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So Called Bad Zep Shows


Tony Harden

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I want to begin this post by stating four things:  1.  I am not trying to put down anybody or knock anybody;  2.  I am nobody's musical expert;  3.  I am a hardcore Zep fan and this could certainly could cloud my view;  4.  We all have our opinions and something opinions differ.

I have read posts talking about certain bad Zep performances that I found the recordings to be very enjoyable.  Let's state that for the record that all of these questionable performances are all post '75 and most of them are post '77. 

It seems to me that many of the post '75 performances and probably most of the post '77 performances take a real beating from some of the fans and I don't really think that's fair.

I recently read a post against the Seattle '77 show but I seriously enjoyed that video.  I will say that maybe the visuals made up for any slight flaws.  I found it hilarious when Jonsey saved the acoustic set when Jimmy broke that string.  I am not a big fan of the '77 version of No Quarter, but then this is more than made up by: some great versions of IMTOD, Jimmy's solos, some of the best ever versions of Moby Dick.  In '77 Achilles and Kashmir always brought the house to its knees.

Both of the '79 Knebworth shows were killer and that's all I am going to say there.

Overall, I like the '80 tour better than the '77.  If there were any loose ends in '77 I think they had been tightened in '80.  The best version of Train ever!  All My Love was always breath taking when performed in '80.  There is just too much that I love about the '80 tour to go into here - but I am going to say I am ecstatic that they brought back The Rain Song.

As I posted recently, I know someone that saw the Berlin '80 show as a young US Serviceman in Germany and you'll never convince him that it was a bad show.  You'll never convince him that Zep Berlin '80 wasn't the best rock show he ever saw - and he has seen some shows! 

I have heard that the Tempe '77 show wasn't a good one but I haven't heard that show yet and so, at this time, I will reserve my opinion.

Are there certain shows where certain numbers didn't come out of the wash well?  Certainly.  Are there more nights when these same numbers were jaw dropping?  Definitely.  These statements are true with every band and it's part of the beauty of live music.

Just the opinions of a hardcore Zep fan.

 

 

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^ TO be fair, Jimmy was almost blown up by a flash pot exploding in front of him and singing his eyebrows at the start of the song right after the arpeggio intro. If that was me I likely would have left the stage and shoved the LP up the ass of the pyro tech.

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True, but they should have immediately realized what happened and restarted the song, like with IMTOD on 5/22/77. Plus, it's not just Page that's the culprit here. Plant's voice is shot and he's out of sync with Bonham and Jones (see 5:34 where he starts singing another verse while Bonham does the instrumental break, and 10:16 where he sings the last line while Bonham and Jones are still performing the main part of the song). Regardless, this is probably Zeppelin's low point in terms of live performances. Hard to believe this was less than a month after the LA 77 run! :(

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3 hours ago, ZepHead315 said:

True, but they should have immediately realized what happened and restarted the song, like with IMTOD on 5/22/77. Plus, it's not just Page that's the culprit here. Plant's voice is shot and he's out of sync with Bonham and Jones (see 5:34 where he starts singing another verse while Bonham does the instrumental break, and 10:16 where he sings the last line while Bonham and Jones are still performing the main part of the song). Regardless, this is probably Zeppelin's low point in terms of live performances. Hard to believe this was less than a month after the LA 77 run! :(

There is also the painful fact that different members preferred different drugs by the point of the 77' tour. Jimmy was doing heroin & booze, Bonham & Plant liked coke, and Jones liked the chronic. This is also a reason why they could be out of synch sometimes on this tour especially if one or more overindulged before the gig.

Then there is the infamous Chicago 9th 1977 gig that was stopped about an hour or so in. Jimmy collapsed on stage and though the band tried to play it off as food poisoning, it was Richard Cole (I believe) who said Jimmy in fact almost died from an OD. The good doctor they retained for the tour was not there just to provide party favors, but Naloxone (Narcan) as well if needed.

It really is pure luck Jimmy did not pull a Marc Bolan in 77'.

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4 hours ago, IpMan said:

There is also the painful fact that different members preferred different drugs by the point of the 77' tour. Jimmy was doing heroin & booze, Bonham & Plant liked coke, and Jones liked the chronic. This is also a reason why they could be out of synch sometimes on this tour especially if one or more overindulged before the gig.

Then there is the infamous Chicago 9th 1977 gig that was stopped about an hour or so in. Jimmy collapsed on stage and though the band tried to play it off as food poisoning, it was Richard Cole (I believe) who said Jimmy in fact almost died from an OD. The good doctor they retained for the tour was not there just to provide party favors, but Naloxone (Narcan) as well if needed.

