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The Landover 77 Run


ZepHead315

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Apologies if this has been discussed extensively before.

I've heard bits and pieces from these shows, but I haven't heard any of them in full. I've noticed a WIDE range of opinions on this run, much more so than many other Zeppelin shows or runs. From what I've gathered, the 26th and in particular the 28th are considered to be pretty bad and sluggish by Zeppelin standards, and the 25th and the 30th are the "good" shows. However, I've seen people on here dismiss this entire run as being terrible and not worth listening to. I've heard others say that the 30th show is a must hear and is one of the best shows of the tour (along with 4/28, 5/22 [debatable], and the NY and LA runs). I've also seen people say that the 30th is actually pretty sluggish and that the 25th is the best show. Hell, I've even heard people say this entire run is spectacular!

I know everyone's opinions are different of course, but usually some sort of general consensus is reached on the merits of a particular show or run (ie. Southampton 73 is sloppy but has outstanding sound quality, Four Blocks in the Snow is fantastic minus Robert's hoarse voice, Copenhagen 79 is superior to Knebworth, all of LA 77 is amazing, etc.). I find it funny how it appears that there is absolutely no consensus on any of these shows. :lol:

I was looking to listen to one of these shows (perhaps the 30th), but I kinda lost my enthusiasm once I saw others dismiss this entire run. So what do you think of these shows overall? Are any of them worth listening to, or should I not even bother? If so, which do you consider to be the best? (I know that's entirely subjective, but I've literally heard that label applied to every one of these four shows, along with none at all)

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1977 isn't a great year for Zeppelin in general, but it has some really great shows.  In that way, Landover is a sample of the tour itself: not great shows overall, but with the occasional really great performance (5/28 Kashmir and 5/30 Achille's come to mind right away.)  Unfortunately, the brittle soundboards lack the warm quality of the Miller's boots from the Forum, so there's little reason to listen to them at all.

If you want an outstanding, consistent performance from this tour, I recommend April 28.  The only show from 77 where the performance is superior enough to the Forum shows to justify the step down in audio quality.

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The 4th show (30th) is my favorite sound quality wise of all '77 shows that I own or have owned (Destroyer, Ft Worth 5-22, Landover 5-30, LA 6-21 (Eddie), LA 6-23 (Badgeholders), LA 6-25 (4th show), Seattle 7-22

The problem with most Zep boots (especially '77 for some reason) is the flat sound with too little low frequency. 5-30 has the most low frequency out of all of the above  (it seriously thumps in the rhythm section), rivaled only by the exceptional Miller tape of 6-21 (Eddie). But 5-30 is an sbd so overall it sounds better than 6-21. Now, performance wise? The band was exceptional the first LA night so of course it's not quite like that on 5-30. But neither is it sloppy (like, Seattle 7-22 sloppy). 

What I eventually did was sliced all the files, cut out the 6-21 solos and instrumental sections (occasionally I gave preference to 6-23 or 6-25) and pasted them into the 5-30 songs. Now I have the best of both worlds, but I still enjoy playing 5-30 by itself sometimes. The only bummer is the brief tape hiccup in NQ (which fortunately doesn't last).

Anyway, you should get it! Btw, just in case you're curious, I rank Ft Worth 5-22 right behind Landover 5-30 in sound quality, then Eddie, then Seattle, then LA 6-25, then Badgeholders. Destroyer is probably behind Seattle in sq but I find the show really boring. The slop in Seattle 7-22 is actually kind of entertaining (and occasionally it gets epic).

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Three words: Too many 'ludes.

The Landover '77 run are the shows I have the least interest in revisiting. I would rather put on a 1980 show than a '77 Landover. The horrible thin soundboard quality doesn't help. It probably sounds better on the audience tapes. But in my opinion the '77 Landover run is sluggish and full of mistakes and missed connections...the band, especially Bonham, just doesn't seem to be present.

Bonham's least impressive run of performances by far. 

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6 hours ago, Strider said:

The horrible thin soundboard quality doesn't help. It probably sounds better on the audience tapes.

Strider, I'm guessing by the wording of your post you haven't heard the audience tape of the 30th show? I heard it sounds decent and it seems like the 30th show had a better overall reputation back when the audience tape was the only circulating source of this show (ie. The Year of Led Zeppelin blog labelled it as a "Must Hear"). Since the soundboard came out, the praise for the fourth show seems to have died down considerably.

Like I said above, I've heard some snippets from these shows (TSRTS/SA from all four shows, Kashmir on the 28th, Moby Dick on the 26th, WLL/R&R on the 30th) and honestly the only thing that I was impressed with was the encore on the 30th. That ending of Rock and Roll is just explosive. Everything else (particularly the drum solo on the 26th) was a CHORE to get through. I'm thinking I may try to listen to the fourth show (since that seems to be the only show from this run that almost everyone in this thread has praised), but seek out the audience recording rather than the soundboard.

On 1/13/2017 at 1:16 PM, achillestand said:

Can anyone post links for the pics or whatever evidence exists that has made people suggest one of these shows was professionally filmed? Thanks in advance.

I know there was discussion in this thread (though I see you already posted in it):

Photos of the cameras and TV monitors within the Capital Centre can be found within the thread here:

It seems like it's about 50/50 as to whether any shows from this run were filmed. Perhaps someone who is more of an expert on this stuff than I am can answer your question.

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14 hours ago, Strider said:

Three words: Too many 'ludes.

The Landover '77 run are the shows I have the least interest in revisiting. I would rather put on a 1980 show than a '77 Landover. The horrible thin soundboard quality doesn't help. It probably sounds better on the audience tapes. But in my opinion the '77 Landover run is sluggish and full of mistakes and missed connections...the band, especially Bonham, just doesn't seem to be present.

