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LZ77

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Posts posted by LZ77

  1. 22 hours ago, confounded_bridge said:

    A  download  link  was  available  on  argenteumastrum.com  but  only  for  24  hours. He  uploaded  the  complete  audio, some  awesome  photos  and  a  story  from  the  taper. Unfortunately, when  I  saw  the  link, only  1  hour  was  left. I  managed  to  download  all  the  songs  but  only  4  photos. If  somebody  has  the  rest  of  it, i'd  like  to  ask  for  a  link.

    Aww man! would have loved to see the photos!

  2. On 9/24/2018 at 12:56 AM, rm2551 said:

    I got my book and poster. It is a very nice book. Quality. A good annotations section at the back where the lads talk about the pics and context. A lot of beautiful photos in there. Surprisingly, there is very little 1977 comparatively. I though the LA Forum run alone would have been a few pages. Maybe too many pics showed too many "off chops" shots.

    But very very delighted with it.

    Wow. That is a bit disappointing. 

  3. 5 hours ago, The Rover said:

    I hadn't either. Some people who might never post here post in FB groups. Some with personal pictures never seen before...

    great photo from 1977! 

    are there more photos?

  4. 8 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

    I'm thinking it's a hoax as it's too far-fetched to believe legitimate dates made their way onto an album sticker without a shred of corroboration (a poster, press reports, etc). Intriguing though.

    I've been doing a little research of those dates by venue to see if the sticker was meant for another band touring at the time - no hits.

  5. and this references the cancelled 1970 gig:

    http://www.performing-musician.com/pm/jun08/articles/ledzeppelin.htm

    Many in the pro audio industry know Phil Dudderidge as the founder of sound desk-maker Soundcraft and current CEO of Focusrite. But he had, as they say in Hollywood, a back-story.
    In 1970, Dudderidge was a 21-year-old roadie/sound mixer with three years experience lugging gear and managing microphones for bands like Fairport Convention, the Incredible String Band and Soft Machine. Given the rudimentary PA equipment most of the artists at the time had, Dudderidge says his primary qualification for the gigs was having a valid driver's license and owning a van. "None of these bands had much in the way of PA systems," he recalls, "Just something to amplify vocals, even in venues as large as the Albert Hall."
    Dudderidge met Peter Grant, Led Zeppelin's manager at the time, through Charlie Watkins, owner of WEM, the leading UK PA provider in those days. He had barely heard of the band, but nonetheless volunteered to become their soundman. From March to May, 1970, Dudderidge was part of the tour that would come to set the standard for modern rock tour sound.
    PM: When you joined the tour, already in progress, what was the PA system like?
    PD: "When I arrived, mid-tour, at Montreaux to join the Led Zeppelin crew, I found a fairly standard rig for that level of band, similar to those owned by The Who and Pink Floyd, which I had seen at various gigs. The speakers were mostly 4 x 12-inch columns (10 per side), plus two stacks of two 2 x 15s with a small horn on top per side, all driven by 12 100W power amps. And just two WEM five-channel Audiomaster mixers [interesting history here: www.wemwatkins.co.uk/history.htm] providing 10 channels. I'd never had my hands on such a big rig! Mics were the usual assortment of Shure Unidynes and Unisphere's, the forerunners of the SM57 and SM58."
    PM: How were the 10 channels allocated?
    PD: "1. Robert Plant's vocal. 2. Jimmy's vocal (he rarely approached it, but it usefully covered his guitar stack; when he soloed, I could push the level up).
    3. John Paul Jones' vocal.
    4. Leslie top.
    5. Leslie bottom.
    Channels 6 to 10 on the drums: bass drum, snare/hi-hat, top toms, floor toms and an overhead, as I recall. No DI or mics on the Acoustic bass amp speakers; there were two and bass got into everything anyway."
    PM: Where was the FOH position?
    PD: "There was none! We had no snake, so I mixed from behind the stage-right PA stack and had to go into the audience to hear what it sounded like. Also, no stage monitors; I simply turned the inside 4 x 12 column on each side towards the stage."
    PM: On-the-job training?
    PD: "I had constant instruction from Robert between songs: 'More presence, more treble.' There was no more to give; both were maxed on his channel. The Audiomaster offered three fixed bands of EQ and a rotary fader. Next to the jack inputs were trim controls. I used to have Robert's fader at max and would ride the trim because his mic level distorted the input stage of the mixer. The band were so loud on stage. Jimmy used two 100W Marshall stacks with Hiwatt heads. John Paul had his two Acoustic 361 bass amps and two big Leslies for the Hammond. And John Bonham was the loudest drummer to ever live!"
    PM: When LZ came to the States for the first time, did the WEM PA come too?
    PD: "Coming to America for the first time was an eye-opener. Peter Grant had asked me whether the WEM system would be big enough for US venues and I replied that I had no idea. Thankfully, at the first venue, the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, I arrived to find a huge rig supplied by Kelly Deyong Sound System, a local company. This was based on the Altec 'Voice of the Theatre' bass bins with compression driver horns, something I had never seen. Modern touring systems had yet to be invented. Back then, tour sound was regional rather than national, so we used vastly different systems from one night to the next. The three of us crew members would drive from city to city in a rental truck carrying the amps, guitars, drums, Hammond and Leslie, and the WEM PA, which was used for stage monitors."
    PM: Aside from the technical aspects, what else do you remember about that US tour?
    PD: "To sense the vibe watch Almost Famous, a movie that really captured the sense of touring the States in the early '70s. Consider that we stayed in Holiday Inns — except in LA, where we stayed at the Chateau Marmont when we played the Forum and the Continental Hyatt House (the Riot House) — and other motels and average hotels, but only when we had time. Usually, we had to set off after the show for the next city. Anything up to 600 miles. Anything further and we would fly by scheduled service, sending all the gear 'excess baggage'. Picture backing the Hertz truck up to the plane and tagging every piece as it was loaded!
    It typically took three separate flights to get all the gear there. I recall the trip from Memphis to Phoenix. I took the first flight, and picked up the rental truck and the first batch of gear. One of the other guys came with the second batch. The last few items (including the Audiomasters) came unaccompanied. I had to return to the airport to pick this up as show time approached. Having set everything else up with my colleagues Sandy and Henry, I had to get these last items. On the way back from the airport to the venue, the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, I hit a huge traffic jam — the audience trying to get to the venue. My only recourse was to drive the wrong way down the streets into the venue, headlights and hazards blazing, for maybe a mile. Thankfully, nobody challenged me. And those days we had no laminates or other ID — just my UK driver's license.
    We had a couple of incidents on the road that were life threatening: crossing the Rockies from Portland to Denver in a blizzard on a two-lane highway, and spinning the truck 360 degrees and continuing without stopping. We so nearly went over the edge...
    The final show was scheduled to be Las Vegas, the International Hotel (now the Convention Center Hilton). We drove all night from Phoenix after the show, taking the shortest route (highway). After trying to break the engine's speed governor by down-shifting at full speed, downhill, Sandy found he had destroyed the brakes and the steering had almost no movement. The engine had been lifted off its mountings and moved back in the engine bay — unbelievable, but true. We were speeding down this mountain pass, past a weigh station and finally coming to rest by friction with the roadside before the downhill continued. This at about 6.00am.
    Having noticed a fleet of U-Haul trucks at a gas station some miles earlier, we were able to summon a replacement truck, roundly blaming U-Haul and Ford for the incident ('brake failure'). Finally arriving at Las Vegas, we were told that the gig had been cancelled due to ill health (John Bonham was in bad shape in Phoenix, having to be supported on his drum stool by Sandy for much of the gig). So, a big anticlimax for us, but we were at least able to go to bed for two days and nights!
    I volunteered to drive the truck back to LA, where we spent a couple of days before flying home. This was the first time I had been on my own time for a month and it was liberating. The desert road (Route 15) gave me time to take stock. I was so exhausted by the experience, I made it known that I would not carry on with the band. I had completed the tour, which had become a challenge against physical and mental exhaustion, and that was enough. Although at the time it just seemed like very hard work, with hindsight, working with Led Zeppelin was a huge privilege."
  6. this may not be new but they were to me:

