Yes, that was my mistake. I assumed he used the mellotron for those two without listening to confirm -- I figured he didn't bring the Hammond B3 for North America '73 since it wasn't used on anything in the usual setlist (right?). But I suppose he always had it set up just in case? He obviously had it with him in San Diego in '77...

I think cutting the "circular funk" section as ledzeppelin-refrence.com refers to it didn't help -- that section was not only one of the cooler parts of the song, it was also slower than the other parts of the midsection, which could have given Page a chance to at least have a section where he could play with more fluidity, akin to the slower part in the Stairway solo. Similar to our discussion about the Pontiac NQ in one of the other threads, this section being missing always makes the '75 versions feel lopsided to me. The end of the bow solo was fairly consistently more than halfway through the song, even on the extra long ones (except 3/27, where the bow solo ends around the 21:00 mark, but that version has that section). 3/21 the bow ends around 21:00 as well, but that one is "only" 40:07 long, so more than halfway.

I'm trying to -- I think I'm at about 200 shows watched/listened to since April 24 between Zepp and Dead mostly, with a bit of Stones, Phish, Doors and AC/DC sprinkled in 😅 I can certainly get behind bumping Boston. The shortened setlist was the only thing holding it back in my mind, but it was for reasons beyond their control so perhaps I shouldn't have made it such an important factor. Boston-Providence are definitely an incredible 1-2 punch, and I would go so far as to say that Boston-Providence-Baltimore is at the very least Page's best 1-2-3 punch of their career. Hamburg-Essen-Offenburg from March would probably be the closest competition I suppose, but the addition of "No Quarter" as a new (and different type of) showcase piece tips the scales towards those three in July for me. RE: MSG -- Fair, I might have put San Francisco too high and could see putting the MSG shows ahead of it and Bonzo's Birthday, but I'm sticking to my guns about Ft. Worth 😛 The Houston recording pre-SBD is too rough to judge with certainty honestly 😏 "No Quarter" definitely takes a big step forward in July, which gives the second leg an edge. I've never noticed that about "Celebration Day" -- I'll have to re-examine some of them.

Thank you, Clyde...glad you're enjoying them.

Interesting revisions. I'm surprised you have Pittsburgh ahead of Baltimore. Amazing how we can all come up with such different opinions of the same batch of shows -- and shows with essentially the exact same setlists at that!

I'm going to check that out too -- an 18-minute "Let's Spend The Night Together" sounds fascinating! 😂

Indeed I have, that's a real fun one. If I remember correctly, there are only six that crossed the half hour mark: 6/22/77 LA: ~34:00 6/27/77 LA: ~33:30 6/26/77 LA: ~32:30 6/11/77 NY: ~31:45 3/14/75 SD: ~31:00 6/23/77 LA: ~30:30 A few others come close: 6/21/77 LA is just over 29:00, 6/25/77 LA is ~28:30 and 3/27/75 LA is ~28:30 with a cut, but I think the cut is patched on the releases that merge the alternate source and there isn't much missing, maybe 30 seconds or so.

A great one indeed. Second-longest...about 30 seconds behind 6/22 and a minute ahead of 6/26! I love the jam at the end as well. It's definitely nice when they run you over all over again after some time away.

Four times I believe: 2/14 Uniondale, 3/21 Seattle, 3/25 L.A. and 3/27 L.A. RE: Lyrics -- one of the many reasons to love the 3/21 Seattle version, at least as far as '75 versions go 😅 He does sing the "will your tongue wag so much when I send you the bill" line, and sounds damn good for '75 on "bill," albeit it's in the wrong spot as he sings it in one of the initial verses if memory serves. Can't argue with any of your other observations. '75 was actually the first live year I got into about 10 years ago now I guess, so I still have a soft spot for a few versions, but the deeper I dig into previous years, the more I realize the inferiority of '75 Dazed's as a whole.

