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Pontiac Silverdome 1977


jpenzabene

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I still believe that this show was filmed.

Duh. That's never been questioned.

:lol: Indeed...it's what became of the fuckin' film that raises all the questions! Who knows, maybe the Pontiac proshot will finally make an appearance in time for our grandkids to enjoy it, if the world doesn't blow up before then...

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We WOULD have footage of Pontiac, if that 8mm film surfaced.

I believe it has, it only circulates via an elite group of collectors, though, if memory serves.

Could be bullshit, but who knows.

It's like with this mythical 'black and white' Houston '77 video...unless someone is willing to post a screenshot or something, call me a skeptic. Sorry, I'm not really inclined to take anybody's mere word about anything in this community, without some sort of hard evidence -like a sample or a screenshot- to back up the claims.

And I think this idea of only sharing something with a select few is fucking asinine, incidentally- either share it with everybody, or keep it completely dark.

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I believe it has, it only circulates via an elite group of collectors, though, if memory serves.

Could be bullshit, but who knows.

It's like with this mythical 'black and white' Houston '77 video...unless someone is willing to post a screenshot or something, call me a skeptic. Sorry, I'm not really inclined to take anybody's mere word about anything in this community, without some sort of hard evidence -like a sample or a screenshot- to back up the claims.

And I think this idea of only sharing something with a select few is fucking asinine, incidentally- either share it with everybody, or keep it completely dark.

There is Pontiaac 1977 8mm film shot from the floor about half way back. A guy who goes by "Zepp4life" had the footage, he posted screen shots and maybe a small sample

and then a couple days later took the post down. Rumor has it he ended up giving a DVD to Jimmy and Co. at the "02" gig in trade for getting to watch the Soundcheck

and front row seats. But since he did this he was told not to circulate it any further.

It was color 8mm, about 20 min. long and in average quality.

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There is Pontiaac 1977 8mm film shot from the floor about half way back. A guy who goes by "Zepp4life" had the footage, he posted screen shots and maybe a small sample

and then a couple days later took the post down. Rumor has it he ended up giving a DVD to Jimmy and Co. at the "02" gig in trade for getting to watch the Soundcheck

and front row seats. But since he did this he was told not to circulate it any further.

It was color 8mm, about 20 min. long and in average quality.

I never heard that particular story -or rumour, to be more accurate- but I believe that is the film that was shared out amongst a group of 'elite' :lol::rolleyes: traders.

Again, if somebody were to give me some uncirculating goodie but told me I had to keep it to myself, I'd tell them to go fuck themselves. I'd rather not have the thing at all if it meant I couldn't pass it along. I think I'd rather have cancer than be considered a member of some goddamn elitist clique. I've got a liberator mentality, not a hoarder mentality- my parents taught me to share...

Edited by Nutrocker
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I never heard that particular story -or rumour, to be more accurate- but I believe that is the film that was shared out amongst a group of 'elite' :lol::rolleyes: traders.

Again, if somebody were to give me some uncirculating goodie but told me I had to keep it to myself, I'd tell them to go fuck themselves. I'd rather not have the thing at all if it meant I couldn't pass it along. I think I'd rather have cancer than be considered a member of some goddamn elitist clique. I've got a liberator mentality, not a hoarder mentality- my parents taught me to share...

It's not a rumor, I saw his post with screen grabs and samples with my own eyes. The guy took a beating for a while over at RO.com for teasing everyone. The guy got it back in the 1980s from a guy who sold video at record shows in the Great Lakes area. I believe he had some 1975 8mm film too, perhaps Montreal 1975?

"Zepp4Life" even brought extra copies of the Pontiac '77 DVD to play for other "friends" while in England for the "02" show and I believe he even showed it to other friends at some Zep gatherings.

At first the guy was going tor shsre it with everyone but that only lasted about a day!

Edited by Sticks of Fire
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It's not a rumor, I saw his post with screen grabs and samples with my own eyes. The guy took a beating for a while over at RO.com for teasing everyone. The guy got it back in the 1980s from a guy who sold video at record shows in the Great Lakes area. I believe he had some 1975 8mm film too, perhaps Montreal 1975?

"Zepp4Life" even brought extra copies of the Pontiac '77 DVD to play for other "friends" while in England for the "02" show and I believe he even showed it ot other firends at some Zep gatherings.

At first the guy was going tor shsre it with everyone but that only lasted about a day!

