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Live 1975-1980


ForEvermore

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Does anyone think that JP will ever release audio and/or video of LZ live from 1975 to 1980, independent of (or expanded from) what appeared on the Led Zeppelin DVD?

From that DVD, I'm aware that the Earl's Court '75 and Knebworth '79 exist in video form, and I also know that the Kingdome show in Seattle from '77 exists. What other complete shows were videoed between '75 - '80?

Forgive me if this seems like a newbie question, but, despite being a fan of many decades, I honestly don't know what is actually out there that could conceivably see the light of day someday. (Yes, I know the trading community would have a lot, but what would JP have ready access to to release officially?)

I'm just mystified that that whole era has very few official releases - none that I'm aware of apart from the DVD. The beginning of the band up to and including 1973 are very well represented in live releases, but not the second half of the band's history. I'd even be happy with just audio of that era.

What do we think? Will such releases ever happen? Thanks in advance...

 

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I'm afraid that will be pretty hopeless. The two Knebworth  shows were videotaped for two purposes. As a feed for the giant video screen on stage AND eventually for airing the footage. Earl's Court was only filmed with the audience in mind and to show band close ups on the Ephidor screen. A few tracks were included on DVD for chronological reasons and the fact they could be synched with multi track audio. The footage by all means is not very exciting for broad audiences and neither is the video quality...the lack of  long shots or atmospheric scenes in the arena is another giveaway. Ditto for the 77 footage. Pretty low resolution imagery compared to 2017 home theatre standards. This said, I'm pretty sure Page will release some more live audio in the future. 

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I would disagree there Duckman, granted the material would probably not be AS interesting to a mainstream audience as the original DVD but I think were clearly seeing that bands are much more happy to try and target hardcore fanbases these days including that other previous paragon of perfectionism Pink Floyd.

There could of course be audio only releases of these shows and indeed that would obviously cut down on the cost.

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Thanks to both of you for responding so quickly. So, it sounds like there are actually good reasons for the lack of audio/video from that era of the band. That's very sad (esp. for the '75 shows - some/many of those concerts must have been blinders...)

Well, I live in hope - besides the Seattle show, I have never heard anything from the '77 tour. I know Jimmy wasn't in the best of health then, but surely there must have been good shows that were recorded by the band (?)

 

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2 minutes ago, ForEvermore said:

Thanks to both of you for responding so quickly. So, it sounds like there are actually good reasons for the lack of audio/video from that era of the band. That's very sad (esp. for the '75 shows - some/many of those concerts must have been blinders...)

Well, I live in hope - besides the Seattle show, I have never heard anything from the '77 tour. I know Jimmy wasn't in the best of health then, but surely there must have been good shows that were recorded by the band (?)

 

I think some of the 75 pro recorded shows were liberated from Page's house, which is well documented and the rest from some Showco employees from the desk. To be honest the 77 tour is not consistent enough - and in some places downright boring. 15 mins of noise and a 35 minute No quarter would not sit too well today. Of course there are stellar performances but from one show? No.

I have always been surprised by the lack of 69 - 72 soundboard or pro mixed recordings. In my opinion the zenith of their careers

Jimmy and Zeppelin are no Grateful Dead unfortunately, who actively encouraged recording of their shows. Shame really and remember the last gig as a band was 37 years ago and tapes do deteriorate. What was/as a shame is the 2 Knebworth shows. These was pro filmed and recorded for a future release but only a few bits were included in the DVD. I can only assume Page wasn't happy with the shows even to compile a full show from both gigs. I would love to see and hear in great sound that Whole Lotta Love from the first show. Boy that is heavy and remember it as it was yesterday. 

Finally the BBC should commission a 50th celebration and have it done for next year. Their Friday night's music shows have almost had everyone else on so the time is right for an evening to celebrate the legacy of the boys.

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2 hours ago, chillumpuffer said:

I think some of the 75 pro recorded shows were liberated from Page's house, which is well documented and the rest from some Showco employees from the desk. To be honest the 77 tour is not consistent enough - and in some places downright boring. 15 mins of noise and a 35 minute No quarter would not sit too well today. Of course there are stellar performances but from one show? No.

