I've spent a lot of time working on the '77 shows, and the thing I've consistently found is that the better the audio sounds, the better you realize the performance was. I know a lot of people just focus on how well Jimmy played, but there were three world class rock instrumentalists on the stage during those shows, not just one. The problem is that a lot of recordings don't do a good job of capturing what Bonzo and Jonsey were doing, particularly the interplay of the kick drum and bass, so you end up judging the show just on Jimmy and Robert because they're what was captured on the recording. And what happens with the soundboards in particular is that there's no reverb on them, so Jimmy's guitar comes across as very dry and uninteresting, when at the show it would have had reverb on it and also been enhanced by the natural echo within the auditorium. And regarding the Alembic, I think it's poor reputation comes from the fact that its low end is never captured on recordings. When you add the low end back in it sounds like a weapon of war, not the child's toy that it otherwise sounds like. The cool thing for me is that after the soundboards are remastered, it's much easier to hear just how good each player was individually and how well they worked as a team, which for me makes listening to those shows much more enjoyable.

There's another thread on the site about this show. In it, a person speculates As you pointed out, Jimmy is on point at the beginning of the show, so I'm not sure a slow start is what Robert was talking about.

Thanks. It definitely needed some help. I'd love to hear what the sound is like on a low gen version of the video tape. Hopefully we get to find out some day.

I remember that his biggest complaint was the lack of food, although apparently the whole event was pretty chaotic. He also said the traffic getting there sucked, although apparently the ride home was much better because he was headed in the opposite direction from the crowd. He was also the first person who told me that Oakdale was a tent back when Zepp played there, not a regular building, and the stage was round and rotated during the show. Apparently there were a few other theaters like that back then. It must have been hard for the crew to set up the gear and get the sound right with the stage spinning like that. The Oakdale is still around, although the tent was taken down a long time ago and replaced with a large building. The area where the tent was located is now the lobby. I saw Gary Clark, Jr. there and it was cool walking through there thinking that Zepp played there way back when.

I remastered the audio to the Seattle show and merged it with the video. Here's a sample. If anyone wants the full show, send me a message.

In the early '80's, I was a teenager and worked at a hardware store. One of my co-workers was a guy in his mid to late 30s. He was the first person I ever met who had thousands of records in his collection, most of which were rock music. He also went to tons of concerts and would tell us about the times he saw Hendrix, the Stones, and a bunch of other people I would love to have seen. The best story of all was the weekend in August, 1969 when he went to the first day of Woodstock, which was a reasonable drive from our area. He left that same day when he realized it was a cluster and drove home. The next night he went to see Zep at the Oakdale Theater in CT. I saw his stubs and his record collection, so I'm sure it wasn't just some older guy trying to impress the kids. Imagine that, getting to see Zep and Woodstock in the same weekend.

Part 3:

Part 2:

My remaster of the soundtrack to the Seattle '77 video. I finally merged the sound with the video. Here's part 1. More to come.....

Nice job. Thanks for doing this.

It is definitely a must have for anyone who loves the live stuff. It's basically all the facts you could ever hope for regarding Zep's concerts, along with thousands of images related to the gigs. It's just an amazing book, and would be a great complement to the other two that pageluvva already picked up.

Stellar picture. Question for The Rover: Was Robert on stage the whole time Jimmy was using the bow when you saw them, or did he leave and come back towards the end of the solo?

Cool. Now you just need "Evenings With Led Zeppelin" by Mike Tremaglio and Dave Lewis and you've got all of the bases covered. It's the definitive guide to their live career. Disclaimer: I've known Mike for about 20 years, so don't just take my word for it. Check out the reviews online to see the praise others have heaped on it.

The Byrds "Eight Miles High" at the Fillmore East. Basically an extended jam. Some good shots of the venue and the view from the crowd to the stage after the music ends. And just think, Zep killed it at the Garden not far from here a few days earlier. Some of the people in the crowd at this show were probably there too. Lucky bastards

I remixed the Divinity version of the March 7, 1970 show with the goal of getting the guitar in the right channel and the vocals and other instruments in the center. Anyone who wants the rest, send me a message.

According to Bootledz, it's the version on the Graf Zeppelin label: http://www.bootledz.com/mypicks.htm

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If you're reading this, you need "Evenings With Led Zeppelin" by Mike Tremaglio and Dave Lewis. It's a stellar examination of each show the band played. It's like "The Concert File" on steroids. As a disclaimer, I've been friends with Mike for twenty years, but I'd still rave about it even if I didn't know him. It's a must have for everyone who loves Led Zeppelin.

According to Bootledz, the Graf Zeppelin title "Detroit Rock City 1973" is the one to get for both the 12th and the 13th. http://www.bootledz.com/mypicks.htm

'Tree Hunt" by Emancipator:

Here's the text of a press release from Miller about their sponsorship of that tour: It does mention that they will do advertisements related to the tour. Unfortunately, the "mdgdtaproom" link in the release looks like it now belongs to a person instead of a company and it does not contain anything related to the tour.

And it looks like the audio is brick-walled. Here's a screenshot of Sick Again from the new source. Given their recent releases, it seems like both EV and T2K have decided to turn their compressors up to 11

"Atom Bomb', by Fluke.

I hope you're correct. However, his 75th birthday and the 50th anniversary of the first album are both coming up next month. If anything was coming out for either of those he'd be talking about it now, as the release would only be a few weeks away. And yet he said "who knows what may come further on down the line? I don't know." If anyone should know, it's him. But apparently he doesn't. Again, I hope I'm wrong, I just get the sinking feeling I'm not.