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Unpopular opinions re live shows


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I have one: I actually like Tempe '77. It shows that they are human and not on some pedestal that no one can get to. Especially Achilles in the show where Plant admitted that they barely got through it. They could've just gone on to the next song and not acknowledge it. Not saying everyone thinks they are some untouchable beings that don't mess up.

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On 2/3/2017 at 7:00 AM, ZeppMan93 said:

I have one: I actually like Tempe '77. It shows that they are human and not on some pedestal that no one can get to. Especially Achilles in the show where Plant admitted that they barely got through it. They could've just gone on to the next song and not acknowledge it. Not saying everyone thinks they are some untouchable beings that don't mess up.

Indeed, Tempe isn't quite as bad as its detractors make it out to be. Plant comes across sounding much worse than Page does on the night. Is it a "great" or "classic" Zeppelin performance? No, not by any stretch of the imagination, but you could say that about a few '75, '77 or 1980 shows.

Where the hell is the first half of the Tempe show? I'd love to hear that.

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  • 9 months later...

I'm bored, so will resurrect this thread to nitpick:

1) 1972/early 1973 is perhaps the least interesting Zeppelin setlist for me to listen to. It's still good, but it just seems somewhat rote, if that makes any sense. As someone else noted, cutting back the acoustic set in early 1973, really reduced the dynamics of the overall show. Also I really don't like Dancing Days and think it was a pretty poor choice to play.

2) Performing When The Levee Breaks live had potential. With a little patience it could have made a cool mid-set number, and it would have been pretty fun to hear them try it later in the tour when the band had warmed up properly.

3) Dazed and Confused after 1971 - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Some of the 1973 versions are pretty good, but generally anything over 20 minutes is pushing it. The mammoth versions found in 1975 just go on too much.

4) On the subject of 1975, I'm really not sure that the LA Forum shows in March are anywhere near as good as the performances of the previous week, they seem to lack energy in comparison.

5) The best version of WLL is the Knebworth one, they should have made that the go-to arrangement for the 1980 tour.

6) HMMT should have been played live more often after 1970.

 

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18 hours ago, Cosmic_Equilibrium said:

I'm bored, so will resurrect this thread to nitpick:

1) 1972/early 1973 is perhaps the least interesting Zeppelin setlist for me to listen to. It's still good, but it just seems somewhat rote, if that makes any sense. As someone else noted, cutting back the acoustic set in early 1973, really reduced the dynamics of the overall show. Also I really don't like Dancing Days and think it was a pretty poor choice to play.

2) Performing When The Levee Breaks live had potential. With a little patience it could have made a cool mid-set number, and it would have been pretty fun to hear them try it later in the tour when the band had warmed up properly.

3) Dazed and Confused after 1971 - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Some of the 1973 versions are pretty good, but generally anything over 20 minutes is pushing it. The mammoth versions found in 1975 just go on too much.

4) On the subject of 1975, I'm really not sure that the LA Forum shows in March are anywhere near as good as the performances of the previous week, they seem to lack energy in comparison.

5) The best version of WLL is the Knebworth one, they should have made that the go-to arrangement for the 1980 tour.

6) HMMT should have been played live more often after 1970.

 

I can't argue with any of these points!

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7 minutes ago, Xolo1974 said:

Good shows, but very rare I listen to anything from 75.....and the guitar is too low in the mix at the Seattle gig

Yes. Agree totally. Kashmir has practically NO guitar. The Matrix goes a long way to addressing that.

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WLL never worked for me live. Getting that studio bottom sound was quite difficult live. 

Plant I thought at his strongest was in SRSame Rain Song. The final hard part I feel was devastating. At that tender age of 24 and to have a voice filled with that thickness and head voice is tremendous. I personally feel that it's the most powerful he has ever sounded. Having said that- if Percy just started to harnis this during this tour and protect it, the future tours would have been better. Too many distractions on tour. It's funny how I once read that Zep was so critical of the the performances. I could only imagine how the conversation went or it was probably privately spoken between each member or each member just kept it to themselves . Serously, how could anyone not say to Percy - hey you sound lousy !!

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17 hours ago, Blaize86 said:

WLL never worked for me live. Getting that studio bottom sound was quite difficult live. 

