Strider Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I hope you'll indulge me but I just wanted to take a few minutes of your time to talk about "Kashmir". Not the studio version, which is great enough as is, but "Kashmir" as experienced in concert. For those of you too young to remember, "Physical Graffiti" exploded on the scene like a nuclear bomb. It had been two long years since "Houses of the Holy"; the album and the tour, and expectations and demand for a new Zeppelin album were stratospheric. When it finally dropped that February day, there was, for all intents and purposes, no other album in existence...if you were a rock music fan, you bought "Physical Graffiti" plain and simple. All other albums could wait. Plus, just the physical nature of the album's packaging demanded your attention...it wasn't just that the music was "heavy" in the vernacular of the time, but that the record was really heavy in the literal sense, haha. I remember buying it at the 7-11 on my way to school that morning PG was released...just picking the album up and holding it in my hands for a few minutes before purchasing it...the pleasure I felt holding a brand new Zeppelin album in my hands and how I couldn't wait to show my friends at school. Of course, what I failed to also realize is that I would have to endure that agonizingly long wait for school to let out so I could get home and listen to it on my stereo. Now, I had heard a few tracks from PG on the radio before and, like most people, was immediately struck by the song "Kashmir". I even remember one dj from KMET(94.7 FM in LA) describing "Kashmir"'s sound as "cinematic"...and after repeated listenings to PG after I got home from school(I must have listened to PG 4 or 5 times in a row that afternoon and evening), "Kashmir" indeed struck me as being cinematic in scope. About two weeks later, Zeppelin was in town for the Long Beach Arena shows of March 11 and 12. I only had tickets for the 12, which I was taking my girlfriend to, and my dad was driving us to and from the show at the Long Beach Arena. I also had tix for the later LA Forum shows of March 24 & 25. Now by the time of the Zep concerts, judging by what I gathered talking amongst Zepheads outside the arena and elsewhere, "Kashmir" had rapidly become a favourite among us, and one of the PG songs we were most looking forward to hearing the band play. There were some Zepheads who had seen either the March 10 San Diego or the March 11 Long Beach shows and gave us a little clue as to what to expect...letting us know that "Kashmir" indeed was part of the set list. But no mere words told by some mere person could have prepared one for the actual experience of hearing "Kashmir" live! Immense! Powerful! Earthshakingly shattering! These somehow seem puny. "Kashmir" on record is a wonderful thing...exotic, epic in scope, colourful, powerful, transcendant even. But live in concert...it was all those things and yet also so so much MORE! First off, apart from the sound, you had the visuals of Robert, Jimmy, Jonesy and Bonzo right there in front of you playing this song with the dramatic lights and the backdrop screen, with Percy and Jimmy throwing shapes and their shadows projected on the backdrop. Then, there was the overwhelming sound itself...let's face it, no matter how expensive a stereo system you had, it's never going to be as loud as what you hear at a concert. I consider myself lucky to have seen "Kashmir" performed 9 times during the 1975 and 1977 tours...and was always blown away by each one. Even when I knew it was coming, that opening attack always struck me like a canonball to the gut. Whether played as a stand alone song in 1975, or coming out of "White Summer/Black Mountainside" in 1977, the effect of Bonzo's drums, Jonesy's Mellotron and Jimmy's guitar(Les Paul in '75, Danelectro in '77) marching in lockstop set your hairs on end and always drew one of the loudest cheers of the night. Mike Millard's recordings are excellent, but by their very nature of being close to the stage, you can't really hear how much the audience would explode when "Kashmir" would start after "Black Mountainside" in 1977. But what really seperated the live "Kashmir" from the studio version for me was the middle section after the breakdown...that part when Plant would "scan these wasted lands". Again, it is perfectly awesome on record...but live in concert it would positively sound deranged, as if you were actually in the middle of a sandstorm and you were being driven mad. Those chords that Jimmy and Jonesy were playing and the way the sound of the guitars and drums and mellotron, especially Jonesy's mellotron, would coalesce and seemingly swirl around in your head at such a volume and intensity that you feared your brain would fry under the attack. And of course, there were the swirling lights and Bonzo's kick drum battering you at the same time. On top of that was Plant's haunting voice trying to "find out where I've been". And when Percy went into that long drawn out "beeeeeeeeeeeen" and Bonzo brings the band back into the main riff, again, there are just no words to describe it. It was like a musical orgasm. It sounds like a cliche...hell, it is a cliche...but I am sorry: YOU REALLY HAD TO BE THERE to truly understand what hearing "Kashmir" was like in concert. The best bootleg, even an official release, doesn't come close to representing what the actual "Kashmir" experience was like. And, if by some chance you are one of those small percentage of people who don't like the song "Kashmir" as recorded, I bet you would have changed your mind if you had seen the band play it in concert. I know that doesn't help much if you were born in 1980 or later, but if you want to know why some of us oldtimers say that there was nothing like Led Zeppelin in concert, the way "Kashmir" would sear itself into your mind is one reason why. To this day, when I am among music fans and someone asks what Led Zeppelin was like in concert, I immediately flashback to those 9 amazing "Kashmir" performances I was privilaged to witness and my eyes glaze over until I finally shrug and say my vocabulary skills are insufficient to properly convey to them the impact of a Led Zeppelin concert. All I know is that I wish those of you who never had a chance could travel back in time to experience "Kashmir" live in concert just once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levee Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Outstanding post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUK Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