Was the 8mm clear? or out of focus?

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Was the 8mm clear? or out of focus?

It was pretty decent, like I said shot from the floor about half way back. Sometimes focused on the stage, sometimes on the video screens.

I vividly remember seeing the double neck and some other shots he posted. Ask any mod over at RO.com, they will remember it clearly.

Edited by Sticks of Fire
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It's not a rumor, I saw his post with screen grabs and samples with my own eyes. The guy took a beating for a while over at RO.com for teasing everyone. The guy got it back in the 1980s from a guy who sold video at record shows in the Great Lakes area. I believe he had some 1975 8mm film too, perhaps Montreal 1975?

...and I'd be willing to bet that every bit of that discussion, from the post with the screengrabs to the ensuing 'beating' were stricken from the RO record (i.e. deleted from the thread, or the thread was deleted altogether) faster than you can say 'censorship'. The mods over at RO have been notorious for this kind of thing over the years, probably at least in part because some of them don't want to be reminded of their own past transgressions :lol: (And before anybody tries bashing me for knocking the RO site -which I'm not, I'm just stating a fact- let me just say that if you've done any sort of homework on the subject at all you know that what I say is true, even though the RO site's reputation has improved greatly over the past few years- either that or they've just learned a little more about discretion...)

"Zepp4Life" even brought extra copies of the Pontiac '77 DVD to play for other "friends" while in England for the "02" show and I believe he even showed it to other friends at some Zep gatherings.

I have heard similar stories regarding the supposed Houston '77 video from time to time (that the video was shown at parties).

At first the guy was going tor share it with everyone but that only lasted about a day!

I'm sure :lol: He shoulda said "Fuck it!" and shared it anyway...

It was pretty decent, like I said shot from the floor about half way back. Sometimes focused on the stage, sometimes on the video screens.

I vividly remember seeing the double neck and some other shots he posted. Ask any mod over at RO.com, they will remember it clearly.

I don't doubt they'd remember it, but I bet they'd be in denial mode at this point (at least, if they want to remain moderators, if not banned from the site altogether), either saying "Where'd you hear that?" or -even better- "Who told you that?!" :lol::rolleyes: These are the kinds of games that get played, folks...again, no bashing, this is a pretty well known fact...

(And, just for the record, it's not as if the same kind of bullshit doesn't go down on this site from time to time...)

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Well it's all true what I said. Not that it matters in the least, have a great day amico :stereo:

You have a good one too, Sticks- in case you haven't figured it out, I believe everything you've said. I've no doubt of yer sincerity, because it doesn't look like you have any axe to grind or a dog in the hunt (how's that for mixing metaphors! :lol: )

Sheeit, I actually just spent the last hour or so perusing some of the archive discussions regarding this topic over at RO...sure enough, I saw a few posts that simply said "EDIT" (i.e. the post itself was deleted...surprise!), which were most likely of the nature you were describing. I believe I even saw yer name in some of the discussions, so obviously you've been round the block, and have my respect.

Is there some kind of commando team that can be put together? I'm sure there are some hardcore Zeppelin fans with elite military experience. We can find this guy with the Pontiac DVD, and do an "extraction."

Sure! Let's hire the same SEALS team that got Bin Laden, maybe they'll make a movie about it, Kathyrn Bigelow's next Oscar-nominated project! Somebody, call Tom Clancy, I got a great idea for his next book: President Ryan calls in The Campus or Rainbow or one of those groups to retrieve a stash of old Led Zeppelin tapes and videos before a multinational terrorist organization can get their hands on them, so they can sell them to bootleggers in order to fund the terrorist's next attack! Love it! This shit writes itself, it really does... :lol: Toss in about six hundred pages of boring technical jargon nobody cares about, and you be in like Flynn, bo!

In fact, fuck Tom Clancy and Kathryn Bigelow...this sounds like a job for 007- what's Daniel Craig up to these days?!

I'm joking in a "legal disclaimer" sort of way.

(back to serious mode)

Thing is, mielazul, as ridiculous as the idea sounds, it wouldn't surprise me one iota if people's lives have been threatened or outright thievery of the kind you just suggested (in jest) has been seriously considered in the past over these kinds of mythical uncirculating collectibles. Especially if serious money is involved in what they're after.

Edited by Nutrocker
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^^^ I don't mean to get off topic - especially since this is a topic that I'm very interested in - but as long as you mentioned thievery, I'd like to bring up something that I've always wondered about, and I'd be interested in your opinion.