Plant I thought at his strongest was in SRSame Rain Song. The final hard part I feel was devastating. At that tender age of 24 and to have a voice filled with that thickness and head voice is tremendous. I personally feel that it's the most powerful he has ever sounded. Having said that- if Percy just started to harnis this during this tour and protect it, the future tours would have been better. Too many distractions on tour. It's funny how I once read that Zep was so critical of the the performances. I could only imagine how the conversation went or it was probably privately spoken between each member or each member just kept it to themselves . Serously, how could anyone not say to Percy - hey you sound lousy !!

Nail on head. Rain Song live was so much better due to Plant singing so damn well (except for 75') compared to what I feel is a stoned, way to laid back approach in the studio vocals. The whole "Coldness of my Winter" part he just belts out like a banshee live, but in the studio it sounds like some bird is tea-bagging him.

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I don't care how awesome they were on 6/21/77, I don't like the show because of the crowd noise. It's just overbearing to me.

The theremin was a bad idea.

The drum solo should've been dropped after 73.

The 77 guitar solos (after Moby dick) were overkill.

 

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Wow. Now listening to Blueberry Hill. What was JPJ thinking in the organ solo? He's a great keyboardist, especially with his later work on NQ. Can't figure out why he played they way he did on those early TY songs. Especially with the JP solos that followed. No insult to JPJ - just wish he'd come up with something more melodic for the solos. Bye the way - the JP work on this TY is a killer. Thanks!

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On 11/21/2017 at 11:46 PM, Mr_K said:

Wow. Now listening to Blueberry Hill. What was JPJ thinking in the organ solo? He's a great keyboardist, especially with his later work on NQ. Can't figure out why he played they way he did on those early TY songs. Especially with the JP solos that followed. No insult to JPJ - just wish he'd come up with something more melodic for the solos. Bye the way - the JP work on this TY is a killer. Thanks!

Oh yes, I agree on that. It sounded like Jones was tripping balls or something during his organ solo, its just all over the place. Sounded as if Richard Wright took over for a spell, its that strange.

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12 hours ago, IpMan said:

Oh yes, I agree on that. It sounded like Jones was tripping balls or something during his organ solo, its just all over the place. Sounded as if Richard Wright took over for a spell, its that strange.

I think he just hated the compact Farfisa organ. He used the  Hammond organ on the previous tours and clearly enjoys improvising on the big Hammond. Was he forced to travel light during the summer 70 US jaunt and leave the Hammond in the UK ? I dunno. But his 'organ improvisation' on BBHill is a joke. Personally I feel the Farfisa sounded right for Elvis Costello and the Attractions or other new wave bands, but not for the mighty Zeppelin.

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On 11/15/2017 at 7:15 AM, Cosmic_Equilibrium said:

On the subject of 1975, I'm really not sure that the LA Forum shows in March are anywhere near as good as the performances of the previous week, they seem to lack energy in comparison.

Its funny you said this. . On ebay most shows have skyrocketed in price yet if you wanted these 3 shows in a bundle from EV they have been the same price for a couple years now. . Def the most uninspired of all of the LA runs. . It seems the band is tired with Percy sick at the beginning and JP and his finger which I assume was the cause for the H problem for the next decade. . 

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On 11/15/2017 at 9:15 AM, Cosmic_Equilibrium said:

On the subject of 1975, I'm really not sure that the LA Forum shows in March are anywhere near as good as the performances of the previous week, they seem to lack energy in comparison.

 

4 hours ago, Bozoso73 said:

Its funny you said this. . On ebay most shows have skyrocketed in price yet if you wanted these 3 shows in a bundle from EV they have been the same price for a couple years now. . Def the most uninspired of all of the LA runs. . It seems the band is tired with Percy sick at the beginning and JP and his finger which I assume was the cause for the H problem for the next decade. . 

Totally agree with both of you, especially about it being the worst of all the LA runs. All the other runs contained the best shows of the tour, or at least strong contenders, like 8/21/71, 6/25/72, 6/3/73, 6/21/77, etc. But these LA shows seem to have a distinct lack of spark to them. I do enjoy the 3/27 show, since it seems like the band is more laid back and just wants to jam out. The other two shows...eh. Some cool moments scattered throughout, but I wouldn't rate any of them as a must hear. I pick 3/12 and 3/21 as the best shows of the 1975 tour.

Another one for me: while I do enjoy the rest of the show, I don't get the hype behind the 9/14/71 Whole Lotta Love. Don't get me wrong, not a bad version by any means and we are blessed to have it in such good sound quality, but I've never understood why people go so nuts for it. To me, it's a very solid medley, but it lacks that "X factor" that pushes it into an all-time great version for me.

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