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What live song do you skip or endure?


Guest WD52

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For me, In My Time of Dying is essential listening live, all the way through, from both 1975 and 1977.  In 1977 there is a whole different feel with the Alembic bass.  It really brings out what Jones is doing.  It is so cool the way he slides and bends the strings at the same time.

It is also a song that does not suffer much from Robert's 1975 voice.  

What do I skip?  Any White Summer from 1977 or 1980.  And the 1977 "guitar solo". 

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Like some have said, it depends on mood.  For a while I'd skip many of the 73 and 75 Dazed & Confused now I find myself really into them, especially the San Francisco/Woodstock sections from 75.  Through my years of listening to live Zep the tracks I consistanly skip are Moby Dick/Over The Top and later years White Summer.

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I always skip Misty Mountain Hop. One of the few LZ songs that was killer in the studio but just never worked live. 2nd place goes to NFBM. Not that it didn't work live (which it did), I just find it to be a bit too monotonous for repeated listening. 3rd place goes to Kashmir, for pretty much the same reason. 

Edited by blindwillie127
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On 12/23/2015 at 4:16 AM, WD52 said:

In My Time of Dying....how I wish they had never done it live. I alternate gritting my teeth to endure it to keep the 'entire gig experience' or, more often than not, i just skip it. Or is this some kind of heresy?

I enjoy the O2 IMTOD.

I skip the TSRTS WLL. I perfer 1970 WLL versions.

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  • 2 months later...

I almost always skip Rock n Roll when it's the opener of the show - with the band not warmed up yet I find it hard to listen to.

And I often skip Trampled Underfoot - primarily because I feel they never really nailed that song live...

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I never skip any. I am not trying to make out i am some kind of superfan. It is just i give myself time to listen to a complete album. I sometimes say, I will skip Stairway. Because i do not want to get too emotional. (it reminds me of my late Nanna). I never end up doing. It does not make me sad in a bad way. Just makes me think back. Fondness. Sometimes you do not want to get like that. Years ago skipping was bad. Fastforwarding and rewinding cassettes was what wrecked them.

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11 hours ago, Trapper said:

And I often skip Trampled Underfoot - primarily because I feel they never really nailed that song live...

That's funny, I am the opposite when it comes to 1980. I have not yet listened to anywhere near all the boots - especially '80 as it was somewhat "uneven". But the Hotter than the Hindenburgh boot from Frankfurt...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzWPv82B3w0

I basically have skipped the entire boot with the exception of this for the last few months. TU could not have gotten any better than this one. Maybe Zurich the night before. It is also immensely above any other performance given for this song IMHO.

I skip Moby Dick unless I am incredibly immersed in the whole boot or album. But to be honest, it's rare I don't skip it.

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4 hours ago, rm2551 said:

That's funny, I am the opposite when it comes to 1980. I have not yet listened to anywhere near all the boots - especially '80 as it was somewhat "uneven". But the Hotter than the Hindenburgh boot from Frankfurt...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzWPv82B3w0

I basically have skipped the entire boot with the exception of this for the last few months. TU could not have gotten any better than this one. Maybe Zurich the night before. It is also immensely above any other performance given for this song IMHO.

I skip Moby Dick unless I am incredibly immersed in the whole boot or album. But to be honest, it's rare I don't skip it.

When it comes to the 1980 tour "Trampled Under Foot" is generally considered to be the most consistently well played song of any given show. Just about every version is a highlight of the tour.

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#1 Misty Mountain Hop - Love it on the album, but 'live' it just never seemed to work right IMO. 

#2 Kashmir - however, I usually tune in for the dramatic flurry towards the end, can't help myself there.

#3 Nobody's Fault But Mine - its a fun song, but a bit of a slog to get through. Ahha Ahha Ah Ah Ahaaa......

#4 The Rain Song - Love the song and how its performed live, but I usually just don't have the attention span for it

.

 

 

 

 

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Depends on my mood I guess.  Oddly, I skip Going to California, a song I really like in it's studio incarnation.  I just never found the live versions radically different.  It also often began the acoustic set when I wasn't ready for a toned down sound.

To the earlier poster regarding When the Levee Breaks, I thought it was only attempted live twice,  Once in Chicago and another time I believe.  There is also a very funny version of it with Neil Young in 1995 Rock and Roll Inductions, tell me this doesn't make you laugh, hah:

 

 

 

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Kind of glad to see I'm not the only one who skips Dazed, at least most of the time. The drum solos and noise solos I'll skip as well, but I usually enjoy IMTOD and trampled UF. Kashmir is sometimes just too plodding and repetitive for my taste. It's the one song where I disagree with the band and many fans. It's good, even great, but not even close to being their best song. I need to be in a certain kind of mood to want to listen to it.

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  • 5 months later...

I really like IMTOD live. Just translated really well into the live show, and it's such a powerhouse of a song. I've heard complaints about the length of it regarding the studio version as well, but I disagree - I love the fact that it's over ten minutes long and just keeps repeating the same riffs over and over again. It's good music, so the more the merrier. Also the 'Oh My Jesus' part is my favourite bit of the song because after Plant does it a few times Page just comes straight back in with the riffage again.....

