I met one once. Tried to convert him "roadie style". He's recovered for the most part, except for the limp. Still not much of a Zep fan, unfortunately. Some people you just can't reach.

I doubt it is a lack of care. I would be surprised if he was invited to participate. Was he invited to the No Quarter or Plant/Page projects? I never felt the band was a democracy. JP started the band, was guitarist, main songwriter, producer, and thus keeper of the legacy. He harvested the talents of the three others to create awesomeness, but in the end they were really just hired guns for his vision. Plant and Jones know their place, and they know their place is move forward in new creative directions. They're all smart, talented, and living in the moment; they're just not in the same band anymore.

"Ten Years Bonham!" My first and after 25some years still my favorite listening experience. My top TYG, ALS, & STH for sure. If you put aside sound quality, vocal condition/style, estimated drug/alcohol usage and other usual judgements, this show has to leave most others in the shadows as far as the band, especially Plant, wearing their personality and emotions on their sleeve. No doubt the presence of a special guest Looney had something to do with the vibes on this night.

The whole Dread Zeppelin "Un-Led-Ed" album.

I think as long as this thread was started some things should be clarified. "Bootleg" is not a general term to describe all unofficial recordings. Bootleg is a specific term for unofficial recordings made for sale. Some bootlegs are sourced from unauthorized or stolen soundboard recordings. Other bootlegs are made from amateur recordings. Most, but not all amateur concert recordings are made to document an event for personal use or for trade in collecting circles. These recordings become bootlegs when someone mass produces unauthorized cds, vinyl, or dvds for sales which do not benefit artists or their record companies. Not all amateur recordings available on the internet are sourced from bootlegs. Not all amateur recordings available on the internet exist as bootlegs. There are recordings posted on the internet everyday that have no bootlegger involvement. The term "bootleg" is a reference to unlawful transport of illegal booze in one's boot during prohibition, hence the connotation of illegal activity. The free trade of amateur recordings amongst fans has never been targeted for prosecution and is accepted and encouraged by some bands, most notably The Grateful Dead. Have all known LZ recordings been bootlegged? I assume so since it seems they are all getting different types of sonic lipstick applied to try and improve the listening experience. And despite the fact the material can be found for free online, the novelty of collecting bootlegs is still apparently alive and well.

I have a musical Holy Trinity with Buddy Holly at the top flanked by Dylan and Hendrix. As far as bands go, Led Zeppelin is THE band. But I have a long list of musical obsessions. Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, Schenker, Tommy Bolin, Neil Young, Rush, Nirvana, Grateful Dead/JGB, Iron Maiden, Free/Kossoff/Rodgers, Springsteen, KISS, Muddy Waters, Stones, Purps, Sabs/Ozzy/Dio, Zappa, BOC, Floyd, Misfits/Danzig, MC5, Beatles, Bon Scott, Iggy Pop/Stooges, Elvis, Little Feat, Queen, Who, ZZ Top, Doors, Janis, EC w/ Yardbirds/Cream/Dominoes/Bluesbreakers/Blind Faith, VH, Mountain, Bowie, SRV, X, Steely Dan, STP, Dead Boys/Stiv Bators, Willie, Waylon and the boys, etc., etc.... Don't get me started. I'm just thankful for iTunes, playlists, and ipods. I used to trade cassettes through the mail to get shows. Now every song is at my fingertips.

I don't have a real dislike for any LZ songs. I will say that I got in to LZ when I was 15 and when at that time Presence and ITTOD didn't deliver the rush I found in LZ II, I didn't have much use for them. Fifteen years down the line after collecting everything I could official and boot wise, I decided to put a mixtape together using official songs that had never really been on my radar; primarily stuff from Presence, ITTOD and Coda. I ended up finding a whole new group of favorite songs. Common punching bags such as South Bound Suarez, Ozone Baby, I'm Gonna Crawl, Hots On, Carouselambra, Hot Dog, Candy Store, Darlene have all become indispensable favs. You may be surprised which songs, given some time, end up growing on you. As far as hating Stairway, especially here, that sounds like straight up button pushing. I say like and dislike whatever you want, but as Brad pointed out it would be only fair to elaborate on what makes the song NOT tick. For the most part everyone else on this thread provided reasoning for their choices. Most fans would probably agree that STH showcases to some degree what is great about the band. I've always thought a great rock concert is like a great roll in the hay. Catch a buzz before you go in, play a lot of favorites, some new stuff. Throw in a ballad or two to change up the rhythm. Spend about two hours giving everyone what they want, building momentum until you finish with a bang. Then head to Denny's. And I always felt STH was an that entire concert boiled down to song form. It's very "satisfying".

