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Pontiac Silverdome 1977


jpenzabene

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I am wondering if there is any recordings out there of the show they did at the Silverdome ?????

YES...But the acoustics of the Dome make it sound distant.....But to many fans this is one of the HOLY-GRAILS due to the fact there is a DVD out there?????
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The audience recording of the Silverdome gig is really atrocious, but it's a must for any hardcore fan....The band that night was absolutely on fire and Jimmy was very concentrated at his solo parts.

This one and the 21st June gig from the LA forum are maybe the best concerts from the whole tour...

Anddd.....don't forget the possible existance of pro-shot footage that many fans would die to see.....me included :lol:

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Steve,

Ive heard from somelocal zep heads the band stayed at the Troy Hilton for this show.

Hello. I know for a fact they did stay at the Troy Hilton because I have a color photo of Robert posing there. :)

@ bongman: They'd gotten offstage around 1am and then returned to England in the morning for their two-week mid-tour break. Aside from the Ambassador East in Chicago, I show they were staying at the infamous Swingo's Celebrity Hotel for the Cleveland date, the Peachtree Plaza Hotel for the Atlanta date, and Royal Orleans for the Dallas date.

Edited by SteveAJones
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The 1977 Mid-Tour Break

On April 30, 1977 Led Zeppelin set a single-act world record when they performed for approximately 77,229 at the Pontiac Silverdome. This was the last date of the first leg of their 1977 North American tour. It's known they arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, MI the day of the concert and took a chartered bus to the Silverdome, having declined the venue's offer to transport them directly to the site using helicopters. They arrived at the venue at 9:10pm and the concert ran 9:30pm - 1am, to include a second three minute encore.

The May 2nd 1977 'Detroit News' reported they were immediately flown toward their two-week break, however I have obtained a photograph which proves they remained in the local area for at least several hours following the concert. I am attempting to secure the release of all additional photographs taken by the photographer after their record-breaking concert.

1977TroyHiltonafterconcert.jpg

Robert Plant at the Troy Hilton in Troy, Michigan on May 1st 1977

Courtesy Steve A. Jones Archive

"This is one of my favorite pics that I took at the Troy Hilton after the Led Zep show at the Silverdome back in '77. Got to hang out with Page & Plant that late evening. Bonham was totally messed up, resting his head on the bar downstairs, drunk as hell. What a memory; so cool!" - Photographer

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Thank-you Steve.....But possibly the stop at the Hilton was just for an after concert get together ? It's only about 6 miles down the road, and they had access to their own plane with beds...really no reason to spend the night with a nice break looming.

I still remember vividly when a local dj came out to the stage to announce they had just landed at Metro. That was well past 8:30pm, and the entire audience let out a huge groan. We all knew the airport was 50 miles away.

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Wow. They really hit the stage late and stayed on late. In Landover I am certain it was much earlier. Not that I had a watch or anything left after being robbed the night before in beautiful fucking DC. A city I will always hate. it was worth it all though. Sleeping outdoors behind a church. A pack of wild dogs crossed a nearby road. The shit I went through. But still have my ticket til this day.

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  • 5 weeks later...

YES...But the acoustics of the Dome make it sound distant.....But to many fans this is one of the HOLY-GRAILS due to the fact there is a DVD out there?????

a friend of mine said he was there and they did stairway 3 times for an oncore. is he full of shit? He also said they were booed off stage and came back out. people were leaving. the band was all phucked up and said they would never return to detroit Edited by mattrickelmann
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great pic. It sounds so obvious but wow he looks young in this photo. Maybe in part because the picture is offstage and away from the hype. It looks like it could be in somebody's 70s wood paneled basement. To me Plant looks like almost any guy from the late 70s a little bit buzzed on a Saturday night.

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"a friend of mine said he was there and they did stairway 3 times for an oncore. is he full of shit? He also said they were booed off stage and came back out. people were leaving. the band was all phucked up and said they would never return to detroit..," wrote Mattrickelmann.

Yes, your 'friend' is full of shit -- "Stairway to Heaven" was played only once that night near the end of the show. The place was going nuts ... the management turned the house lights on to try and stop the music, but this only got the crowd more stirred-up ... then Zeppelin returned and performed "Rock & Roll," with the house lights still up ... I'm not kidding, I thought the roof was going to lift off the place -- as I recall, then the management turned down the lights while the band finished with "Trampled Underfoot." There were no pronouncements about never returning to Detroit nor anything of the sort.

In fact in late 1980 tickets were being sold (via mail order ...?) for a return Zeppelin engagement to Pontiac; of course this was thwarted by Bonham's death -- kids who hadn't yet seen them were very disappointed.

