were there just because Zep was such a big deal - hipster fans as I thought of them back then.  They would cheer at certain points but for them part of the experience was being there and being seen.  So not utterly into Zep.  This crowd was different.  It seemed everyone there was completely into Page and Zeppelin.   The crowd in 1988 was much more into it than the two Firm shows I had seen a few years earlier.  Sure the crowd initially went wild for Page at the Firm shows, but it simmered down.  In 1988 the crowd  was really into everything he did, or at least it seemed that way to me.  But then again memory is a funny thing.