My main choices for songs to skip are:

1) Moby Dick. Just no.*

2) Misty Mountain Hop. The worst song on IV, and it's taken me a long time to like it properly. So many better songs that can be played live.

3) D&C if it's just getting ridiculous and pushing over the 25 min mark, although I do sometimes play them, depends on my mood.

4) Noise Solo - can take or leave....

5) Whole Lotta Love - I'm not that interested in hearing a load of 50s rock n roll medleys, mostly. I agree with the person who said that the main riff of the studio version never got reproduced fully satisfactorily live. However I will make an exception for the Copenhagen/Knebworth versions, which get rid of the theremin section and replace it with a riff jam including some incredible moments and keeping the momentum of the song going. That's my favourite version of the song, including the studio/BBC ones.

6) The Song Remains The Same. 50% of the time I skip this. Never been a huge fan of it - it's a good song but I just have so many others I prefer.

 

*(I appreciate Bonham's skill, but my drum solo tolerance is very low in general. The only one I've witnessed that was actually good was a 5 minute one from Carl Palmer a few years ago at an ELP show, which was genuinely riveting to watch. But almost anyone else, I simply turn to the next track.)

 

Edited by Cosmic_Equilibrium
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I never skip anything. Ever. I am too young to have seen Zeppelin live, so I am grateful these recordings exist. I also appreciate and enjoy the virtuosity of all four of them, so marathon performances of "Moby Dick" and "Dazed and Confused" don't bother me. I even find the noise solos interesting. I always really liked the violin bow thing, so that probably helps as well. 

That being said, I can understand why others may feel that the longer songs can be grating.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Misty Mountain Hop.

Just never been a big fan of it tbh. Not saying I skip it everytime I listen to a boot with it on, but it's not a favorite of mine. I mostly skip it on boots that I go back and listen to, rather than when I listen to them for the first time though.

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  • 6 months later...

I think for me it's a question for time more than anything. If I'm playing a show whle doing work from home and there's enough time for the whole thing before Mrs comes home, then the whole show gets played. If I'm in my car (alone), same. If I know there isn't enough time for the whole thing, Moby is the first to go, then if there still isn't enough time, Stairway goes next. That usually does it.

If I play two shows on the same day and both contain TSRTS/RS, I will usually skip that combo in the second show.

I love everything though. It's my favorite band!

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Depends on which tour.

Dazed after 73 has never really interested me. 

Same with WLL after 72.

SIBLY after 73 is hard to swallow just because it was so played out. To me, this was a showoff song for Page and Plant and neither could top anything they did after 73. I do like the 4/28/77 version though (or 27, whichever was the audience source).

I've never really enjoyed Misty Mountain Hop live. For me, that song simply has to have Rob's higher octave to sound good, otherwise he's got that straining on the toilet thing going.

Like a user stated above, Moby Dick only gets played if I'm purposely listening to the entire show. 

Trampled Underfoot has me yawning after ten seconds. Page's solos for it were too forced and erratic and swamped in wah effect. Another track where I prefer the studio track.

We're Gonna Groove in the early days. One of my least favorite Zep songs.

 

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1 hour ago, gibsonfan159 said:

 

Trampled Underfoot has me yawning after ten seconds. Page's solos for it were too forced and erratic and swamped in wah effect. Another track where I prefer the studio track.

 

Wow, not me. The studio track barely has a guitar solo... plus Plant does some really good shrieks before/after the solo and at the finish (that is, when his voice allows him to, like 3-19-75 for example). I certainly prefer the '75 versions though, when Jimmy was a little better overall :shifty:

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Also Heartbreaker, maybe more than any other. I don't care for the studio version or the live versions (Except for maybe the West Coast 72 versions). 

 

As far as enduring no matter what,

Rock And Roll, because I keep waiting to hear a version that matches the studio version. Still waiting lol.

OTHAFA. Jimmy mixes that solo up so much it makes each version a treat. And the studio version might be my all time fav Zep tune.

The Rain Song. I know this might be the least varied song Zep ever played live, but I listen every time. Maybe it's because I play guitar and each time I hear it, I'm in awe of how sophisticated and intricate the structure is.

Achilles. Hell, I'll take the Tempe 77 version over just about any Heartbreaker.

 

 

Edited by gibsonfan159
Wrong Year
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Moby Dick is very often skipped unless I am bang up for a mad listening session with a few hours of solitude up my sleeve (hardly ever).

I used to skip the violin bow solo in D&C, but I now enjoy the whole song much more. I almost never skip unless in a hurry to get as much listening into a short window (drive to work, sacrifice the solo to fit one more song in). *This is not often as main mode of commute is my motorbike.

Rock and Roll sometimes skipped to get to Sick Again and OTHAFA and onward. I am just too impatient, not because I don't like it. I really, really love the 2 tracks that follow is all. Not to mention IMTOD, NQ, Dazed, etc...

Edited by rm2551
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