People always talk about the theft of Jimmy's tapes in the 80's, and frequently point to that as a possible source when new releases come out. I've always wondered if Jimmy himself is behind some of these releases...like maybe he's getting them out discreetly through the proper channels. The reason I've suspected that - with no evidence whatsoever, I'm the first to admit - is that Jimmy is clearly the guy who cares most about maintaining the band's legacy...and yet apparently he has to work past Rob's veto on things he wants to release officially. What better way to bypass that than to leak out a few concerts every year or two years. I know some people will say "Oh no, Jimmy's such a perfectionist, and he wouldn't want things out that weren't scrubbed to perfection." But he's a smart guy, and he's a realist in some ways, and most importantly he's a Led Zeppelin superfan - he seems to REALLY believe that every Led Zeppelin concert was a source of magic in some way or another (even the rough ones). There's not enough time - not even close - to do this on an "official release" basis, let alone getting agreement from Rob. I just have a gut feeling he's involved in this somehow. Feel totally free to mock me, just don't be too harsh. It's a pet fantasy of mine.

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I've always wondered if Jimmy himself is behind some of these releases...like maybe he's getting them out discreetly through the proper channels.

I'd say the more likely source is Jason Bonham. You have to remember that Jason lost his father very early, and so he has a much different interest in preserving all of those live Zep moments. That's his dad on those tapes. Watch the recent Charlie Rose interview, and the surviving members even make special mention that during the O2 rehearsals that Jason kept trying to get them all to do specific improvisations on songs like he had heard on various live tapes, and that none of them really had any idea what he was talking about because to them it was just a memory from a very very long time ago. That should tell you right there who actually cares about the tapes.

I know that it's very easy to assume that it's Page doing the learking since's he's the one who has historically had all of this mystery going on, but he's going to be 70 years old in another year. Really think about that. That's great-grandfather age. Feeding bootleg labels tapes on the sly can't really be the thing on his mind these days. Read the interviews with Kevin Shirley from 10 years ago regarding compiling the Zeppelin live DVD and he makes it clear that Page wasn't too concerned with the preservation of the live tapes even back then, and that he was more interested in getting the job done quickly so that he could go visit his son while he was in the states.

We can only hope that Page's been sitting on the soundboards to things like Boston 69, Bath 70, Osaka 71, etc specifically for pairing with the remastered Zep releases. I hope so, but we'll have to wait and see.

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I didn't think of the Jason angle, thanks for the insight. I did read that quote from Shirley that you mentioned - it definitely jumped out at me - but I think that was in reference to the SRTS project. I could be wrong, but the LZ DVD gives me the impression of Jimmy's quality control, whereas there were some saddening fuckups and lost opportunities on SRTS, in my opinion. Anyway, thanks again for responding.

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I have believed, for many years, that someone inside the band, probably Jimmy, releases material to keep interest in the band high. I have noticed that often, right before the band has some "event", like a remaster, live CD, a DVD, etc., a new bootleg or two seems to surface.

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I think it's a combination of both (Jason and Jimmy)...As to who has more influenece on Bootlegs being surfaced, I dunno.

I DO know that Jimmy has been spotted (and there are photo's and threads to prove it) shopping for bootlegs in various places he visits. Japan would be one example. I think he has a thing for them too. Jimmy is the sole caretaker of anything Zep related, that is to see official release.

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I have believed, for many years, that someone inside the band, probably Jimmy, releases material to keep interest in the band high. I have noticed that often, right before the band has some "event", like a remaster, live CD, a DVD, etc., a new bootleg or two seems to surface.

Well, you have a more "commercial strategy" angle, whereas I'm coming from the "Jimmy' the Superfan" angle...but yeah, I'm on the same page for sure.

I'm editing this to say that it probably amounts to the same thing - being a Superfan and devising the strategy you spoke of - so we're totally on the same page.

Edited by mielazul
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I think it's a combination of both (Jason and Jimmy)...As to who has more influenece on Bootlegs being surfaced, I dunno.

I DO know that Jimmy has been spotted (and there are photo's and threads to prove it) shopping for bootlegs in various places he visits. Japan would be one example. I think he has a thing for them too. Jimmy is the sole caretaker of anything Zep related, that is to see official release.

Those pictures of him in the bootleg shops always put a big smile on my face.

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