I have always been surprised by the lack of 69 - 72 soundboard or pro mixed recordings. In my opinion the zenith of their careers

Jimmy and Zeppelin are no Grateful Dead unfortunately, who actively encouraged recording of their shows. Shame really and remember the last gig as a band was 37 years ago and tapes do deteriorate. What was/as a shame is the 2 Knebworth shows. These was pro filmed and recorded for a future release but only a few bits were included in the DVD. I can only assume Page wasn't happy with the shows even to compile a full show from both gigs. I would love to see and hear in great sound that Whole Lotta Love from the first show. Boy that is heavy and remember it as it was yesterday. 

Finally the BBC should commission a 50th celebration and have it done for next year. Their Friday night's music shows have almost had everyone else on so the time is right for an evening to celebrate the legacy of the boys.

I wholeheartedly agree with all of this. Too many inconsistencies with Page's sloppy and sometimes meandering playing and Plant's croaking to have a complete show from 75 or 77 without major doctoring and I don't think Plant especially would ok a warts and all performance. Perhaps a cherry picked assortment of material from '73 ( if there's any in the can) , 75 Earls Court, any good 77 video and Kneb shows. 

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OK, this was the kind of information I was hoping to get.

I agree that the peak of the band was the from their genesis up to and including 1973 - however, was even the '75 tour so inconsistent in quality that a complete show from that tour wouldn't be worth hearing? (Personally, I wouldn't mind a patching together of different shows from the same tour ('75, '77, and/or '79-'80), as long as we got something resembling a full set list of the time.) I guess I must be an oddball - I didn't mind the lengthy "No Quarter" performances from that era (e.g., the one from the Seattle '77 show I quite like). :)

Well, in any case, I hope something from the 2nd half of their career together sees the light of day, audio or video.

 

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11 minutes ago, ForEvermore said:

OK, this was the kind of information I was hoping to get.

I agree that the peak of the band was the from their genesis up to and including 1973 - however, was even the '75 tour so inconsistent in quality that a complete show from that tour wouldn't be worth hearing? (Personally, I wouldn't mind a patching together of different shows from the same tour ('75, '77, and/or '79-'80), as long as we got something resembling a full set list of the time.) I guess I must be an oddball - I didn't mind the lengthy "No Quarter" performances from that era (e.g., the one from the Seattle '77 show I quite like). :)

Well, in any case, I hope something from the 2nd half of their career together sees the light of day, audio or video.

 

No, it wasn't that inconsistent.  There are a handful of shows from March '75 that would be worthy of official release with little-to-no editing.  March 21 in Seattle for sure.  Even in the case of '77, there are a few that are official release-quality in my opinion--June 21 & 22 in L.A., for instance.

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5 hours ago, ForEvermore said:

besides the Seattle show, I have never heard anything from the '77 tour. I know Jimmy wasn't in the best of health then, but surely there must have been good shows that were recorded by the band (?)

Besides the Seattle show, the only other show from the 77 tour that was definitely filmed by the band was their show at the Pontiac Silverdome on April 30th (which also broke a record for biggest attendance at an indoor concert). Unfortunately, that film has not been released yet. Hopefully it will someday as the performance is apparently really good (haven't heard the audience recording of the show yet myself).

That aside, there are several shows from this tour that are absolute must hears. My go-to (as I'm sure is the case with many others here) are the LA shows on June 21st, 23rd, 25th, and 27th recorded by Mike Millard. They're some of the best audience recordings you'll ever hear, especially from that era. If I had to pick one show from this run as the best, it would be the 21st (though I'm sure many may disagree). Sound quality and performance are unbelievable. Zeppelin may have been past their prime at this point, but don't let anyone tell you they couldn't still do a killer live show. It easily blows Seattle out of the water.

You can search for the 21st on Youtube. It's called "Listen to This Eddie". The Winston Remaster is generally considered to be the version with the best sound quality. Enjoy it! It was actually the first complete Zeppelin bootleg I ever heard. :)

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Thank you both VERY much for this! This kind of information-sharing is exactly what I was hoping to find here. :)

I will look out for the shows that you both speak of, and I further hope that we will get releases of these shows (I have heard the same thing about the Pontiac Silverdome show in the past - so I hope that finds the light of day as well.)

Thanks again!

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A bit off-topic, but if Page deems a '75-'80 release out of the question for whatever reason, I would settle for a 10-disc collection of all 20 Europe '73 versions of "Dazed And Confused"!  Even if it were just the soundboards officially remastered.

