Jump to content

Best Audience Recordings of 1970


Bags_Groove

Recommended Posts

This is such a torturous year for zeppelin fans as it's arguably one of their best, but almost no Soundboard recordings exist from it, so I am writing this to ask more seasoned fans about what the best quality audience recordings from this year are. 

There's already a few that I am aware of (Montreux 1970-03-07, Raleigh 1970-04-08, Tampa 1970-04-09, Ottawa 1970-04-14, Bath 1970-06-28, Inglewood 1970-09-04 and Madison Square Garden 1970-09-19 (early and late shows), are there any others I'm forgetting or are those the best for sound quality that this year had to offer?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would never regard Bath as great sound quality, regardless of how good the performance is.

Here's a very enjoyable one, including the classic 1970 'kitchen sink' medley and encores. 

Whole Lotta Love (incl. Boogie Chillun', Boppin' the Blues, Ju Ju Rhythm, Lawdy Miss Clawdy, For What it's Worth, Honey Bee, Movin' On, Fortune Teller, That's Alright Mama)

Communication Breakdown (incl. Good Times, Bad Times)

Train Kept A Rollin'

Blueberry Hill

Long Tall Sally

Link to comment
Share on other sites

March 7, 1970 Montreux is the best audience tape for sure, followed by the September 4, 1970 Forum tapes. After that, you may need "bootleg ears" to appreciate the other audience tapes of 1970.

September 2 Oakland and April 14 Ottawa are two of my fave audience tapes from 1970 and while not Millard-quality, still quite enjoyable.

August 22 Tarrant County, Ft. Worth is another one to check out, but unfortunately it is incomplete.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would agree with the above noted shows. I like the Europe March 70 shows, th playing is really inspired...though the source quality varies. Düsseldorf  is a great one.  Milwaukee is an excellent sounding , great show . Boston is a killer. Wish there were more board tapes from the early years. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, porgie66 said:

Wish there were more board tapes from the early years. 

There probably are...just either being hoarded or still in Jimmy's possession.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know what it is, but I personally never found Oakland 1970-09-02 to be very listenable (I found that I can put up with the muffled distortion of the Bath tape pretty good, but I always found the overall "distant" sound of the oakland tape to be distracting, even if the performance is very good). 

Personal preference I guess. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...
1 hour ago, paplbojo said:

Nothing has changed in the last year, has it?

Plan to listen to one or two shows from this tour this weekend. I've only heard Blueberry Hill so needless to say MSG will be one of them.

Blueberry Hill is the only 1970 show you've heard?  In that case, definitely go with MSG Evening & Montreux (now available in the great audience recording AND a great soundboard) for your two!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Bonzo_fan said:

Blueberry Hill is the only 1970 show you've heard?  In that case, definitely go with MSG Evening & Montreux (now available in the great audience recording AND a great soundboard) for your two!

Whoops I didn't specify! 

I'm interested specifically in the second tour starting with Berlin/New Haven. Wondering what might sound best after Blueberry. Think I'm going to go with Milwaukee based on its reputation. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, paplbojo said:

Whoops I didn't specify! 

I'm interested specifically in the second tour starting with Berlin/New Haven. Wondering what might sound best after Blueberry. Think I'm going to go with Milwaukee based on its reputation. 

Ahh, ok.  8/21 Tulsa sounds pretty decent.  I've actually never listened to Milwaukee.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Bonzo_fan said:

Ahh, ok.  8/21 Tulsa sounds pretty decent.  I've actually never listened to Milwaukee.

Supposedly Plant let's it rip in an exceptional way in Milwaukee. I'll look into Tulsa too thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On 5/3/2018 at 10:55 PM, paplbojo said:

Nothing has changed in the last year, has it?

Plan to listen to one or two shows from this tour this weekend. I've only heard Blueberry Hill so needless to say MSG will be one of them.

Check out the march Vancouver show from 1970 . It's a great sounding board tape and is a very powerful and raw performance  sadly it's only 38 minutes  killer communication breakdown with a few lines from ramble on in the ham section. Killer early sibly and what is and what should never be as well.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/4/2018 at 12:49 PM, paplbojo said:

Supposedly Plant let's it rip in an exceptional way in Milwaukee. I'll look into Tulsa too thanks!

