To put it briefly and succinctly, the final two nights at Earls Court on 5/24 and 5/25 were representations of the band at their most confident, tightest yet relaxed, and had setlists that neatly summed up the diversity of the band musically. For the American portion of the tour, either the Seattle show on 3/17 or the final Los Angeles show on 3/27 would be my choices.

The most laid-back or relaxing Zeppelin song would be "All My Love". I think it's an an obvious choice, and I'm surprised more people didn't choose it. I was going to pick "The Rain Song", but then I remembered that brief section where the band crashes in before returning to being mellow. "Going to California" would be a close 2nd place because of it's late '60's sounding, hippie-folk vibe. I can't count an instrumental like "Bron-Yr-Aur" because it's not truly a song. And, for me, "Down By the Seaside" is simply corny. Next to "Fool in the Rain", it's my least liked Zeppelin track.

With the exception of the abbreviated show on 4/9/77 due to Page's supposed "food poisoning", it would be nice to hear soundboard recordings of the other three completed Chicago shows on April 6, 7 and 10. If soundboards exist or can be found, that is.

Someone more knowledgeable than myself can maybe respond to this comment, but I'll never understand why Zeppelin didn't postpone the start of their 1975 US tour until March and then had it lead right into the Earls Court shows at the end of May. I mean, 'Physical Graffiti' wasn't released until February and had they started in March, Plant's voice would have been in better shape and more healed up, with more consistency. It would have also been better for the fans in the Midwest and East Coast of the States, weather-wise. I realize that a follow-up US tour was scheduled for the summer that unfortunately got cancelled because of Plant's car-crash injuries, but even originally planning for the US shows to start right after the New Year seemed strange. Especially since the album hadn't been released yet and the fans hadn't had time to become more familiar with its contents.

In my opinion, the entire Earl's Court stand in May, 1975 has to stand as the best of their career, as well as being their best structured shows set-wise with the addition of the acoustic set. There was a combination of confidence in the band's performance, warmth from the audience and variety in the setlist that really makes those shows stand out.