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Why didn't Zep play some songs live?


LedZep342

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You can only play so many songs in a set, ya know. Even in a 3 hour set, there are gonna be omissions that will leave someone grumbling that the band didn't play that cool b-side that was only on a Serbian single released on the night of the full moon.

I always thought the 79 setlists, which only entailed 4 shows, were great...fairly representative of the different periods of their career.

For the 80 tour, you could tell the band was trying to streamline things...getting rid of the drum solo and the pieces with long jams(No Quarter and D & C) and even jettisoning the intro to NFBM.

Since the last time the band toured the Continent extensively was 1973, it made sense for them to weight the setlist with post-73 material.

Hence, All My Love, Kashmir, Achilles Last Song, Hot Dog, Trampled Underfoot, Nobody's Fault But Mine, and In the Evening...7 songs that took up nearly an hour, half the set time.

Now what to fill the second hour with? Well, first off there are the 4 songs that most Zeppelin fans EXPECTED to hear at every concert: Stairway, Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog, Rock and Roll.

So now you got about a half-hour left...Since I've Been Loving You was a song the band obviously ENJOYED playing, a fact not to take lightly, given the state of the band at that time. One could've wished they would've substituted Tea For One instead, but SIBLY works, and is probably one of the most beloved songs in the Zeppelin canon.

Then there's Rain Song, one of their most beautiful songs and one that provides a change of pace during the show and some moody atmosphere. I have no problem with Rain Song being in the set.

That leaves us with the two remaining songs(not counting occasional encores of Heartbreaker and Communication Breakdown)...let's start with the opener, Train Kept a Rollin'.

I get why the band chose this...it was a nod towards their youthful roots, as well as a reminder to the current punks that they could play raw and basic r n r, too. Since Immigrant Song was seemingly no longer possible for Robert to perform live, I guess the band felt Train was a suitably uptempo tune to start with, as well as bringing things full-circle from the beginning when Train was the set opener...and even was the first song the band played when they got together in that tiny room back in 1968.

That leaves White Summer/BMS...and it is here that I think the band made a serious miscalculation. Yes, I know Jimmy liked to use the piece to set up Kashmir, but he could have just used BMS as the link to Kashmir and it would've been just as effective...not to mention only a couple minutes long.

But to spend the 10+ minutes on the whole White Summer thing caused the momentum of the show to complete stop. Remember, White Summer usually followed Achilles, a storming number that charged the audience and left them wanting the energy to continue...only to see Jimmy sit down with his Danelectro and, let's be honest, haphazardly meander his way through White Summer.

This was not 1977, let alone 1970...and most crucially, this was not the USA.

As anyone who has listened to lots of bootlegs can tell you, Europeans had little patience for acoustic sets or quiet instrumentals even in the best of times.

If you think what the band could have played instead of White Summer...Carouselambra, anyone?

Or how 'bout The Rover and Wanton Song, that's about 10 minutes combined. Fool in the Rain and Night Flight? Wearing and Tearing and For Your Life?

Anyway, you get my point...the 1980 setlists are actually pretty good at mixing the more recent material from Physical Graffiti thru ITTOD and the Zeppelin concert warhorses.

The only weak link are White Summer, and to a lesser extent, Train Kept A Rollin'.

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To be honest, I don't care for the 1980 set.

Train Kept-A Rollin'

Nobody's Fault But Mine

Black Dog

In the Evening

The Rain Song

Hot Dog

All My Love

Trampled Under Foot

Since I've Been Loving You

Achilles Last Stand

White Summer/Black Mountain Side

Kashmir

Stairway to Heaven

Rock and Roll *encore*

Whole Lotta Love *encore*

Yea, "Cut the Waffle" Tour I know but I do not feel this setlist flows like all the other ones. The opening songs flow but In the Evening to Achilles Last Stand just don't work for me. It just seems like a hodge-podge of songs they just threw together. I say this because this is how it looks like from a guitar aspect: Les Paul for the opening three songs, strat, double neck, telecaster, les paul, danelectro, double neck, les paul. Plus they didn't have just a keyboard section like previous tours (well they do but it's only two songs in a row unlike 1973 where it was three and four in 1975).

Compared to the 1975 tour, five years prior, he still had to make changes but it was between a smaller amount of guitars: les paul, danelectro, double neck, les paul #2, les paul, double neck, les paul. Less guitars to perform better songs, imo.

Sorry Strider but I do not agree at all. Why they kept The Rain Song and didn't include TSRTS is beyond me. They cut it in 1977 to open with TSRTS which is fine by me, I love The Rain Song, really, but the reason they were worried about it originally being play was because it was so slow and they didn't want people to fall asleep. Well TSRTS intro into it made me want to listen to the song.

I guess I am just not used to the setlist and some of you may say that when you read this post but to me, the Cut the Waffle tour was not who Led Zeppelin truly is or was. Look at Pink Floyd, they were performing an entire album in selected cities. They didn't give a fuck whether people didn't like long shows. In this instance, maybe they tried to get "in touch" with a new group of fans by being something they weren't. Who knows.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The "77 tour had the best set list of all their tours in my opinion.

+1 absolutely.

I'm starting to appreciate the 80 tour a little more, frankfurt does having ass blistering Train kepta rollin.

I agree with the white summer miscalculation too, could have been something else there.

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+1 absolutely.

I'm starting to appreciate the 80 tour a little more, frankfurt does having ass blistering Train kepta rollin.

I agree with the white summer miscalculation too, could have been something else there.

I think Frankfurt and Zurich were the best shows of '80, although I do like Berlin as well as it was their last ever performance. Not a stellar show but it certainly had some great moments.

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I think Frankfurt and Zurich were the best shows of '80, although I do like Berlin as well as it was their last ever performance. Not a stellar show but it certainly had some great moments.

Berlin gives me a eerie feeling when I hear it. They sound tired, and some of things Plant says, like, "This is the Final Show" and then he pauses and keeps talking. Just weird.

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^ Just listen to the shows from '80. There is no way he could come close to the notes he would have to hit for Immigrant Song - nor the power with which the notes had to be belted out.

I also think '77 set list was the best. Knebworth was more comprehensive, as far as covering more songs, but the feel for the '77 set list flowed better (IMO). Especially when they started to add a song between Kashmir and ALS, instead of just the endless soloing that took place during that part of the show.

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