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18 hours ago, ZepHead315 said:

Besides the Seattle show, the only other show from the 77 tour that was definitely filmed by the band was their show at the Pontiac Silverdome on April 30th (which also broke a record for biggest attendance at an indoor concert). Unfortunately, that film has not been released yet. Hopefully it will someday as the performance is apparently really good (haven't heard the audience recording of the show yet myself).

That aside, there are several shows from this tour that are absolute must hears. My go-to (as I'm sure is the case with many others here) are the LA shows on June 21st, 23rd, 25th, and 27th recorded by Mike Millard. They're some of the best audience recordings you'll ever hear, especially from that era. If I had to pick one show from this run as the best, it would be the 21st (though I'm sure many may disagree). Sound quality and performance are unbelievable. Zeppelin may have been past their prime at this point, but don't let anyone tell you they couldn't still do a killer live show. It easily blows Seattle out of the water.

You can search for the 21st on Youtube. It's called "Listen to This Eddie". The Winston Remaster is generally considered to be the version with the best sound quality. Enjoy it! It was actually the first complete Zeppelin bootleg I ever heard. :)

Was it filmed? Was this not disproved on this forum a while back?

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21 hours ago, ZepHead315 said:

Besides the Seattle show, the only other show from the 77 tour that was definitely filmed by the band was their show at the Pontiac Silverdome on April 30th (which also broke a record for biggest attendance at an indoor concert). Unfortunately, that film has not been released yet. Hopefully it will someday as the performance is apparently really good (haven't heard the audience recording of the show yet myself).

 

3 hours ago, chillumpuffer said:

Was it filmed? Was this not disproved on this forum a while back?

The April 30, 1977 Pontiac Silverdome and July 17, 1977 Seattle Kingdome shows were not filmed, they were videotaped. There is a big difference.

Because those two shows were held in giant enormodomes two or three times as large as the usual Forum or Garden-sized arenas, the band used giant video screens so people in the nosebleeds could see something other than ants scurrying across a stage. If you look at any photos of Pontiac or Seattle from 1977, you will see guys armed with big clunky videocameras on stage. This footage would be sent to the videoscreens.

Technically, there is no film of this event. If there was a videocassette in the camera or someone was recording the video-feed from the control room, then the footage exists on videotape. That is how the Seattle footage exists. The visual quality is worse than film and the audio quality is even worse.

Without multitrack audiotapes, there is no way Jimmy would put out a live document of Seattle or Detroit or L.A. or any other city from the 1977 tour. And so far, there is no evidence to suggest any of the 1977 shows were multitracked. Soundboards yes. Multitracks no.

If the 1977 tour had progressed as planned before Karac's passing, there would have been at least three or four possible candidates for videotaped shows: New Orleans Superdome, Philadelphia JFK Stadium, Buffalo Rich Stadium, and Pittsburgh Three Rivers Stadium.

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2 minutes ago, Strider said:

The April 30, 1977 Pontiac Silverdome and July 17, 1977 Seattle Kingdome shows were not filmed, they were videotaped. There is a big difference.

To quote The Dark Knight: "very poor choice of words!". My apologies, Strider! You are indeed correct and I should have said "videotaped" and not "filmed". Thanks for the clarification and info! :D I was always under the impression that the video for Pontiac for sure existed, just that someone out there was hoarding it. It didn't even occur to me that they needed to be recording the actual feed, but it makes sense. Hopefully someone had the foresight to do that!

3 hours ago, chillumpuffer said:

Was it filmed? Was this not disproved on this forum a while back?

Unless you're referring to my film/videotape gaffe above, you may be thinking of the Houston show or one of the Landover shows. They have been rumored to have been videotaped, but it seems unlikely. Further discussion can be found in this thread:

http://forums.ledzeppelin.com/index.php?/topic/17057-professionally-filmed-led-zeppelin-concerts/&

As well as this one:

http://forums.ledzeppelin.com/index.php?/topic/10547-houston-52177/

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5 hours ago, ZepHead315 said:

Unless you're referring to my film/videotape gaffe above, you may be thinking of the Houston show or one of the Landover shows. They have been rumored to have been videotaped, but it seems unlikely. Further discussion can be found in this thread:

http://forums.ledzeppelin.com/index.php?/topic/17057-professionally-filmed-led-zeppelin-concerts/&

As well as this one:

http://forums.ledzeppelin.com/index.php?/topic/10547-houston-52177/

Yeah, people keep assuming Led Zeppelin video exists of Houston and Largo because of their in-house video systems. But it was up to each individual band whether that system was used. Bands like Van Halen and Prince and the Who used the video feed and that is why you can find bootleg DVDs of Largo and Houston shows.