Seattle 72, 73, and 75 are all significant shows. Maybe not 77 so much. They played there 6 times before 72 including their 2nd US gig ever.

"Hi Katie4pagey! The most disrespect any of us can do is argue as the music is supposed to bring us together and I totally understand and appreciate your point of view...but it was Robert who brought in Bonzo. All I can say is that I am so very glad that these four got together...the rest is history " Hi Deborah J Long time fan - short time poster I hope I don't offend you, but you seemed to passive-aggressively imply that it wasn't Katie4Pagey's right disagree with you. And that maybe she was even disrespecting the band by disagreeing with you. She wasn't arguing, only stating an opinion and I think she was right that you didn't really address the topic. Of course, I sincerely doubt this was your agenda. If we were all to agree on everything all of the time, there wouldn't be any point having a forum. I'm sure you can understand and appreciate my point of view. Thanks for considering it! My 2 cents: LZ was always Jimmy Page's band. Still is. His friendship and musical connection to Bonzo was so important that he couldn't continue without him and has never gotten over his death. It's obvious how uncomfortable he gets when it comes up at the O2 press conference. Despite Robert and Bonzo sharing a friendship predating Zep, it seems the band's musical triumphs more frequently depended on the success of Jimmy/Bonzo's connection. When one or both wasn't "on", the performance ultimately suffered. Nobody understood the value of John Bonham better than Jimmy. He knew the gig with Bonzo was a once in a lifetime thing. So after having Bonzo at his side making magick for 12 years, I don't blame him for "losing his way" or just not being inspired to keep producing and performing at that level. There's a lot of talk about how Jimmy should have gone on to do this or that. I think in general we're all pretty insensitive to how difficult it was for his bandmates to deal with Bonham's death. We just expected they would move on and keep entertaining us in the same way. So it was Jimmy's band, but Bonham was the lynchpin. Without the lynchpin the band couldn't and doesn't exist. So who played the most important role? In no way do I discount the roles of Jones or Plant. Ultimately, Jones was so dependable he was taken for granted. And we still celebrate and enjoy the instrumental success when Plant's voice was below par. I don't think the success of performances hinged on those two as much as the chemistry between Jimmy and Bonzo. Of course this is only my opinion. Feel free to disagree!

Closest thing and Real thing are two different things. For whatever reason, you're working overtime to miss the point. Like the great Peter Green once sang, "Oh Well..." I will concede that I was off-base to a degree. This thread is titled "Best Version Of Kashmir", not "Best Version Of Kashmir Performed By Led Zeppelin". I did assume conventional wisdom would dictate a great version featuring John Bohnam would trump any post Zep project version. That is not the case. My mistake. Apologies to the personal preferences of anyone who felt the need to take offense. There are, however, a few things I cannot and will not concede: 1. Jason Bohnam has never been an official member of Led Zeppelin. Only a fill in on special occasions. This is NOT a slight towards Jason. Only a known fact. Please, your emotional baggage and whatever John Bohnam said to you (or me) in a dream is not relevant here. (*insert smiley face here) 2. Choosing a favorite version of a song by a band who specialized in improvising and living in the moment based on the sound quality of the recording seems somewhat shallow. This is an opinion, one I feel I'm entitled to, and one that hopefully won't offend anyone here. Thank you for the opportunity and freedom to express it. Of course, being shallow isn't a crime. Only a small crack in the foundation of our civilization. (*insert winky face here) If you are new to Zep and O2 is your introduction to the journey, that is awesome. If you aren't savvy when it comes to obtaining unofficial recordings, that's totally understandable. Hopefully if you are interested you can get some help getting on board. If you truly believe O2 versions are among the best ever, OK. Believe what you want. I sure do. On that note, I'd like to throw Kashmir from San Diego 6-19-77 in the ring. Not a solid show all around, but the band had rallied by this point in the setlist.

