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The Firm


sharwoodjr

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The Costa Mesa concert was held at the Pacific Amphitheatre on Sat, Mar 16, 1985.

I have several photographs from this concert so I can tell you with certainty he wore

a dark blue Hawaiian shirt and plain white pants, which was typical for that tour. I've

also got fan reviews indicating it was a lively, spirited show, but that is not to say

your view is any less valid. One thing I did find interesting, and this is depicted in the

photos, is that Jimmy lifted his right leg and "played" his shoe. This was quite possibly

done in jest during band introductions.

The St. Louis concert you attended was held on Tue, May 13th, 1986.

I appreciate your reply. I would like to explain that as a zep freak i think my expectations were too high AND i was pretty far back and drinking way too much...it'f funny how memories are sometimes chequered like that...same as far as the outrider and C/P remarks i made...obviously they had good things on them...It just seems that, for me, once you've been to 'the mount', every thing else seems mundane...and for some reason i never had the same expectations for Robert...but for the creator of such masterpieces as "Achilles..." and "Song..." the brilliant guitar army of JPage, maestro magic fingers...my expectations where un-godly high...and i was duly let down-by my own unrealalistic hang-ups...

I do have a photo from the '85 Costa Mesa show...might be a polaroid even, but it is of Jimmy in (what looks like) a white outfit, center stage. the pic is from so far away that i dont think any other band members can be seen...I'm gonna try to find it one day, in a box in my basement somewhere...

And thanks for the dates on the shows, confirmed what i thought, thanks!

The '86 STL show was excellent...it reaffimed Jimmy in my eyes and also helped me come to grips with, uh, the demise...

It all came full circle, in a sense, during the catharsis of p/p '95 show in stl. i cried inside that night, but for different reasons, maybe it was partially the hallucinagens coursing thru my veins....maybe it was the opening blast of "Thank You" after years if devotion, adulation, puchasing, obsessing, enjoying...they became like family to most of us...the return of p/p and the "clarksdale" album was like a homecoming...we welcomed them back to our bosom...i dont need to see them again but would love to...They were the best and always will be...peace and love, steveAJones!

Edited by stonefreelee
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sorry folks, but paul rogers just doesn't cut it.

he couldn't do it with free, he couldn't do it with bad company, he couldn't do it with the firm, and he couldn't do it with queen.

i love jimmy page, but even the yardbirds released the "little games" album. speaking of little games, if they had not gone with mickey most and captured the sound glimpsed at in the "bbc" recordings, there might not have been a led zep (gasp!). alas, while i regret the passing of the "most blueswailing" band, led zep was basically a logical continuation of the same. plant could not only sing, he could wail on the blues harp. jonesy not only played the bass, he had great creative insight like paul samwell-smith (remember "no quarter"?) bonzo.........good lord. i'm not knocking jim mccarty, but there had never been a drummer like bonzo. it was the yardbirds, only BETTER.

paul rogers?

no comparison. no offense to pagey for trying, though. we appreciated the effort.

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I don't dislike Paul Rodgers voice, it's fine but doesn't do anything for me. When I saw the Firm it was a memorable experience because it was the one and only time I saw JP live. I have no idea if he was "on" or not I was totally wired because it was Jimmy "Freakin" Page!!!

I do remember thinking that Paul Rodgers was the most boring frontman ever!

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I don't dislike Paul Rodgers voice, it's fine but doesn't do anything for me. When I saw the Firm it was a memorable experience because it was the one and only time I saw JP live. I have no idea if he was "on" or not I was totally wired because it was Jimmy "Freakin" Page!!!

I do remember thinking that Paul Rodgers was the most boring frontman ever!

yep, that was what i was gettin' at. don't know what page was thinking.....

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Hi everyone!

I want to chime in that I like both the Firm and Coverdale/Page, but I hear them as being so different so depending on the mood I am in I might lean towards one over the other.

I realize that many people are "offended" that Pagey would work with Coverdale, and David's influence might have "80'd" the sound of the songs, but everyone would have to admit that Page BURNED on that album from start to finish.

I feel very strongly that if they had used a drummer more like Jason, Michael Lee, Cozy Powell (can't think if he was even alive but he is a good example), Tommy Aldridge or anyone with more "live & open" drum sound, that this collaboration would have been more accepted by classic rock fans. I would definitely listen to it more but i hate the drum sound for that type of music. It sounds wimpy. Denny Carmassi is a great drummer, but he has a very "shallow", "dry" and "controlled" drum sound. That can change the feel of a song very drastically. Especially because his snare sound is so "dry". His drum sound is actually almost the exact opposite of those drummers I mentioned above, with maybe the exception of Cozy Powell. Cozy also liked a "dryer" drum sound for a "rock drummer" although being a power player he still had some "depth" to his snare, kick drum and toms.

A good example of what i am trying to describe is try listening to the original version of Heart's Barracuda and comparing it a version with the line up that included Carmassi. It does not have the same "feel" even though he may be playing it note for note. I realize that any version with Carmassi playing the drums on it is probably live, and some situations back then he used electronic toms but he usually used a "real" snare and that only makes my point more. Obviously the sound of a studio album versus a live album will have some differences because of all the variables added to the live recording but the drum sound is what it is and should actually gain some "depth" and "fullness" live. Denny's drum kit actually sounds weaker when he is live. Check it out and then picture Coverdale/Page with a real drum sound. AWESOME!

peace!

Pop I

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It didnt last because of conflicts between page and rodgers

Is that really true?! Rodgers speaks so gratefully and humbly of his experience with The Firm, saying he was really honored to have had the chance to work with such a great musician as Pagey. Maybe that was a perspective that came in more recent years, I dunno.

