As per the norm round the house this time of year, I'm making my way through the '77 shows- I try to listen to each one on the day when I can...sometimes I gotta dig around for them. I've done it completely twice, I think...most days I just don't have the time to sit back and absorb. I listened to Atlanta on Saturday, though, cranked on the stereo while the missus and I were doing some Spring cleaning. Shitty recording ("Why's it sound so distorted?" my wife asked me:D ) but it's actually a really good show, especially for early '77. Page played within his limitations, so it made the long show interesting. Try give it a listen, if you've got it, though it really calls out for 'bootleg ears'. It could possibly be the best of the first leg shows, along with -IMO- April 28th and April 10th. Hell, legend has it even Page and Peter Grant reckoned either St Paul or St Louis -I can't remember which at the moment- was best of the tour, according to their laser tech. So I'm listening to Destroyer today...first time in ages it seems like. On IMTOD right now...sorta iffy in spots on Jimmy's part, but I always dug Plant's scream at 6.05. No need to comment on the show, of course...I'd say it's been done. I always liked TYG from this night in particular. WHOOOOPS...love Page's little boo boo on the slide at 8.48 (IMTOD) Though I do agree with some of the above comments about Bonzo sounding like tin cans and Page's "Fisher Price" guitar sound (that's not the first time I've heard that, even in relation to Jimmy Page) on the 1977 soundboards. Even if there were a plethora of them, like there is for '75, say, I'd still favour the audience tapes. 'Kay...I'm gonna bust up now and sit back and listen to "No Quarter", damned cut in the tape and all...

You're referring to the "Second Night In The Garden" source, yeah? I agree- sounds like the damned thing was taped from one of the fucking MSG bathrooms or something...along with April 23rd in Atlanta (which I mentioned a few posts back in this thread) SNITG is probably the worst '77 recording. That said, there's a less common alternate source that sounds a hell of a lot better, 'cept it's missing about half of "No Quarter" and all of the drum and noise solos. Of course, there's also the May 25 '77 Landover show which is a similarly distant recording (though a tad better than SNITG). You can barely make out the Plantations, which probably explains why some boneheads out there have tried to pass off that Landover recording as both April 1 in Dallas and April 15 in St Louis...it didn't work! Mind ya, all the Landover '77 audience recordings save for May 30th are pretty crappy. But considering they were recorded on a microcassette recorder (i.e. a dictaphone) it shouldn't be surprising that they're not exactly Millard quality. Good thing the taper fixed the recording levels after TSRTS on May 30th -one of the better '77 shows, BTW- or else that puppy'd be a real rough listen...obviously having better seats for the fourth night helped considerably as well- the recording is about on par with April 28th in Cleveland.

Chicago, April 9 '77

June 23: http://ledzeppelin.com/video/l-6-23-77-w-keith-moon

Seattle's alright...many, MANY different versions of the pro-shot circulate in varying degrees of quality. Personally, I've only watched it once; it's not exactly the greatest performance, for one thing, and for another my wife and I found Jimmy Page looking like he's about to keel over at any given moment increasingly hard to watch. In the end the pro-shot just couldn't sustain our interest for 3 1/2 hours, but of course YMMV. IMO Legend, you'd be better off tracking down some of the audience shot footage if you want some '77 visuals. Generally the audience footage comes from better shows (June 23 in LA for example) and you get a better feel for the concert experience itself than from the Seattle footage. Mind you, I think the longest '77 audience clip is about half an hour long (one of the MSG shows)- most of the clips are between five to fifteen minutes.

An insult to beginner guitar students everywhere! And those are considered the best shows of the tour! You really wanna hear a 1980 show where Zep sounds like a bad cover/garage band? Try Hannover (24 June) or a large part of the Berlin show (specially if you're a "White Summer" fan...) YMMV.

Best acoustic set for '77 IMO. The 27th and 23rd are probably my favourite LA '77 shows. Wanna say 6-27-77 is their longest concert, either that or 5-25-75. (Hmm...5-25-75...haven't heard that one in a while...maybe I'll blast that at work today!)

I want to say they actually had Knebworth filmed as well, not just for the video screens- hence why the band wore the same outfits both weekends. Didn't they have Bath in 1970 filmed as well, except the film/footage got fucked up or something? And of course word is they were planning on filming some of the rest of the '77 shows, but we know how that turned out. But you're right...you'd think such a high profile group would have captured a bit more of themselves for posterity...and a documentary of Zeppelin in the studio would be awesome, way better than "Let It Be". As nice as it would be to think the official Zeppelin DVD set is just scratching the surface, it probably represents most of what there is in the vaults that's usable (to Page's standards).