That show just might be plants most powerful live performance ever. The vocals on immigrant song  are insane   his best war cries ever. It also has hands down the best live version of since I've been living you plant ever laid down. The sound quality is really good for the era. A complete board tape for this show is probably one of my tip 5 holy grails .  Another great show but has awful sound is September 3 in San Diego . Plant sounds killer and page is blazing but the sound is very poor. It's actually a more fiery performance then blueberry hill. Plant pushes his voice alot harder and the band plays alot more aggressive . If the quality was decent that show would be legendary. Boston is another insane show   plants voice is unreal at that show as well. Honolulu is another highlight as well . There are so many August and September 70 shows where plant was the absolute star of the show. I think it was his best and most consistent tour. He would never sing with the same power and range again even in 1971. He was consistently amazing every night on that tour.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOVE the Moby Dick's from 1970.  July 19, 1970 in Berlin is one of my favorites.  So is the one from Boston.  Bonzo just had endless stamina and energy and could literally do anything he wanted. And the green sparkle kit just sounded so meaty and huge!  Probably my favorite Bonham kit.  Just sounded gorgeous.

And Plant's voice... yeah.  I don't think any vocalist to this day has ever sounded so fucking impressive on stage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, LedElvis75 said:

LOVE the Moby Dick's from 1970.  July 19, 1970 in Berlin is one of my favorites.  So is the one from Boston.  Bonzo just had endless stamina and energy and could literally do anything he wanted. And the green sparkle kit just sounded so meaty and huge!  Probably my favorite Bonham kit.  Just sounded gorgeous.

And Plant's voice... yeah.  I don't think any vocalist to this day has ever sounded so fucking impressive on stage.

Yeah I always preferred Bonham on the green sparkle kit to any other.  The creme color kit was very nice sounding as well. I really love the stainless kit from 77 as well it gave him that huge sound that was very similar to his 70 to 72 sound . I have never been a bit fan of the transparent mid 70s kit he just did not sound as powerful on that kit. It sounded pretty nice on the 73 tour. But I really don't like how it sounded on the 75 tour. It just didn't reverberate as much and sounded dry and just too tight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Adam Ryan watson said:

Yeah I always preferred Bonham on the green sparkle kit to any other.  The creme color kit was very nice sounding as well. I really love the stainless kit from 77 as well it gave him that huge sound that was very similar to his 70 to 72 sound . I have never been a bit fan of the transparent mid 70s kit he just did not sound as powerful on that kit. It sounded pretty nice on the 73 tour. But I really don't like how it sounded on the 75 tour. It just didn't reverberate as much and sounded dry and just too tight.

That's funny--I find that the amber vistalite kit sounded better in '75 than in '73.  I've always thought it sounded very twangy in '73, which I've always assumed was a result of him (and/or the sound techs) having to adjust to how to tune (and maybe mic) it differently, compared to the maple kits he had played previously.  It wasn't just the shells that were different--he was also switching from emperor-coated heads on the batter side and ambassador-coated heads on the resonant side to clear power-stroke heads with the black dot on the batter side and clear heads on the resonant side, which makes quite a difference sonically, and also gives a slightly different feel with the sticks.

In a way, the twangy tone of his kit in '73 fits well with Page's really snarly guitar tone and Plant's raspy voice, but if I had to choose between his '73 or '75 tone to go play a show with myself, I'd probably choose '75...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Bonzo_fan said:

That's funny--I find that the amber vistalite kit

Quote

sounded better in '75 than in '73.  I've always thought it sounded very twangy in '73

, which I've always assumed was a result of him (and/or the sound techs) having to adjust to how to tune (and maybe mic) it differently, compared to the maple kits he had played previously.  It wasn't just the shells that were different--he was also switching from emperor-coated heads on the batter side and ambassador-coated heads on the resonant side to clear power-stroke heads with the black dot on the batter side and clear heads on the resonant side, which makes quite a difference sonically, and also gives a slightly different feel with the sticks.

In a way, the twangy tone of his kit in '73 fits well with Page's really snarly guitar tone and Plant's raspy voice, but if I had to choose between his '73 or '75 tone to go play a show with myself, I'd probably choose '75...

agreed

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He seemed to be going for a different approach in his playing in 73 and the sound of that kit seemed to suit the way he was playing and I agree that the band had a very cohesive sound in 73 that that fit together very well. Everyone's respective sound that year really complimented each other.  Their sound was really unique in 73. May 73 is one of my favorite periods and I loved plants raspy vocals. Raspy but not dry like it was in 75. Baltimore and providence have amazing and powerful vocals. Plants voice came a long way on the U.S. tour from what it was in the u.k and Europe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...