    http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/classic-las-vegas-blog/2009/9/25/led-zeppelin-did-play-las-vegas-ice-palace-in-1969.html

    Led Zeppelin DID play Las Vegas Ice Palace in 1969

    One of our daily readers contacted me with his remembrance of Led Zeppelin playing Las Vegas, at the Ice Palace, in 1969:

    In 1969, it was announced on KLUC that Led Zeppelin would be playing the Ice Palace. The Ice Palace was not THE major venue in town that would be the Convention Center. I was confused.

    Led who?

    I went to Wonder World and found Led Zeppelin I. I recognized Jimmy Page from the Yardbirds, but who were Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones? What was the big deal?

    I called the Ice Palace. Maybe there was more to the story. I asked if it was true that Led Zeppelin was going to play the Ice Palace.

    The guy said "Yeah." I responded, I swear: "Who else is playing with them?"

    He treated me like the idiot I was and hung up on me. I bought tickets anyway. Jimmy Page was great.

    There is a joke about rock singers: that they sing as though they are caught in their zipper.

    It's true. The worst of them is Lou Gramm from Foreigner, but only slightly behind him was Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin. Plant sang as though his hair were on fire.

    To front Led Zeppelin, however,that style was a necessity. He had to contend not only with Page and Jones but with drummer John "Bonzo" Bonham, who wore a dog collar for a good reason. He was an animal and had a bass drum foot that has never been equalled.

    Plant sang for his life.

    A moment happened during that first Led Zeppelin concert which, had I not been there, I would nothave believed.

    Page was playing, as was his wont, extremely loud. Bonham could play soft, he just never did.

    The band was playing "Dazed and Confused" which was, at that point, from their one and only album.

    Plant's microphone failed. Nothing else, just Plant's microphone.

    Plant did not miss a beat, neither did the mighty Led Zeppelin. Page sang, without the aid of amplification, over the cacophony of his band mates.

    The Ice Palace was an acoustic nightmare. It was never intended to be used for a concert venue. I worked dozens of shows there as a stage hand and I could not be heard from the stage to the back of the rink, screaming with my hands cupped to my mouth.

    But on that night in 1969, there was Robert Plant, without a microphone, belting out "Dazed and Confused" over the absolute onslaught of the world's loudest band.

    I was standing near the back of the rink and I could hear every word, every syllable.

    In my experience, no human I have seen has ever matched Plant's vocal power.

    Thanks to Michael for sharing the story with us.

    Do you have a story? Were you there that night in 1969? Send us an email and tell us your story!

    If you have pictures, send us an email!

    Help us help LedZeppelin.com find out more about this legendary concert.

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