I was reading bass player Tony Franklin's web site, and he admits that he regrets the way he left Jimmy Page's Outrider band, that he didn't appreciate what a rare oppotunity it was.

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anyone remember what guitars Jimmy was playing during these live shows for the Firm?? I remember vaguely the shows I saw......and I'm pretty sure he went away from the Les Pauls during the Firm Days........ for some reason I thought I remember Fender Telecasters?

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The Firm

22nd May 1985 / Wembley Arena / London

I remember The arena being half full and feeling a bit down by this. I think they should have played somewhere smaller like Hammy Odeon, it also didn't help that Wembley Arena is just a crap place to see anybody.

It was good to see Jimmy live for the first time, and the band were good live even if their albums were average. I remember being mesmerised by jimmy's violin bow/laser section.

Hey Leddy, small world, I was at that gig too.

Couldn't really get into The Firm, though.

Loved Free & Bad Co. & Led Zep, but for me Rodgers and Page together was OK, but no great shakes.

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Hey Leddy, small world, I was at that gig too.

Couldn't really get into The Firm, though.

Loved Free & Bad Co. & Led Zep, but for me Rodgers and Page together was OK, but no great shakes.

I know what you mean, i was like its so great to have Page do something and be out there, but on the other hand they were average Joe albums. Funny you were there too and some 22 yrs later we should bump into each other at another Page gig which was a little more special !! :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

MTV - 'The Firm' Special (approx 44 mins)

Don't know if this has been posted before? :-/

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v275526sPAxR67a

Came across it at Lucy Pillar's site - www.allrightnow.com

A great Atlanta based site for any fans of 'Free' or fans of progressive rock, and blues.

Sorry guys! Just noticed that the 44 minute special has now been cut to a 5 min

snippet. :rolleyes: There is a link on it to the full version, if you want to watch further. Some excellent footage of Jimmy included, well worth watching!

Edited by plantonic
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Just from seeing -the firm thread, makes me think of when i havent heard the firm in awhile and the riff to -closer comes to mind, always provokes a -firm listening session. satisfaction guaranteed, midnight moonlight, cadillac, and always, live in peace.

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Just from seeing -the firm thread, makes me think of when i havent heard the firm in awhile and the riff to -closer comes to mind, always provokes a -firm listening session. satisfaction guaranteed, midnight moonlight, cadillac, and always, live in peace.

Live In Peace is one of my favorite Firm songs, especially the live version that was on the back of the Radioactive 12 inch single.

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Live In Peace is one of my favorite Firm songs, especially the live version that was on the back of the Radioactive 12 inch single.

I have that single too, yeah that song is even better live. I like -mean business a alittle more than the first firm album, its less of a commercial angle. fortune hunter, free to live, tear down the walls, spirit of love...good songs and cool to hear jimmy in a different light.

Thats why it would have been so interesting to hear a second -page/plant record, to hear that band settle down and change things up a bit.

Edited by middlezep
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I have that single too, yeah that song is even better live. I like -mean business a alittle more than the first firm album, its less of a commercial angle. fortune hunter, free to live, tear down the walls, spirit of love...good songs and cool to hear jimmy in a different light.

Thats why it would have been so interesting to hear a second -page/plant record, to hear that band settle down and change things up a bit.

Hi Middlezep!

Good comments which I agree with. Mean Business still is a good listen. Jimmy should remix it and bring his guitar up in the mix. The Firm's Dec. 9th Hammersmith Show was played loudly just yesterday. Thanks MZ!

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Hi Middlezep!

Good comments which I agree with. Mean Business still is a good listen. Jimmy should remix it and bring his guitar up in the mix. The Firm's Dec. 9th Hammersmith Show was played loudly just yesterday. Thanks MZ!

Cheers chicago, yeah it would be nice to hear those -firm records remastered. Now that i'm thinking of the firm, guess i'll have to go listen to some tracks off -mean business and that live firm show today.

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I LOVE the Firm. Always have. I saw them at the Nassau Colliseum for the Mean Business Tour (shelled out $100 bucks for 4th row center)

and i can still remember the intro with Fortune Hunter. every time i play a Firm mix, i laways have to have it start with fortune hunter.

the firm had some great music from page. satisfaction guaranteed is an amazing song, as is midnight moonlight, and even though he didn't write it, his playing on live in peace....that's one of my favorite page solos.

outrider pretty much sicked. wasting my time is a good song, but most of the instrumentals, if not all of them, all sound the same and rather uninspired, and chris farlow's (or whatever his name is - i don't feel like looking it up) vocals on prison blues are unlistenable (in my opinion anyway).

Coverdale/Page is also fairly miserable. The one lone standout is "Pride & Joy". the heights to which i love love love that song is directly converse to how much i think the rest of the album sucks sucks sucks. I think page came up with some good music ("Whisper A Prayer For The Dying" has a real good chunky groove, until coverdale opens his friggin mouth, and blows the whole thing to shit) - that music is completely demolished by coverdale. besides trying to sound (unsuccessfully) like plant, he just has a horrible horrible shrieky voice (plus he's an arrogant asshat). i thought "Shake My Tree" sounded much better on the page plant tour in 1994/95. though i'd have loved to have heard plant's take on "Pride and Joy", as well as page's take on some of plants songs like "Big Log" or in The Mood" or even one of my favorite plant songs, "Watching You"

Anyway, those are my thoughts, for what they're worth. i'm sure i have more thoughts, but nothing's coming to mind.

i like the firm

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I LOVE the Firm. Always have. I saw them at the Nassau Colliseum for the Mean Business Tour (shelled out $100 bucks for 4th row center)

I was there too- front row center- and got a great pic of Page playing the Les Paul during "The Chase". Actually I took a lot of pics with my little cheap 110 camera unfortunately many of them had great shots of the bald security guard right in front of me :(

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