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Jimmy Page in 1998


snapper

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I've recently been checking out some Youtube clips from Page & Plant's 98' tour and I must say that Page is totally kicking ass and on top of his game. Shepherds Bush Empire, Vegas, Bizzare Fest etc., are all fantastic. 20 years after the much hated Zeppelin 77' tour, we find Page dispelling all the talk about how he'd 'lost it' long ago. What strikes me is how Plant, although sounding good, seems to have lost so much of that bluesy swagger he'd had in his younger day's, I miss that.

Regardless, I feel that that this tour proves that if Bonham hadn't died and they had gotten cleaned up and re-focused, Led Zeppelin could have and would have been a force to be reckoned with long after 1980.

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Agreed.

What strikes me as odd though is the number of posters who said that the 77 tour was "terrible" or "much hated". I was just a kid then, but my sister saw the tour in Chicago. There was a ton of excitement before and after those shows. Let's just say, her parties really never ended. I don't think bands toured back then thinking-what will this sound like thirty years from now-. They just toured and tried to be profitable. Critics and pundits always hated Zeppelin, and by this time I don't think LD cared about their critic's opinions anyway. But I do remember the adrenaline rush that came thru when LZ came to town both in 1975 and 1977. From a ten year olds viewpoint, it was amazing.

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I've recently been checking out some Youtube clips from Page & Plant's 98' tour and I must say that Page is totally kicking ass and on top of his game. Shepherds Bush Empire, Vegas, Bizzare Fest etc., are all fantastic. 20 years after the much hated Zeppelin 77' tour, we find Page dispelling all the talk about how he'd 'lost it' long ago. What strikes me is how Plant, although sounding good, seems to have lost so much of that bluesy swagger he'd had in his younger day's, I miss that.

Regardless, I feel that that this tour proves that if Bonham hadn't died and they had gotten cleaned up and re-focused, Led Zeppelin could have and would have been a force to be reckoned with long after 1980.

Any recordings (audio or video) of the 98 tour I found both Robert and Jimmy sounding great. I don't think Robert lost any bluesy swagger.

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Agreed.

What strikes me as odd though is the number of posters who said that the 77 tour was "terrible" or "much hated". I was just a kid then, but my sister saw the tour in Chicago. There was a ton of excitement before and after those shows. Let's just say, her parties really never ended. I don't think bands toured back then thinking-what will this sound like thirty years from now-. They just toured and tried to be profitable. Critics and pundits always hated Zeppelin, and by this time I don't think LD cared about their critic's opinions anyway. But I do remember the adrenaline rush that came thru when LZ came to town both in 1975 and 1977. From a ten year olds viewpoint, it was amazing.

I agree! I had the good fortune to Zep in Chicago in 1977 and to this day it is one of the highlights of my life--hence my puzzlement when people want to malign/trash this tour. I mean, I can understand certain things didn't go well/Robert's son's death, etc, but that night I saw them was magical for me.

To stay on topic, I agree that Zep would have continued to be a force to be reckoned with in the 1980's and beyond (as proven by Plant/Page) provided they could have all kicked their drug habits...and we all know how this wound up for JB. :(

Sharon

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I've recently been checking out some Youtube clips from Page & Plant's 98' tour and I must say that Page is totally kicking ass and on top of his game. Shepherds Bush Empire, Vegas, Bizzare Fest etc., are all fantastic. 20 years after the much hated Zeppelin 77' tour, we find Page dispelling all the talk about how he'd 'lost it' long ago. What strikes me is how Plant, although sounding good, seems to have lost so much of that bluesy swagger he'd had in his younger day's, I miss that.

Regardless, I feel that that this tour proves that if Bonham hadn't died and they had gotten cleaned up and re-focused, Led Zeppelin could have and would have been a force to be reckoned with long after 1980.

It's a bummer that both Heartbreaker and Crossroads cut/abruptly shift to the next reel in the complete Shep Bush on u toob. Swagger abounds on both. I saw Mansfield and Boston Garden (then Fleet Center), MA.