Hi all, Back again with another ranking, this time the North American '73 shows. I'm going to do the Europe '73 shows in the spring because I can't remember that far back and the setlist is also different enough that I think it makes sense to separate them. I listened to all 28 shows from this tour for which there is a recording for the first time this year, so I've included all 28 in the ranking. A few general observations: Peak Page as most of us agree Bonham at his most creative IMO -- Europe as well, but a more aggressive version of it there Really unique timbre to this tour -- Page's snarly tone, Plant's raspy voice and Bonham's twangy vistalite kit really work well together Most definitely the peak year for "Dazed And Confused" "No Quarter" really finds its footing on the second leg and starts to become a showcase piece in its own right As usual, the links to my podcast episode about this tour, just released this morning, are below. I managed to make this episode much shorter than last week's thanks to a more detailed outline 😅 I suppose it's fitting though that the '77 episode would be very long and the '73 episode very concise! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/rock-talk-with-dr-cropper/id1518703647?i=1000486962119 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6OAbJeN7wknMBsOiw4hMqS?si=F_6r-CrRQzyGI78w6zmiSg Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1119254/4825073 1. July 21 - Providence -- In the "best show of their career" conversation IMO, and the only one in that list with a completely standard setlist for the tour it's from. Jones makes a rare screw-up during "Rock And Roll," but it's an otherwise explosive opening 1-2-3 punch, culminating in a thunderous "Black Dog" that's one of the best of the year IMO -- Plant sounds very strong on it. Fabulous solo from Page in "Over The Hills And Far Away," unfortunately he has to cut the last verse short and skip to the outro due to the crowd. Thankfully the crowd heeds Plant's pleas unlike the previous night. One of the all-time best versions of "Since I've Been Loving You" -- Page is absolutely scorching and Plant sounds really good. Best "No Quarter" of '73 and one of the best ever. I always thought the author of The Year Of Led Zeppelin described it perfectly: "Jones' haunting melodies slowly build tension until Page's wildly passionate guitar solo explodes across the soundscape." He plays a little motif around the 9-minute mark that I haven't heard him play in any other version and it always makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Potentially definitive version of "The Song Remains The Same" (yes 6/21/77 takes the cake for Bonham) -- Page is extremely fluid, Plant hits the high notes with power and conviction, Bonham is explosive and plays a great fill in the section for that towards the end, and Jones is grooving along as you'd expect. Beautiful version of "The Rain Song." Breathtaking "Dazed And Confused" which is tragically cut all the way from Page's call-and-response with Plant to the return to the main riff. One of the best "San Francisco" interludes, Page amazingly fast and fluid throughout, one of the best outros with a cool syncopated groove from Bonham. Over 27 minutes even with the sizeable cut, so it was probably in the 32-minute range. All-time great "Stairway To Heaven" with Page playing a spectacular solo and Plant sounding very strong. "Moby Dick" has a sizeable cut as well, but what we have sounds good. "Heartbreaker" is ferocious and one of the best of the year. An otherwise fantastic "Whole Lotta Love" is also marred by a significant cut, all the way from early in the theremin section to the end of the "Boogie Chillen" section. Potential best-ever version of "The Ocean" for the encore. We need the SBD of this one! 2. June 3 - Los Angeles -- I always have trouble deciding the order to put this and Seattle in. I gave this one the edge due to the extra encores and the special treats in WLL and because sometimes Seattle feels a bit too slow. Very strong opening 1-2-3-4 punch. Bonham plays a great, long fill towards the end of MMH. Awesome SIBLY. Sadly the tape issues in NQ make it hard to judge. Page is on fire during TSRTS. Very good Dazed. Fantastic, explosive STH. Very strong Heartbreaker. Cool stop-star/call-and-response theremin section in WLL and the inclusions of "Going Down," "I'm A Man" and "The Hunter" make this a standout version. Longest string of encores of the tour with Ocean, CB, Organ Solo and Thank You, all of which are really well played. I really hope the SBD of this one surfaces someday. 