What John Bohnam's wishes were/are is speculation and beside the point. Is there a more qualified person than Jason to occupy that seat in a tribute to Led Zeppelin? No. Absolutely Not. Nowhere did I day anything about O2 was disrespectful to JB. In fact, I tipped my hat to it. I say enjoy it for what it is, i do. I tip my hat to Jason and his LZ Experience shows. My point is that the line-up for that show is, by universal definition, not Led Zeppelin. And that this can't be agreed upon by fans, especially here, www.ledzeppelin.com, baffles me. What I said was a fan choosing a best ever version of a song from that show seems to disregard the mountain if epic recorded versions the band left behind for us. (Did they really not leave enough behind for you?) Maybe there isn't a mountain of epic Kashmir performances, but certainly a few which represent the heights the band could reach. No? That the surviving members couldn't move forward with someone new as Led Zeppelin I guess touched me and I consider it an important part of their story. That The Who could reload shows they had a different chemistry and different values. That's all. I'm a big Who fan and the Moon-less Eminence Front and The Quiet One are two of my all time fav songs. Zep and The Who have a lot in common but most of all in their respective glory years they were each a band with 4 equal and distinctive personalities. Most bands in rock and roll history have had members come and go. Zep didn't. That means something. I think Moon was such a unique talent and personality that he shouldn't have been considered replaceable. I don't think Roger and Pete are "doing justice" to their past. I think Pete's desperately living in the shadow of The Who's glory days and has been doing so since around 1983. Artists such as Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Rush, and Bob Dylan seem to have been somewhat more graceful in existing in the present with new material while celebrating their past. It seems Pete is still trying to prove something and certainly believes The Who should be held in higher regard than Zep. My wish for Pete is that he can relax and enjoy the fruits of his labors and his place in RNR history. At the end of the day, these kind of politics pale in comparison to the magic of the music that has stood the test of time. I'm in it for the songs and when I need the real thing I go straight to the source. I prefer to accept no substitutes.

The first unofficial recording I acquired 28 years ago. 6-23-77. I've been comparing every Stairway to this one ever since. This is the one. Page is too wasted to play? Plant isn't interested? Bonzo isn't on? Overplays? Such strange dogma which surrounds 1977. Inconsistent on the whole? Sure, no doubt. Maybe it's Moon's presence. Maybe it's the spell the Forum had over them. Maybe they had their Wheaties that morning. Listen as Page and Bonzo lock like eagles in heat. That stop and go section - NAILED! Page's flourishes as he comes out of that part. Everything that is awesome and beloved about this show leads up the that Achilles(best ever?)/Stairway double whammy. And how you gonna top that? Hopefully you've got Keith Moon waiting in the wings. Sloppy. Sloppy? Do fans really want to hear Jimmy replicate what's on the record instead of taking chances? He doesn't always nail it, but when he does... "Technique doesn't come into it - I deal in emotions" - Jimmy Page This version of Stairway is a beautiful example of that.

Watch this go over like a lead balloon. O2 is NOT Led Zeppelin. It was a beautiful tribute to and celebration of Led Zeppelin. LZ ended abruptly with the departure of John Bonham. To pick a best ever LZ performance from that concert shows a serious lack of respect not only for Bonham's contributions but also for the surviving members who felt they "couldn't go on as they once were". Yeah, they were billed as Led Zeppelin at that concert. That doesn't change the fact that Bonham wasn't there. I always felt that not replacing a fallen member was one of the things that elevated Zep above some of their contemporaries (I won't say "WHO"). Zep wasn't a band you could just reload. And picking a best performance based on sound quality? Huh? Do yourself a favor and put the '75 soundboards away for awhile and spend some quality time with the Third European Tour. That said, Kashmir from Cologne 6-18-80 recently caught me by surprise. Check it out. It's my new fav.

Long time fan and show collector - First time poster! In general, I prefer girls with long dark wavy hair, Les Pauls, and audience recordings. Now playing: Munich 3-17-73.