It really is pure luck Jimmy did not pull a Marc Bolan in 77'.

What is the chronic?

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17 hours ago, IpMan said:

There is also the painful fact that different members preferred different drugs by the point of the 77' tour. Jimmy was doing heroin & booze, Bonham & Plant liked coke, and Jones liked the chronic. This is also a reason why they could be out of synch sometimes on this tour especially if one or more overindulged before the gig.

Then there is the infamous Chicago 9th 1977 gig that was stopped about an hour or so in. Jimmy collapsed on stage and though the band tried to play it off as food poisoning, it was Richard Cole (I believe) who said Jimmy in fact almost died from an OD. The good doctor they retained for the tour was not there just to provide party favors, but Naloxone (Narcan) as well if needed.

It really is pure luck Jimmy did not pull a Marc Bolan in 77'.

I think your leaving out the main culprit...Quaaludes. Those things packed a wallop, and in '77 people were eating them like candy. And, Page notoriously stole all  of Dr. Badgley's supply of ludes and were certainly gobbled up by the band and crew. Freebasing coke was also the rage at this time (for people with money).

Take your pick man, '77 was fucking crazy anyway you look at it. Right now I'm listening to 6/25/77 on a steady basis, and it just blows me away how good they were, drugs and all. I used to think the 21st and 23rd were the best of the L.A. run, but the 25th is (for me)  one of their greatest performances ever. 

 

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On ‎2‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 1:10 PM, Tony Harden said:

I know someone that saw the Berlin '80 show as a young US Serviceman in Germany and you'll never convince him that it was a bad show.  You'll never convince him that Zep Berlin '80 wasn't the best rock show he ever saw - and he has seen some shows! 

A friend of mine attended and spoke at length with Jimmy afterward at the hotel. Jimmy expressed some disappointment with his playing that night, but did not get into specifics. In my opinion, it's not a bad show, not a great show, just an average show. However, it was of course the last show and, if I'm not mistaken, featured one of, if not THE longest version of Stairway to Heaven.

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3 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

However, it was of course the last show and, if I'm not mistaken, featured one of, if not THE longest version of Stairway to Heaven.

I believe it is the longest from reading many posts here. (heresay, but good heresay)

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14 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

 if I'm not mistaken, featured one of, if not THE longest version of Stairway to Heaven.

That was likely what he was disappointed in. To me it sounded like Page had some great ideas for the solo but just could not string the together. Very staccato, many pauses. However he pulled off WLL brilliantly so we have that.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/16/2017 at 6:42 PM, IpMan said:

There is also the painful fact that different members preferred different drugs by the point of the 77' tour. Jimmy was doing heroin & booze, Bonham & Plant liked coke, and Jones liked the chronic. This is also a reason why they could be out of synch sometimes on this tour especially if one or more overindulged before the gig.

Then there is the infamous Chicago 9th 1977 gig that was stopped about an hour or so in. Jimmy collapsed on stage and though the band tried to play it off as food poisoning, it was Richard Cole (I believe) who said Jimmy in fact almost died from an OD. The good doctor they retained for the tour was not there just to provide party favors, but Naloxone (Narcan) as well if needed.

It really is pure luck Jimmy did not pull a Marc Bolan in 77'.

To be quite fair to Jimmy, it is pretty impressive that even being high on whatever drug he was on that night, plus that pyro blowing up in his face that he actually got through the song. I do love the fact that he just completely skips the cool guitar flanging part at the end of Achilles. It just stops, it makes me chuckle every time. I mean other than Tempe. Nuremburg '80 could be "bad" since they had to stop after 3 or 4 songs because Bonham had some issues. The '80 Tour Over Europe to me didn't have bad shows in my opinion.

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Haha Tempe A L S always gets the go-to when it comes to "Let's all pick out songs where the
band sounds like ass." 
:lol:

Isn't chronic weed laced with something else like coke, or maybe it is just really good quality
marijuana.  I can't even classify weed as a drug issue. Smoking a joint before a gig - what is
the worse that can happen?  Jones gets all snacky on Cheetos and Twinkies between songs?

The band and their excuses for that Chicago '77 show were ridiculous.  Lord
how would anybody
believe Page was falling over because he ate a stinky burrito from a gas station.  It's the same as
that foolish story about Bonham eating bananas.   The man is not  a fruit bat or an orangutan

 

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