3. July 17 - Seattle -- This one has a very unique feel to it. The tempos are a tad slower than other shows, but Bonham and Jones are both in extremely creative moods which more than makes up for it, toying with lots of ideas and variations unique to this show -- as they always seemed to in Seattle. Excellent interplay between Page and Bonham in SIBLY and again in STH. Jones tears the fretboard a new one during TSRTS and The Rain Song is unique with Jones switching to the electric piano halfway through. One of the coolest versions of Dazed and the longest of '73 at 34 minutes. Bonham goes nuts during the intro and initial verses, the lead-in to the bow has a really cool pulse to it before giving way to a heavy "San Francisco" interlude. There's lots of stop-start action going on during the midsection and then it has one of the neatest outros with Bonham playing something similar to the stop-start groove he plays during the Hamburg outro except the pauses are much shorter (I wanna say they're dotted eighth notes on the snare), lending it an awesome spiralling effect -- sounds like you're being sucked into a whirlpool. Epic 32-min MD and good, long versions of Heartbreaker and WLL. The Ocean is noticeably slower than other versions -- clocks in over 4:30 -- which makes it sound really heavy. I love the little ad-lib Page does at the end of the "na-na-na-na-na-na" section. 4. July 23 - Baltimore -- Plant's best show of the year -- listen to him at the end of STH! Incredibly unique Dazed. The "I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside" tease before "The Ocean" is funny. It's too bad the recording is so rough, because a SBD could very easily reveal that this one deserves to be a few spots higher even. 5. June 2 - San Francisco -- Thunderous, energetic start. Bit of a ho-hum NQ and a slightly disjointed Dazed -- maybe playing in the daylight didn't set the right vibe for these two? Every song on the SBD of the last third is fantastic though and is a best-of-tour candidate, with "Heartbreaker" and "The Ocean" being all-time greats. Overall a very fun, energetic show. 6. May 19 - Ft. Worth -- Might even be a bit higher if we had the last third. Explosive start with a great closing solo in "Celebration Day." Great SIBLY, featuring a blood-curdling screech from Plant coming out of the solo. Best NQ of the first leg IMO, at least until a better recording surfaces of Houston and/or the second L.A. Fabulous TSRTS/TRS combo. Unbelievable 32-min Dazed with Bonham wailing on his tympani during the intro, one of the best "San Francisco" interludes and an awesome outro in addition to the spectacular midsection. Great STH as well. 7. May 16 - Houston -- Similar to the Boston show below it but they got to play the full setlist. This one is just downright violent, as much or more so than any show I've heard. Bonham is very active during Jones' solo in NQ. The AUD is pretty rough before the SBD picks up for the last third...I could see this one climbing a few spots higher even if the full SBD ever surfaces. 8. July 20 - Boston -- Extremely explosive and powerful, with Page especially fluent and aggressive. Song-for-song this show is as good as any of them, but the setlist omissions due to the crowd have to count against it a little bit. Most powerful NQ of '73 and one of the heaviest ever I'd say. Blistering, devastating Dazed. Great STH solo. 9. May 13 - Mobile -- Really makes me wish we had recordings of the three shows between Tampa and this one to hear the improvement, because they're really cooking by this one. Amazing OTHAFA solo, fantastic SIBLY, flawless and focused Dazed at only 27 min and a good MD to boot! Too bad we don't have the last third... 10. May 31 - Los Angeles -- Very heavy and powerful sounding, at least on the audience recording, which is how I listen to this one. Bonham is certainly playing well for his 25th. I struggled a bit with where to place this one. It's energetic and powerful, but it seems to me (and it could be my mind playing tricks on me) that Page plays it a tad safer than some of the other shows due to the sprained finger. He doesn't make any glaring mistakes because of the sprain, but maybe that's because he reeled it in a tad to make sure everything came off cleanly? 11. May 14 - New Orleans -- Always been a personal favourite. Gets off to an energetic start. Raw and emotional SIBLY which is one of my favourite versions, especially on Page's part. Love the inclusion of "Crossroads" and "Cat's Squirrel" in another phenomenal Dazed. Strong "Moby Dick." Love these shows where Plant sings "ain't nothin' but a hound dog!" during the WLL coda. Good CB encore. 