croquet'n'cocaine Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 It may not be precisely the real thing, but Kashmir at the O2 show was the most mindblowing thing I've ever seen. The whole massive room was swirling with sound, that riff was overpowering and Robert Plant totally nailed the vocal. Everything went into it and the crowd was ecstatic in the literal sense of the word: A state of emotion so intense that one is carried beyond rational thought and self-control. The trance, frenzy, or rapture associated with mystic or prophetic exaltation. Straight up! The rest of the concert was excellent, but I think that one song transformed it into the total triumph it became, and justified the reviews. I also saw Page and Plant's version with the full orchestra and that was hugely entertaining, but with nothing like the same impact. It is a special piece of music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evster2012 Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I wish I could travel back too my friend! Wonderfully descriptive. I got a little bit closer. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deborah J Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I wish I could travel back too my friend! Wonderfully descriptive. I got a little bit closer. Thanks! Oh yes, the memories. Nothing like them live. Completely addictive:-) What a great description... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonman74 Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 yeah i was blown away when i saw page and plant play it live,and i have it on dvd.its awesome.i can only imagine what it must have been like being there in 77...thanks for sharing.nice post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badgeholder Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Man, when I saw 'em in '77, I'll never forget Kashmir - especially because I didn't see it coming. Jimmy was just playing White Summer and stood up slowly, started wandering to the front....and then BAM I swear the volume was now twice as loud as before. It was incredible, I was just blown away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stargroves Tangie Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 All I know is that I wish those of you who never had a chance could travel back in time to experience "Kashmir" live in concert just once. Oh yeah, I would give anything for that chance! Kashmir was the song that started me on Zeppelin- and I still think it's one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Great post, Strider! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evster2012 Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Oh yeah, I would give anything for that chance! Kashmir was the song that started me on Zeppelin- and I still think it's one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Great post, Strider! Strider has always had these wonderful visual posts. They take you on the journey in a way that you can really get the feeling. I've missed reading them. Glad to see you back and putting it out there Strider old friend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 Strider has always had these wonderful visual posts. They take you on the journey in a way that you can really get the feeling. I've missed reading them. Glad to see you back and putting it out there Strider old friend! Awww...I'm blushing. Thanks for the compliment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperDave Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Great job Strider! You couldn't of described it any better, how it must of felt to see Zep perform Kashmir on those nine occasions. As Evster said, you really do take the reader on a journey. I saw P/P perform this in 1995 at a few shows, but to have experienced Zeppelin performing this masterpiece must have been something special. Especially in 1977 with the White Summer/Black Mountain Side lead in. WOW! It's tough to hear on most recordings, how nuts the audience went when the first notes of Kashmir were struck, but if you listen to it on The Destroyer (audience recording, not soundboard) from Cleveland, that will give you pretty good feel for it. Listen To This Eddie isn't bad for this either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djzoso Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 the performance on the led zeppelin dvd changed my effing life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mad dog Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 After watching and listening to the version at the 02 show in 2007 I personally find it to be my favorite version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZ Fan Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 Awesome post, Strider. What a wonderfully descriptive post; I can imagine what it was like for you to see them live. I wish I could as well, unfortunately, I was born too late... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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