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I agree! I had the good fortune to Zep in Chicago in 1977 and to this day it is one of the highlights of my life--hence my puzzlement when people want to malign/trash this tour. I mean, I can understand certain things didn't go well/Robert's son's death, etc, but that night I saw them was magical for me.

To stay on topic, I agree that Zep would have continued to be a force to be reckoned with in the 1980's and beyond (as proven by Plant/Page) provided they could have all kicked their drug habits...and we all know how this wound up for JB. :(

Sharon

Pretty cool that you were at the same show(s?) as my sister. I got hooked on Zep ever since that tour that I was too young to see. But the older teenagers, well, if they had tickets they were the coolest of the cool. It's like a private club, all you have to do to join is listen to a LZ album and become addicted.

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  • 3 years later...

It's still hard to believe Jimmy was performing this well during just the first week (fourth show) of the '98 World Tour.

One reason I was surprised they didn't do any warm up gigs for the O2, or at least make it a two or three night engagement; a band rarely comes out firing on all cylinders the first night of a tour!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Saw this tour and it was very good, but one prominent thing you notice right off the bat when hearing or seeing footage of this tour is JPJ's full and rich bass sound simply is not there. Charlie Jones was adequate, but that deep bottom end groove that was such a key part of what made Zeppelin's sound so unique, simply was not there because of JPJ's absence on this tour.

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I've recently been checking out some Youtube clips from Page & Plant's 98' tour and I must say that Page is totally kicking ass and on top of his game. Shepherds Bush Empire, Vegas, Bizzare Fest etc., are all fantastic. 20 years after the much hated Zeppelin 77' tour, we find Page dispelling all the talk about how he'd 'lost it' long ago. What strikes me is how Plant, although sounding good, seems to have lost so much of that bluesy swagger he'd had in his younger day's, I miss that.

Regardless, I feel that that this tour proves that if Bonham hadn't died and they had gotten cleaned up and re-focused, Led Zeppelin could have and would have been a force to be reckoned with long after 1980.

It's easy to dissect bootlegs and pick it apart, but it doesn't replace actually being at the show and experiencing it. Have to keep in mind the factors like where the bootlegger recorded from might have picked something up an audience member wouldn't have heard. Same with anything you go to a show that's broadcast or live streamed, what you hear at the show could have sounded great, but you hear the replay at home, sometimes it doesn't even sound like the same show.

I've never heard anyone say they saw Led Zep put on a bad show, they would've had to have seen dozens and have prime seats every time.

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To me,Jimmy in 1998 was really in his element and very comfortable with it . Can't say I saw multiple shows on the North American tour but what I did see in Vancouver, was phenominal. As far as this old fan was concerned, Jimmy was back and it was great to see him looking sooooo happy on stage again :)

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I agree! I had the good fortune to Zep in Chicago in 1977 and to this day it is one of the highlights of my life--hence my puzzlement when people want to malign/trash this tour. I mean, I can understand certain things didn't go well/Robert's son's death, etc, but that night I saw them was magical for me.

To stay on topic, I agree that Zep would have continued to be a force to be reckoned with in the 1980's and beyond (as proven by Plant/Page) provided they could have all kicked their drug habits...and we all know how this wound up for JB. sad.gif

Sharon

I don't disagree with you, being born in 78 I'm just going from bootlegs but I still find something magical about the classic Zep "tight but loose" style even when they werent at there best.

Obviously the drugs and showmanship were issues aswell but I think the biggest difference between 77 Page and 98 Page was simpley that they were aiming for something very different.

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I saw Page/Plant on the 1998 tour in Dallas, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City. Can honestly say that these were some of the best shows I ever heard them play. The `95 tour was like a warm-up by comparison.And of course, just as they were hitting their stride and found the musical sweet spot, the whole damn thing fell apart. Would have been interesting to see what they came up with next had P/P done another studio album/tour.

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I saw them in Houston-The Woodlands in 1998 and have the videos for St Louis, Shephards Bush, San Diego, and a few others and I agree he was on fire on this tour- He did a great Heartbreaker at every stop. I also agree the deep bass was missing without Jonesy. I enjoyed them playing No Quarter but can't believe they did the full throttle version without Jonesy instead of doing the acoustic one like on the '95-'96 tour.

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