12. July 27 - New York -- I had some trouble ordering the MSG shows, and decided to put the three of them lumped together because I think they're all pretty close to each other. This one yielded R&R, MMH, half of SIBLY, Dazed, STH, Heartbreaker, WLL & half of The Ocean for The Song Remains The Same. I suppose I'm giving it a bit of benefit of the doubt since we don't have a bootleg for reference until partway through "The Rain Song." The songs from it featured on TSRTS are strong enough to give it the edge though, lead of course by a very good Dazed and an all-time great STH. 13. July 29 - New York -- Only yielded BD, half of SIBLY and half of The Ocean for The Song Remains The Same, but I quite enjoyed listening to this one for the first time this year. Page plays a great, extended solo in OTHAFA and Jones is grooving along very funkily underneath -- kind of hints at the '75 versions. Dazed features one of the best "San Francisco" interludes and one of Bonham's best closing drum outbursts, both of which are transplanted into the 27th version on all formats of TSRTS except for the original album. Love Bonham's four minute mini-solo at the end of WLL for the uniqueness anyway. Nice version of "Thank You" for what turned out to be its final appearance. Certainly has that "last night" feel. 14. July 28 - New York -- Yielded CD, OTHAFA, NQ, TSRTS, TRS & MD for The Song Remains The Same, plus BD for the LZ DVD. The highlight of course is the all-time great NQ, which features some of the best Page-Bonham interplay during the solo for '73 -- like a '73 version of 6/21/77 at times. I'd say this one is the most adventurous/exploratory of the MSG shows, albeit in a bit more of a relaxed way perhaps. It also has the coolest Bonham drum intro to Heartbreaker of the tour IMO. 15. July 15 - Buffalo -- Great OTHAFA solo, very good NQ, beautiful Rain Song. Another mind-blowing 30+ min Dazed -- the lead-in to the bow is even more intense than usual on this one, with that call-and-response between Page and Jones/Bonham that has hints of "The Rover." One of the most explosive versions of "The Ocean" to close it out. 16. July 12 - Detroit -- Nice SIBLY, another really good NQ, one of the best MD's of the tour and a 30-min one at that, really good Heartbreaker/WLL combo. 17. July 9 - St. Paul -- Really enjoy this one. Bonham is in a very creative mood, over and above his usual '73 self even. It seems to throw Page off slightly in a few spots, but overall it's cool and gives the show a fun, fresh feel. Quite powerful sounding with a nice vibe this one. Unique NQ with a more jazzy, free-form midsection that hints at the Pacific Northwest '75 versions. All-time great Dazed -- dark, unique and crushingly powerful -- with a cool "San Francisco" interlude and an awesome outro, and clocks in over 30 minutes...which is a good thing in '73 lol. Awesome stop-start groove during the fast solo in "Heartbreaker" as well. 18. July 18 - Vancouver -- Strong opening, especially "Celebration Day" and OTHAFA, fantastic SIBLY, amazing NQ which is more exploratory than most '73 versions and hints at what's to come in '75. No TSRTS/TRS on the tape -- skipped due to Plant's condition or just a cut in the tape? Great STH solo. Too bad they had to pack it in early due to Plant being dosed. 19. July 24 - Pittsburgh -- They've definitely cooled off from the three preceding shows, but it's still a good show which finishes stronger than it starts. 20. May 26 - Salt Lake City -- Cool "Celebration Day" with neat ad-libs from Page, love the "Georgia On My Mind" bit -- too bad Page didn't just join in and play the rest of it with them once he fixed the broken string! Unique versions of NQ & Dazed. No "Boogie Chillen" in WLL -- altitude affecting them? 21. July 10 - Milwaukee -- Too bad the recording is so rough and cuts off during MD because it sounds like quite a good show and Plant is in better shape than the first three of the second leg. 22. July 13 - Detroit -- This and the Denver show are similarly fragmentary of course, otherwise they could be several spots higher by the sounds of it. Gave this one the edge for having the only "Dancing Days" of the tour. 23. May 25 - Denver -- ^ 24. July 7 - Chicago -- Hilarious tapers and the show is quite an improvement over the previous night, featuring quite a good Dazed. 25. May 5 - Tampa -- Still getting their feet wet with all of the transitions in the new setlist, but overall a very solid showing before the world record crowd..."57,000 people is 4,000 more than the people that were at the Beatles' Shea Stadium, gotta boogie!" -- I thought the Beatles drew 55,000 at Shea though? 26. May 18 - Dallas -- A bit sluggish, but I did enjoy it decently enough when I listened this year. 27. May 28 - San Diego -- Kind of lacklustre and the massive cut which omits essentially all of Dazed doesn't help. Cool to have "Honey Bee" in WLL a la 1970 in addition to "Going Down." 28. July 6 - Chicago -- Pretty sloppy overall, Plant sounds rough. Possible they were distracted by the especially rowdy crowd a bit as well.

