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What show or live song are you listening to now?


Misfit

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August 31, 1970 Milwaukee.

The 50th anniversary of the 1970 Summer tour rolls on and we still don't have a decent tape outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Here's another case of the taper being ill-prepared. Either he ran out of tape or his recorder went dead. When I taped shows I had a checklist that I always went through before going to the gig.

1. Buy fresh batteries and put them in my recorder.

2. Make sure I have enough clean, blank tape. I never used a used tape to record...always a fresh new blank tape. I either brought two C90s or two C120s with me depending on the number of bands I was taping and the style of music. Were they punk or alternative bands that usually played 60-90 minutes or were they jam bands that played two-hours plus? If it was a festival and I was recording three or more bands, then I would plan accordingly. Six C90s was the most tapes I brought at one time.

3. Clean the tape heads on the recorder before leaving for the show.

Anyway, @John M, here is another "Immigrant Song" where Robert does his wails at the end.

 

Edited by Strider
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3 hours ago, Strider said:

Here's another case of the taper being ill-prepared. Either he ran out of tape or his recorder went dead. When I taped shows I had a checklist that I always went through before going to the gig.

According to the original taper, the batteries ran out.

Capture.PNG

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28 minutes ago, ed141 said:

According to the original taper, the batteries ran out.

Capture.PNG

Tough break. The way the show was going, the second half would have been killer…"Thank You" and "Whole Lotta Love" especially were scorching hot, I bet.

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17 hours ago, Strider said:

Anyway, @John M, here is another "Immigrant Song" where Robert does his wails at the end.

Thanks Strider.  In this one Plant gets in the "wooh ooh, woo ooh, woo ooh"  twice, then throws in some things reminiscent of Keith Relf in Happenings Ten Years Time Ago and Yardbirds versions of Dazed. Great stuff.

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50 Years Gone.

September 2, 1970 Oakland.

24 days into the tour and we finally get a good audience tape that has the complete concert, or more complete than any of the previous tapes. The acoustic set is intact and we get the entire "Whole Lotta Love" medley and all four encores.

It is 1970 so it's no surprise that the band is firing on all cylinders. If you don't love 1970 Led Zeppelin I don't know what's wrong with you. In addition, Led Zeppelin has hit the West Coast and California in particular, where they always play inspired concerts.

Bill Graham introduces the band and then it's blast-off time with "Immigrant Song". True to 1970 form, Robert's voice is straight from Valhalla. @John M, more of those Plant woo-woos you like at the end.

The concert goes from highlight to highlight with nary a slip or dull moment. Every song is a peak. "Dazed and Confused" has a great bow segment. The acoustic set flows nicely and provides a tranquil break amidst the sonic thunder. 

The only negative to me is "Moby Dick", which seems sort of aimless and rambling compared to the other drum solos on this tour.

But "Whole Lotta Love" and the raucous encores restore the pace and energy and the night finishes with climax after climax. Communication Breakdown. Train Kept a Rolling. Blueberry Hill. Long Tall Sally (Plant was one of the very few singers that could do justice to this Little Richard classic).

A walloping rollicking start to the California swing. It also makes one wonder what we are missing not having a Seattle tape in circulation. Given Led Zeppelin's history of great shows in Seattle, it stands to reason the September 1, 1970 was probably as special as the 1972, 1973, and 1975 Seattle gigs.

Two other things I ponder about September 2, 1970 Oakland.

1. Were any Oakland Raiders at the show?

2. What about this closed circuit tv projection promised for the concert? Are there video tapes being hoarded somewhere?

 

Edited by Strider
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50 Years Gone. San Diego September 3, 1970.

A perfectly fine concert. Even has a nice quirky "Whole Lotta Love" medley. Two things prevent it from more notice:

1. A distant hissy source tape.

2. It falls in between the two superlative concerts of September 2 and 4...and both are captured on better source tapes, too.

Alas, no woo-woos from Plant during "Immigrant Song". Maybe he was distracted by some California beach bunnies in the front row?

 

Edited by Strider
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On 9/3/2020 at 12:17 AM, Strider said:

September 2, 1970 Oakland.

24 days into the tour and we finally get a good audience tape that has the complete concert, or more complete than any of the previous tapes. The acoustic set is intact and we get the entire "Whole Lotta Love" medley and all four encores.

It is 1970 so it's no surprise that the band is firing on all cylinders. If you don't love 1970 Led Zeppelin I don't know what's wrong with you. In addition, Led Zeppelin has hit the West Coast and California in particular, where they always play inspired concerts.

Bill Graham introduces the band and then it's blast-off time with "Immigrant Song". True to 1970 form, Robert's voice is straight from Valhalla. @John M, more of those Plant woo-woos you like at the end.

Thanks again Strider.  What a great show and a great version of Immigrant Song.  I have lost my bootleg ears over the years,  and stopped listening to audience tapes unless they were top of the line.  But this is one I never heard.  I clearly need to go back and listen to all the 1970 shows I don't have.   This is one reason I am so glad I finally joined this Forum after so many years (I have been listening to unofficial live Zeppelin since the early 80s and I joined this Forum in 2016) - I have learned so much about Zeppelin shows from knowledgeable fans. 

For many years my go to summer/fall 1970 show was Blueberry Hill because the recording is so good, and in that show Plant doesn't do the ending vocals on Immigrant.  So I just assumed it was a one time or rare event.

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