I like the Southampton show but it is a very loose and laid back performance, with the exception of a great HMMT/CB. I do value the recording quality and also how low key it is - the biggest band of their time playing a student union hall at the same period they were headlining multiple nights at huge US venues. The contrast is interesting. Don't write off the UK tour because of it though - check out Stoke from a week earlier, that is a pretty underrated performance.

I think it seems to have a lot of momentum in the middle jam section and doesn't drag. I haven't listened to the two following shows as much, but will give them a listen too. The momentum is one of the reasons why I also went for the Houston 77 version as well. The 1977 NQs are rather hit and miss for me. Some sound concise (Houston), some jam on for ages without getting boring (LA 27/06/77) and some sound rather aimless. I must admit though that I can't stand the jams with Nutrocker in them, it sounds ridiculous.

Haven't seen this discussion for a while and thought it would be interesting to get it going again. Underrated: 1) LA Forum 22/06/1977. Several people have mentioned this one as potentially the greatest shows of the 77 tour, and I have to agree with them. The band is just ON here, if anything even more so than the previous night. The main drawback is the sound quality, but it says a lot that in spite of that I keep coming back to this perfomance all the time. Best version of IMTOD ever. One of the two or three best versions of Kashmir ever. Phenomenal energy all the way through and if Millard had been there this show would be in the top 10 of most people's lists. 2) San Francisco 26/04/1969. Most people go to the 24th, which has great sound quality, or the 27th, which seems to be a favourite show of the early days to listen to. Both of those are great performances, but the 26th has the edge on the other nights around it - the band is white hot on here. Again, it's a case of a sub-par recording putting people off somewhat, but with a bit of effort this is a rewarding listen. 3) Knebworth 04/08/1979. I get the feeling a lot of people tend to be too disparaging of this show, either thinking it's a slightly uneven performance, or that the Copenhagen shows massively overshadow it. I honestly don't really get either claim, I think the band are absolutely firing on all cylinders. They do sound a little tense here and there through nerves, but I think this is regarded as one of Zeppelin's classic shows for a reason. Best version of Achilles Last Stand ever - top two or three at least - and also the best versions of ITE and WLL around, plus another superb version of Kashmir. I appreciate that the performances are just as good on Copenhagen, but the better sound quality of Knebworth gives it an edge. I do agree that the following week's show wasn't as good though. 4) Vancouver 19/03/1975. Best show of the 1975 tour. Possibly the best SB recording ever, more bass than usual. Spectacular version of NQ too. 5) Several 1971 shows - take your pick. I could choose Hiroshima (the overlooked show of the Japan tour), or the first night at Berkeley (almost as good as the following evening). The UK winter tour stands out though, with several really nice performances ranging from the relaxed (Newcastle) to the wild and passionate (Manchester), though one has to get past the sound quality on a lot of the recordings. I think generally the live standard of the band in 1971 was so high that nearly every show seems to qualify as either very good or brilliant. Overrated: LA Forum 1975. All three of these shows are fine, but I can't really get into them - the band sound quite tired and worn out, and seem to lack the energy and inspiration of the previous week.

1) TSRTS 2) Vancouver 19/03/75 3) LA Forum 27/06/77 4) Houston 21/05/77 5) Celebration Day This changes all the time, though. The top 2 are pretty consistent, but the others come and go.

Houston 1977. Interesting show - band seems rather laidback, but Bonham is very energetic. Really good version of SIBLY on this show. EDIT: Holy crap, an absolutely amazing version of NQ too here! I've not heard the middle section done like that before, much more hard rock than anything. Gets the job done nicely.

Too young to go to any SG shows before they initially split in 97, but when they got back together I was fortunate enough to see them live three times. The first time was at Download 2012, which was OK but I was halfway up a hill watching the band and it was a rather casual encounter. Not so the next time, at Brixton Academy the following year, where the band were on mindblowingly good form, closing with Beyond The Wheel which was heavy, psychedelic and a thousand other things besides that. Oddly at that show they didn't play Black Hole Sun, but it didn't matter as the whole show was so good. Probably the best time I saw them in terms of performance. My favourite memory, however, has to be Hyde Park 2014. Sabbath were headlining that day, and the supports were SG, FNM, Motorhead etc. I enjoyed FNM's set, but Soundgarden were what I was really waiting for (and Sabbath as well, naturally). They strode on stage, and just said "Twenty years ago we made a record called Superunknown, and we're going to play the whole thing" - and went straight into it. Holy shit was that ever something special. I love Superunknown and think it stands head and shoulders above their other albums, and it's also the greatest record of its time (no mean feat, the early 90s were just full of tremendous music). To have the whole thing played live like that was beyond great. Also it was the 4th July as well...... so playing the whole album had even more meaning.

Lots of possibilities here, but if I can get them in order... 1) O2. No question, this is top of the pile. Something about the way this version just takes off into the stratosphere in a way that even the best 70s versions never did. I love live music, live albums and recordings are my main form of listening some days, and this, this is the summit of the mountain. 2) Knebworth 04/08/1979. Superlative version, just really tight and powerful, with a grandiosity to it. 3) LA 22/06/1977 4) LA 21/06/1977 5) Pick any version from 1975, really, most are excellent. One of the Vancouver ones maybe, or the NY 12/02 show, or maybe even EC on the 24th. Very consistent quality in the performances of this song.