A great version indeed. That whole show is Top 10 for '75 to me. Bonham is killing it and it has a fun, fresh vibe. As for the introduction of the grand piano, that would be the show before Ft. Worth in Baton Rouge (although my guess is it was really Houston and we just don't know since there's no recording of course).

Yeah, he was remarkably consistent, especially considering his highly improvisational style. It's not like he was Keith Richards playing a paint-by-numbers version of "Brown Sugar"... That's really sad if that's truly why he had to tour at a 20 year old's pace in his 40s and 50s.

I would not be opposed to that 😆 I seem to remember that, but I'll have to listen again.

I've always been struck by how normal he sounds as well. And lmao, definitely a good thing that Page didn't make a call to the bullpen! 😂 I stumbled across a funny Jerry interview about a month ago actually where he talks about eating too much of a cake that was dosed before a show in '69 and he said that by that point he didn't like playing shows dosed because he didn't like not having the option to stop playing while he was tripping. I'll have to check that show out! 😂 No, they certainly weren't the only ones. Not a psychedelic of course, but I was watching the Stones' L.A. '75 DVD a few weeks ago and I could practically smell the coke through the screen 😆 Kudos to Bonham especially for hardly ever letting it affect Zepp's tempos...

Funny because in the Have A Good Trip doc on Netflix, Kreutzmann says that it's really wrong to dose somebody. Maybe he was never the one doing it? Or has had a change of heart in the years since?

Very true. I may be in the gross minority on here as a big Taylor Swift fan, but I see her every time she comes around now because of that.

I hear ya...why couldn't I be a '55 instead of a '95 😒

It's a cool one for sure, and a bit more exploratory than most '73 versions -- a tease of the '75 versions in many ways. Yup. I think he says it the other way around: "One of the worst places in the world to get spiked, but one of the greatest places to play." Anyway, semantics 😛 He mentions it at the second Vancouver '75 show as well when introducing "Kashmir," something along the lines of: "The last time we were here, one of the good citizens of Vancouver, if I ever find that guy or gal...baaaad news. Anyway, I found the light show to be amazing and I wondered what the name of the group was. So we'll dedicate this to that state of mind, long may it come at my moments of ease." 😂 Dosing somebody is definitely pretty low. An awesome experience if you're intending to have it, but no one should have it thrust upon them without deciding that's how they want to spend the next 12 hours and preparing themselves for the journey.

Those two are definitely long, but I've never minded the length. The shorter guitar solo on the Pontiac one is a shame though, especially with how well Page was playing that night. Generally speaking, I never mind a particular part of a song being extended as long as the other parts get extended proportionately so that the song as a whole doesn't feel unbalanced/lopsided.

^Gets lost in the shuffle with 3/19 and 3/21 but is certainly a worthy member of the triumvirate. One of the best NQ's, fifth-longest Dazed and a good one. One of Plant's best shows of '75 too -- he even goes for his old Valhalla cry during WLL!

Providence is the best '73 version IMO.

Wow, amazing shots! Thank you!

Definitely one of the better ones.

This is my favourite, both uniqueness- and performance-wise. Not only does it have the one and only instance of "For What It's Worth" in the main section, it also has some "I Shot The Sheriff," both in keeping with Plant's dedication of Dazed that night to "the difference and the balances between law and order, and where they start crossing each other's lines" and his references to the Seattle Police and the man being held by them for giving Page a stolen guitar. That's a great one indeed, and with it being used in the film and remastered versions of The Song Remains The Same, it certainly has an edge in the sound quality department. Interesting. I've always felt that the "For What It's Worth" lyrics worked really well, I wish Plant had used them more often in this section. Correct, he made the switch to "Woodstock" at the start of the second leg (we don't know if it was Houston or Baton Rouge, of course), with a few "San Fran"'s at Earls Court. That's a good one too, for uniqueness at the very least. And yes, longest version at 45 minutes and change. 3/25/75 L.A. has a cool one as well, with Plant singing "Spanish Harlem." Overall, this section has always been one of my favourite "songs within a song." It would probably be harder to find a bad version of it, but some others off the top of my head are: - 3/16/73 Vienna -- "San Fran." Not necessarily the best overall, but Bonham does a nice fill just after they enter it. - 7/9/73 St. Paul -- "San Fran" - 2/13/75 Uniondale -- "San Fran" - 3/19 & 20/75 Vancouver -- "Woodstock" - 5/24/75 London -- "Woodstock"

True. Ah, interesting theory. Could very well be true.