I don't know if I've ever posted here before, although I've been a site member for some time ... but this kind of bullshit story needs to be corrected.

Happy New Year to ALL!

jp

Edited by ohiojerry
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"a friend of mine said he was there and they did stairway 3 times for an oncore. is he full of shit? He also said they were booed off stage and came back out. people were leaving. the band was all phucked up and said they would never return to detroit..," wrote Mattrickelmann.

Yes, your 'friend' is full of shit -- "Stairway to Heaven" was played only once that night near the end of the show. The place was going nuts ... the management turned the house lights on to try and stop the music, but this only got the crowd more stirred-up ... then Zeppelin returned and performed "Rock & Roll," with the house lights still up ... I'm not kidding, I thought the roof was going to lift off the place -- as I recall, then the management turned down the lights while the band finished with "Trampled Underfoot." There were no pronouncements about never returning to Detroit nor anything of the sort.

In fact in late 1980 tickets were being sold (via mail order ...?) for a return Zeppelin engagement to Pontiac; of course this was thwarted by Bonham's death -- kids who hadn't yet seen them were very disappointed.

I don't know if I've ever posted here before, although I've been a site member for some time ... but this kind of bullshit story needs to be corrected.

Happy New Year to ALL!

jp

Indeed, and the audience tape proves this- STH was only played once (it was only ever played once) and the audience is going fuckin' bananas before the band even starts playing. Plant has to do a lot of crowd control on the night, and does an admirable job considering he's dealing with 70000+ looney Zeppelin fans, and incredibly, the band doesn't sound the least bit distracted by the crowd (unlike in Louisville five days before).

It's almost like a cliche now, but where's the fucking VIDEO???!!!

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"a friend of mine said he was there and they did stairway 3 times for an oncore. is he full of shit? He also said they were booed off stage and came back out. people were leaving. the band was all phucked up and said they would never return to detroit..," wrote Mattrickelmann.

Yes, your 'friend' is full of shit -- "Stairway to Heaven" was played only once that night near the end of the show. The place was going nuts ... the management turned the house lights on to try and stop the music, but this only got the crowd more stirred-up ... then Zeppelin returned and performed "Rock & Roll," with the house lights still up ... I'm not kidding, I thought the roof was going to lift off the place -- as I recall, then the management turned down the lights while the band finished with "Trampled Underfoot." There were no pronouncements about never returning to Detroit nor anything of the sort.

In fact in late 1980 tickets were being sold (via mail order ...?) for a return Zeppelin engagement to Pontiac; of course this was thwarted by Bonham's death -- kids who hadn't yet seen them were very disappointed.

I don't know if I've ever posted here before, although I've been a site member for some time ... but this kind of bullshit story needs to be corrected.

Happy New Year to ALL!

jp

ok thanks man. i new he was full of shit
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Indeed, and the audience tape proves this- STH was only played once (it was only ever played once) and the audience is going fuckin' bananas before the band even starts playing. Plant has to do a lot of crowd control on the night, and does an admirable job considering he's dealing with 70000+ looney Zeppelin fans, and incredibly, the band doesn't sound the least bit distracted by the crowd (unlike in Louisville five days before).

It's almost like a cliche now, but where's the fucking VIDEO???!!!

ya i would love to see it.
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I was told by a production team staffer in the '80s that the whereabouts of a vault of materials were known only by Lew Grade. The same staffer said he remembers preparation for the '77 shows at Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, Tempe, OC/ACC & New Orleans to be pro-shot at least in part for promo work- while Seattle, Houston and Pontiac being done completely. He also went on to comment that promo plans cratered by Graham due to the goings on at different arenas during the tour, namely OC/ACC.

Houston will show up at some point- the rest (if they still exist) hope against hope.

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I was told by a production team staffer in the '80s that the whereabouts of a vault of materials were known only by Lew Grade. The same staffer said he remembers preparation for the '77 shows at Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, Tempe, OC/ACC & New Orleans to be pro-shot at least in part for promo work- while Seattle, Houston and Pontiac being done completely. He also went on to comment that promo plans cratered by Graham due to the goings on at different arenas during the tour, namely OC/ACC.

Houston will show up at some point- the rest (if they still exist) hope against hope.

So Atlanta was done too? The didn't perform NOLA in 77.

I would think a regular soundboard would exist for Pontiac, even if a video no longer does.

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what she was saying is she remembers "preparations being made" for NOLA in addition to the others as a part of the mega promotions that Graham had planned. Then it all went kaput. I have no info on the Pontiac soundboard. I have a LP boot that is the same audio as the one in wide circulation although it is less muddy. It came from Japan in '82- no artwork, no sleeve- I suspect it was RoIO via Clint Heylin or Swinging Pig.

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