Bonham's least impressive run of performances by far. 

Agreed, although Page was really off most of that tour IMO while Bonzo was still pretty stalwart. Jones gets most reliable award for '77.  The audience tape is much more enjoyable for 5/30. I remember seeing Jimmy in a pic from maybe a rehearsal for '77 show and he had a quaalude t-shirt. RORER 714 . That says a lot. 

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Well shit if everyone judged a Led Zeppelin show purely by the drum solo everybody would think they were rubbish live. Listen to the first 20 minutes of 5/26 and tell me that isnt some high energy and dynamic playing. Great acoustic set and Kashmir too.

 

10 hours ago, ZepHead315 said:

I've heard some snippets from these shows (TSRTS/SA from all four shows, Kashmir on the 28th, Moby Dick on the 26th, WLL/R&R on the 30th) and honestly the only thing that I was impressed with was the encore on the 30th. That ending of Rock and Roll is just explosive. Everything else (particularly the drum solo on the 26th) was a CHORE to get through.

 

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4 hours ago, Sue Dounim said:

Well shit if everyone judged a Led Zeppelin show purely by the drum solo everybody would think they were rubbish live. Listen to the first 20 minutes of 5/26 and tell me that isnt some high energy and dynamic playing. Great acoustic set and Kashmir too.

 

 

Haha, I listened to it cause I heard it was Bonzo's longest drum solo ever. I'm not really a fan of the drum solos in general (unless they're either under about 15 minutes or Bonzo is having a particularly good night), but I figured I may as well try it out. The problem is he doesn't have nearly as much energy in the drum solo here as he does during, say, the LA run. All of the drum solos there are great (with maybe the exception of the 25th as, while his playing there is explosive, I think it does drag in a few parts). And I did hear the first two songs from the 26th as well. You're right that there is high energy (unlike the 28th where they plod through Sick Again so slowly it almost sounds as if the tape is running slow), but to my ears it's quite sloppy energy. I know almost all of 77 is sloppy to an extent anyway, but Strider is correct that the dry, flat soundboard really doesn't help matters.

I also forgot to mention that I heard most of No Quarter from the 26th as well (I was interrupted towards the end and haven't gotten around to finishing it yet). I was pretty impressed with it (though I have yet to hear a bad performance of NQ). If/when I do get around to listening to this whole show, I think I'll once again seek out the audience source rather than the soundboard. Most 77 soundboards just sound really flat and dry. I listened to a snippet of the Seattle audience source and it sounded much better than the soundboard/video. More of a live vibe. Although I will probably skip the drum solo! :lol: Regardless, thanks for the recommendation!

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On 1/14/2017 at 11:22 AM, Strider said:

 

 

On 1/12/2017 at 11:35 AM, ZepHead315 said:

Apologies if this has been discussed extensively before.

I've heard bits and pieces from these shows, but I haven't heard any of them in full. I've noticed a WIDE range of opinions on this run, much more so than many other Zeppelin shows or runs. From what I've gathered, the 26th and in particular the 28th are considered to be pretty bad and sluggish by Zeppelin standards, and the 25th and the 30th are the "good" shows.

The assessment that the 25th and 30th are the best Landover shows is pretty much spot on. The 26th has its moments but Bonham is quite erratic; he cuts JPJ's piano solo in "No Quarter" short and starts in with the Boogie Section quite early on. He also starts in on "Achilles Last Stand" early while Page is still playing the intro. Then there's the infamous thirty six minute drum solo with itself is an exercise in endurance for the listener. Boring and repetitive.

The May 28 show is one of the worst gigs of the tour, IMO. Again, Bonham is having a bit of an off night and Page seems well out of it. There is really nothing to recommend about this show except for what a "bad" -certainly mediocre- Zeppelin performance can sound like.

May 30 was added due to high ticket demand I believe. And the band pulls out all the stops, it's quite a decent performance which makes up for the lackadaisical nature of the previous three nights.

Naturally, having all four Landover shows in soundboard quality is both a blessing and a curse as the mistakes come shining through on the soundboards.

On 1/14/2017 at 11:22 AM, Strider said:

Three words: Too many 'ludes.

The Landover '77 run are the shows I have the least interest in revisiting. I would rather put on a 1980 show than a '77 Landover. The horrible thin soundboard quality doesn't help. It probably sounds better on the audience tapes. But in my opinion the '77 Landover run is sluggish and full of mistakes and missed connections...the band, especially Bonham, just doesn't seem to be present.

Bonham's least impressive run of performances by far. 

The Landover audience tapes are nothing to write home about- the May 25 recording is very distant; for example the Plantations can barely be heard (which probably at least explains why the May 25 show has been passed off as both the missing Dallas and St Louis '77 recordings...) The May 26 and 28 audience tapes are slightly better but still fairly muddy and distant. The May 30 recording is much better -similar in quality to the April 28 Cleveland recording- except that the recording level was set much to high for "The Song Remains The Same" rendering that song a distorted mess (fortunately the taper realized the error and lowered the volume at the start of "The Rover/Sick Again"). I suspect there is more than one audience source for this show, since the long audience patch on the soundboard during "No Quarter" (about ten minutes) seems to encompass two different recordings.

I agree about the 'ludes. For at least the first three shows Page and Bonham just seem off. Their playing is very erratic, which tends to hinder the overall performances. I don't return to the Landover shows much, either. Life's too short to spend three hours listening to a mediocre performance.

On 1/12/2017 at 10:14 PM, soccer5 said:

The 4th Show-30th No Doubt

Indeed, the May 30 show is all the Landover you really need.

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