You know, I'd have to agree. Sure, I'd watch the Pontiac video, but I reckon it would be the same as Seattle- just the band, all the close ups, etc. Jimmy obviously looks better than in Seattle, which I concede was a big turn off for me (and especially my missus)...ultimately, as interesting as watching Zeppelin play is, the footage over three plus hours wouldn't be enough to hold my interest. Watching the amateur '77 clips (I have at least most of 'em) you get a way better feel for the concerts. Just about any of those clips could be the whole show and I'd watch it more than once. The June 23 and May 19 clips are my favourites.

Cool, but obviously not the same as the pro shot footage! You sorta have to wonder what did become of the pro shot, though...if Jimmy or anyone else in the Zeppelin organization doesn't have a copy, who does? It'd be some valuable fucking film either way. Led Zeppelin's record breaking show at one of America's biggest venues...I'd like to think whoever filmed it took good care of the film. Surely Peter Grant at least ended up with a copy...(hopefully he didn't just erase the damned thing just so those nasty bootleggers couldn't get a hold of it) I'd find it hard to believe the band wouldn't have wanted that bit of documentation just due to the historical factors behind the show. Though I'd say the footage probably doesn't exist anymore. Since it didn't end up in the DVD or out on bootleg yet...I don't think anybody would be able to sit on that piece of history for thirty three years... Too bad, as even the mediocre audience tape and those few photos show Pontiac was easily a better show than Seattle. I mean I'd definitely watch that video more than once.

Yeah...4-28 is arguably the best 'non-Millard' '77 audience tape going. I don't mind the sound of the recording, or the performance, I just wish a) the dudes taping would've shut the fuck up a bit and b ) used 90 minute tapes instead of 60's...this is Led Zeppelin we're talking about; you know they're gonna do at least three hours. I don't think the OKC '77 is bad; from the sounds of it the taper was up in the nosebleeds or something (he says "I want to find better seats" at least once). Same guy taped the less common Birmingham '77 source as well ("Dixie") and it's the same kinda thing. Not bad recordings, necessarily, just bad seats. Atlanta '77, now that is a bad recording- the guy kept his recorder under his seat. Whoops. That is one of the worst recordings I've heard, if not the worst. The iffy 69 and 70 recordings, I'd put down mainly to primitive tape decks -if not microphones- and simply the sheer volume of the concerts. That new Bath recording, it's nice to have for the show, but those tapes seemed to need a lotta work. But at least Zeppelin wasn't playing Shea Stadium, etc to a bunch of screaming banshee teenyboppers Some of them Beatles audience tapes...now those can be rough listens...

Very true, Steve...and of course Bill Graham did not like that one bit! Of course, from the sounds of it, it's not like Page's antics had Jonesy's seal of approval, either. I can't remember where I came across this picture, but supposedly it is at some point during Zep's stay in Tempe (note the ASU T-shirt; click on the pic to make it bigger): Jimmy Page, as prototype Poster Child for the "Just Say NO" campaign...

Yes. This raises the point where the artist should, at least in theory, try to maintain a certain standard of performance- after all, people did pay money to see them perform (and a lot less than we pay now! ). That Pontiac show must have been a hell of a spectacle! I'm always impressed in these '77 discussions to read accounts by people who were actually there; I repeat, the recordings, etc don't quite do these shows justice. And by 1977 Led Zeppelin may not have been up to the live standard they once were night after night (but, hell, they had some shaky shows throughout their career...it just got more frequent as time went on) but, again, these fans aren't booing...I doubt they stormed the ticket booths demanding refunds the same way they demanded tickets... And, yeah- there is no doubt Tempe is a below-par performance. It's definitely filled with more "Jimmy, what the fuck?!" moments than any other, '77 or otherwise. I believe I've said before that they should have just stopped the whole damn tour in LA on June 27...say they'd played the Kingdome June 17th instead. The band was tired by July- the August shows wouldn't have been much of an improvement, I don't think. We probably wouldn't have had the sort of 'Final leg rally' we had in 1975. 'Cept Zeppelin didn't really have health problems to blame for the raggedness in 1977 (only those that were of the self-inflicted variety)...that's probably what makes the really good nights, like L.A. and Pontiac, so special.