But I think it has been pretty well established that Led Zeppelin did not use the video screens at Largo and Houston.

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Wow..great discussion again - thanks everyone! :)

Well, I live in hope that the '75-'80 Zep will get some kind of commemoration in an official release someday.

(If anyone has more info about the later-era shows and whether or not they were recorded in one format or another, please keep posting here!)

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On 3/21/2017 at 8:08 AM, ForEvermore said:

Thanks to both of you for responding so quickly. So, it sounds like there are actually good reasons for the lack of audio/video from that era of the band. That's very sad (esp. for the '75 shows - some/many of those concerts must have been blinders...)

Well, I live in hope - besides the Seattle show, I have never heard anything from the '77 tour. I know Jimmy wasn't in the best of health then, but surely there must have been good shows that were recorded by the band (?)

 

You haven't heard anything from 1977 other than Seattle? Good god man...you've been starving. Then feast your ears on these shows!

6.21.77 LA Forum

6.22.77 LA Forum

6.25.77 LA Forum

 

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2 hours ago, Strider said:

You haven't heard anything from 1977 other than Seattle? Good god man...you've been starving. Then feast your ears on these shows!

6.21.77 LA Forum

6.22.77 LA Forum

6.25.77 LA Forum

 

Listen to this Eddie. My prized possession. I couldn't fucken believe to the first time I heard it. Thought all my Christmas's had come at once. 

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There are two shows from the first leg of the 1977 tour that make my Top 10 of '77 list. You need "Bootleg Ears" to enjoy them, however. 

4.30.77 Pontiac

4.28.77 Cleveland (2nd night DESTROYS 1st night commonly called "Destroyer"

 

 

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11 hours ago, Xolo1974 said:

Listen to this Eddie. My prized possession. I couldn't fucken believe to the first time I heard it. Thought all my Christmas's had come at once. 

That about sums it up. By "prized possession" do you mean you have it in physical form? Vinyl, cassette, or cd?

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1 hour ago, Strider said:

That about sums it up. By "prized possession" do you mean you have it in physical form? Vinyl, cassette, or cd?

Nah mate, I wish I had. But after spending years as a teenager/grown man badly wanting more live zep stuff, discovering the world of bootlegs and just getting to have a copy of 'eddie' was more than enough for me. It's enough to be grateful for. 

I may look to buy it in hard form one of these days. But I have a family to look after. After buying a good road bike, a mountain bike, a kayak, an acoustic guitar, vox amp and a telecaster in the last four years.....I can't push my look too far..l have a beautiful accomodating wife. But I don't wanna push my luck, know what I mean? Lol 

 

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19 hours ago, Strider said:

You haven't heard anything from 1977 other than Seattle? Good god man...you've been starving. Then feast your ears on these shows!

6.21.77 LA Forum

6.22.77 LA Forum

6.25.77 LA Forum

 

 

I hope you heard my jaw hitting the floor. :o

I was starving...thank you VERY much for these! :D

I wonder if anyone knows of '75 shows of equally impressive quality... ;)

 

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4 hours ago, ForEvermore said:

 

I hope you heard my jaw hitting the floor. :o

I was starving...thank you VERY much for these! :D

I wonder if anyone knows of '75 shows of equally impressive quality... ;)

 

As a matter of fact, I do. I was thinking of starting with one of the Chicago shows but the audience tapes are rather poor. So I will begin 1975 with the first of the great soundboard releases that the 21st century has brought us...Feb. 12, 1975 Madison Square Garden.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

 

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16 hours ago, ForEvermore said:

I wonder if anyone knows of '75 shows of equally impressive quality... ;)

There's a few. Strider linked the 2-12-75 Madison Square Garden show (although I know of better sounding versions). Then, of course, you have the Seattle show on March 21st (which has a soundboard coming out soon). I also really like the last LA show on March 27th, as well as the last Earl's Court show on May 25th. Shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to provide you with links! :)

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