Not in any particular order apart from the first three: 1) TSRTS 2) Tokyo 23/09/1971 3) LA 21/06/1977 4) Berkeley 14/09/1971 5) BBC Sessions (has a certain delicacy to it) 6) EC 24/05/1975 (or the following night, I can't pick between them).

1) TSRTS 2) Vancouver 19/03/75 3) Celebration Day The TSRTS one may be a patchwork, but it really has a vibe like no other. Generally I prefer NQ to be concise and not spread out so much, which is why I've got less patience for the 75-77 versions. However, the Vancouver one on the 19th is awesome, it doesn't slow down or wander and just goes off into its own world for a while, and the recording is great too. The Celebration Day version I like because it's back to the concise rendition of the song, I think it's stretched out a little to 10 minutes or so. I find it very atmospheric. I really do think the 77 versions wander so much they lose the point of the song, and sound rather disjointed for the most part. The LA versions are OK, but the ones from earlier in the tour when they put Nut Rocker in are somewhat ridiculous. Just doesn't go with the whole ambience of the song.

Good that there's a document of this tour. I saw the 31st Jan show at the O2 and out of the 9 times I've seen some version of Sabbath, that was one of the best. You just can't beat the Iommi/Butler wall of sound, and at that show they were taking it to new levels. The Master Of Reality material sounded like Killing Joke! Been trying to find a bootleg of the show. I can find ones for the other shows, but not that one...

Playing some of the UK winter tour 1971 on Youtube. Newcastle is quite nice - a fairly loose and relaxed show for 1971, but it's in noticeably better sound quality than anything else I've heard from this tour. It's a shame that there isn't some better quality audio out there, because I'm listening to the Manchester show from the 24th now and I think it could well be one of the better shows of that entire year. However it sounds like it was recorded underwater.

Or blues medleys. Whichever they seem to put in there.

I really like IMTOD live. Just translated really well into the live show, and it's such a powerhouse of a song. I've heard complaints about the length of it regarding the studio version as well, but I disagree - I love the fact that it's over ten minutes long and just keeps repeating the same riffs over and over again. It's good music, so the more the merrier. Also the 'Oh My Jesus' part is my favourite bit of the song because after Plant does it a few times Page just comes straight back in with the riffage again..... My main choices for songs to skip are: 1) Moby Dick. Just no.* 2) Misty Mountain Hop. The worst song on IV, and it's taken me a long time to like it properly. So many better songs that can be played live. 3) D&C if it's just getting ridiculous and pushing over the 25 min mark, although I do sometimes play them, depends on my mood. 4) Noise Solo - can take or leave.... 5) Whole Lotta Love - I'm not that interested in hearing a load of 50s rock n roll medleys, mostly. I agree with the person who said that the main riff of the studio version never got reproduced fully satisfactorily live. However I will make an exception for the Copenhagen/Knebworth versions, which get rid of the theremin section and replace it with a riff jam including some incredible moments and keeping the momentum of the song going. That's my favourite version of the song, including the studio/BBC ones. 6) The Song Remains The Same. 50% of the time I skip this. Never been a huge fan of it - it's a good song but I just have so many others I prefer. *(I appreciate Bonham's skill, but my drum solo tolerance is very low in general. The only one I've witnessed that was actually good was a 5 minute one from Carl Palmer a few years ago at an ELP show, which was genuinely riveting to watch. But almost anyone else, I simply turn to the next track.)

1. Physical Graffiti 2. IV 3. III 4. II 5. HotH 6. I 7. Presence 8. ITTOD Coda is odds and sods so I don't tend to rank that one. III and II switch round as and when I like it, and HotH moves up and down the list a lot - sometimes it's in my top 3, othertimes it isn't. I love the first album, but it's just improved on so much in subsequent records. Neither Presence or ITTOD are that much of a step down, but they're both weird. Presence is difficult to get into, and ITTOD feels like a collection of songs and interesting ideas, not so much a cohesive statement. PG and IV are always the top ones, though.

Cheers

From what I've heard, Tokyo 23/09/71. Dramatic and powerful. However, I will have to say that SIBLY is one of the few Zep songs that I never thought improved upon the studio version in the live setting. Most of their songs do, but the studio version of SIBLY is just so powerful, well-paced and dramatic, and Plant nails the vocals in a way he never really seemed to do so in any of the live versions I've heard.

LA 22/06/1977 Working my way through the LA shows - I've had Eddie for a while now but not delved beyond it. Given Badgeholders a good listen and the 25th as well, now I'm playing the 22nd and despite the lesser sound quality this is clearly one of the best nights. Got the 27th lined up, been listening to bits of that as well - it's not as intense a show but for some reason the vibe is appealing. The 26th is nowhere to be found on Youtube, otherwise I'd give that a go too.

Wonderful series of posts, really enjoyed reading them. Thanks.