Very true, ZeppFan...one thing I have certainly been able to glean from all of the '77 discussion on this forum is that it was clearly a tour where you had to BE THERE, sitting in the audience, gobsmacked by the music and the effects (straight, sober or otherwise) to fully appreciate the show. No audience tape (even a Millard) can do 1977 total justice. For yourself, to have actually witnessed the legendary "Badgeholders" concert firsthand, you are very lucky. Shit, I was only nine years old at the time- didn't see a concert till my aunt and uncle took me to see the Stones in Seattle in '81. That said, had I have been in the audience at Zeppelin's '77 Seattle show, I definitely would have dug it, shaky performance or no. Same goes for Tempe...I mean, the audience isn't exactly booing on the tape, are they? Fuck no! I'm sure they loved it, and had a great time. That's what it's all about in the end, innit?

I actually dusted off Tempe a little while back; had a Smoke and listened to the thing for the first time in like four years. And, actually, it's not quite as bad as people make it out to be, IMO. I've heard worse '80 shows, let's say that. I think that Oakland show on the 23rd and the majority of Seattle are worse than Tempe, over all. I thought, listening to the recording, that Plant actually came of sounding worse than Page- Robert's attempts at getting through "Battle Of Evermore" in particular whilst sounding not unlike the "Squeaky Voiced Teenager" on "The Simpsons" are hard to listen to. Notice how Page starts in on "Dancing Days" during "Bron Yr Aur Stomp" before quickly changing his mind. Jimmy does sound completely lost during the solo on "Trampled Under Foot"...I think his decision to forgo "White Summer" (he only plays about a minute of "Black Mountain Side" before leading in to "Kashmir" was a wise move. Of course, Tom Kid, you are aware that Jimmy is so behind the rest of the band during "Achilles" was because he got knocked on his ass by the force of the explosive effects at the start of the song. Likely this review of the Tempe show has been posted elsewhere in the forum (it's also in "The Concert Files"), but it's probably worth mentioning here: "This concert was originally scheduled for Sunday March 6, 1977 but Robert Plant's laryngitis postponed this show until Wednesday July 20th. The show was supposed to begin at 8pm but didn't start until just before 9:00. The show opened with a strong performance of "Ths Song Remains the Same". Jimmy Page was dressed in his black dragon pants, with a plain black tee-shirt, and white scarf. The first part of the set seemed decent, with the exception of Page who stood still near Bonzo's drum riser for most of the night. During the guitar solo in "Over the Hills and Far Away" Page miscalculated his need to switch his guitar floor effect, with Robert Plant being closer to it and actually activating it for him. Things took a strange turn after a very low key acoustic set. During "Trampled Underfoot" Page turned in a very uninspired guitar solo. Then...He chose not to perform "White Summer". He played a few bars of "Black Mountain Side" before going into "Kashmir"......but without the rest of the band, slowly Bonzo joined in, then John Paul Jones. Next ...there was no "Moby Dick!!" Bonzo seemed to be "missing in action" at the close of Page's guitar solo so there was an improvisational opening to "Achilles Last Stand". And after the opening bars of "Achilles" right when the song "kicks" in, there was an extremely LOUD explosion with a blinding white light from the flashpots located at the front of the stage, which threw Jimmy back a couple feet, then you could see him going over to the side of the stage raising a closed fist presumably at a roadie. After the song Robert announced that the explosion was not meant to happen and that the person responsable would soon be "casterated". The band just never seemed to ever get on track and turned in a very uneven performance. Jimmy was content with standing perfectly still through most of the show. During "Stairway To Heaven'' Jimmy actually dropped to one knee during the guitar solo. Bonzo seemed in a hurry to end the show and was off his drum stool and gone before Robert finished the final lyric. So you didn't have the customary cymbal flurry at the end of the song. Then.... that WAS IT!!! NO ENCORE! I heard people in the crowd after the show making comments, one was "Led Zeppelin didn't eat their Wheaties". But you know even though the performance was very lacklustre, I was never the less just happy that I got to see them live, and being only 75 feet from the stage,well very close. Tempe Arizona, sadly would be the second to last U.S. city the band would ever play in. It would have been nice to have had a supercharged show, but that was not the way it was. I hope you enjoyed my concert memory. Thanks, Ed Ortiz" It is also said that Zeppelin were forced to cut down the show due to time restrictions...or maybe Bonzo was so pissed off by the decidedly poor performance that he basically walked off in a huff! It might have been interesting to have been a 'fly on the wall' back at the hotel after the Tempe show. True, the recording of the Tempe show isn't the best, but most copies also seem to play slow...I had to recorrect the speed and pitch when I got the thing just so I could listen to it. Certainly not a performance you want to bust out on a regular basis, that's for sure...but I would be hard pressed to call it Zeppelin's worst concert hands down. For '77 at least certainly some of the first leg gigs -Oklahoma and Louisville immediately come to mind- would give Tempe a run for its money as far as poor performance goes.