Which of these shows is the best?

[SuperDave]

^

I've got myself a pretty good amp (albeit an old one) and some even older wharfedale speakers that might come under your definition of a good system. It's awesome to be able to carry around live shows with me even if they are in mp3, it is simply not economical to have everything in FLAC/SHN/whatever other lossy format because of things like hard drive space and internet bandwidth allowance. Besides, I can't even tell (and I'd wager a lot of other people can't either) the difference between a 320kbps mp3 and a FLAC file.

Well put Tom, as well as your other post after. I convert my Flac/SHN files too as I don't have a big hard drive which makes sense. Takes a little work over on itunes and software like uTorrent and Foobar 2000 to complete the process, but I'm happy with the end result. I used to buy bootlegs in lp and cd format, but I don't anymore with the free availability now on the internet, when that wasn't possible twenty years ago or so when I began my collection. Just takes downloading time and fine tuning a show with artwork, titles etc. I'm always happy with the end result.

BTW Tom, I've been to you side of the world back in 2001 on a leisure trip (certainly not cheap) to NZ, Australia and a few nights in Honolulu too. I did stay in Auckland for a night.

[Strider]

Wow. "Been a long time..." indeed. OK, I've been off the forum for quite a while, but I'm back now, and I need the help of some knowledgeable collectors. I seem to remember there being quite a few here.

So, I have an agonizing choice between 5 shows that I could purchase at the nearest record store. They are all soundboards (that's all the owner stocks without "special orders", unfortunately ). Make no mistake, I will get all of these eventually, but I can only get one for now and I need to know where I should place my priorities.

The shows are:

May 18, 1973 (New Orleans)

February 28, 1975 (Baton Rouge)

March 11, 1975 (Long Beach)

June 7, 1977 (New York)

There is also "Conspiracy Theory" from May 1975 but I can't remember the exact date. Speaking of which, these are all from what I remember on the album covers, so I'm sorry if I messed up any of the dates.

Thanks in advance for any and all help received!

(Man, it feels good to be back! )

Poor kashmiran. All he wanted was some advice on which shows were best to get and instead he gets a bunch of lectures about buying vs. downloading, and "my dick is bigger than yours" audiophile posturing.

My apologies kashmiran.

If it's not too late to be of use, I'll give you my opinion of the 5 shows you listed to choose from.

1. March 11, 1975, Long Beach: This is the first show of the 5 that you should get, but on one condition...make sure it is the Godfatherecords release "The American Return" and NOT the Empress Valley or Eelgrass releases, as they run too fast. The Godfather release has the soundboard tape at correct speed in excellent sound; for some reason the 1975 tour soundboards all sound better than the 1973 and 1977 sbds. Another plus you get with the Godfather version is better patching of the gaps with Mike Millard's tape, better fades into and out of the discs, better artwork...and, as a bonus, the hilariously inept liner notes of Paul deLuxe, who, it seems, has only a passing relationship with the English language. The cover of this release features a photo of Jimmy playing the doubleneck against the backdrop of the American flag.

And while the band's performance doesn't top the next night in Long Beach, nor the other March 75 dates, it's good enough...1975 found Zeppelin getting their funk on and the funkiness usually reached a peak in the Crunge/Theremin interlude between WWL and Black Dog. March 11, '75 Long Beach provides a cool example of that, along with some great Plantations. Add in the excellent sound, and it's clear this is the first choice...but only if it's the speed-corrected Godfatherecords release.

2. February 28, 1975, Baton Rouge: Another great sounding 75 sbd, with good to great versions of nearly every song, including the first use of Woodstock in Dazed & Confused...well, at least until a tape of the '75 Houston show surfaces. Only Stairway and Black Dog are subpar. I have EVSD's "Rampaging Cajun", which I believe is the one you said your store had.

P.S. If your record store doesn't have the Godfatherecords version of the 3-11-75 Long Beach sbd, then Baton Rouge moves up to the #1 slot and Long Beach moves down to the #3 or 4 slot; unless there's another speed-corrected version that they have.

3. June 7, 1977, New York: Now if your store did have the Godfatherecords version of the 3-11-75 sbd, and you got that first, then to avoid 1975 fatigue, you could get this second and then get the '75 Baton Rouge show. The version I have is Empress Valley's "Magical Sound Boogie", and once you get used to the dry sound of the '77 sbds, you'll find this is a pretty good show, especially if you prefer the '77 setlists to '75.

It's the opening night of a 6 show stand at Madison Square Garden, and from all accounts the atmosphere was electric. Of course, that's the one thing sbds can't capture: atmosphere. But you do get great versions of IMTOD, Achilles and the acoustic set in sbd sound. No Quarter includes Nutrocker. Only Kashmir and Rock n Roll fall apart, and surprise surprise, neither was Jimmy's fault. Jones and Bonzo were at fault in Kashmir and Plant came in too soon in Rock and Roll. Another drawback is that there are gaps and cuts in the sbd tape.

But all in all, an above average 1977 show from the run of Madison Square Garden shows, from which NO decent quality audience tape exists. LA had Mike Millard; where was New York's equivalent?

4. May 14, 1973, New Orleans: As noted before, you got the date wrong for this show. My version of this show is Godfatherecords "The Drag Queen of New Orleans", which is how Plant introduces Bonham before Moby Dick. It's a typical sounding 1973 sbd, maybe better in some spots(Jonesey's keyboards really come through in No Quarter and Jimmy's guitar does have that wondrous 73 tone), with some, but not all, of the gaps patched with an average audience tape. In fact, the opening two minutes of the show is the audience tape...the sbd doesn't kick in until the middle of Rock n Roll.

But worse, Communication Breakdown cuts out before the end...right when the band was getting into a funky groove. So all in all, a decent early-US leg 1973 show, but not as essential as the other shows on your list, so I would wait until you got the others before you got this show.

As usual with a Godfatherecords release, you get excellent packaging and photos(for way cheaper than EVSD and other labels) coupled with the nonsensical musings of Paul DeLuxe.

5. March 14, 1975, San Diego: You mentioned "Conspiracy Theory", which is EVSD's release of the sbd from the heretofore unknown SECOND San Diego show of March 14, 1975. Alas, I just don't find it a good show, so I rarely feel like putting it on. For one thing, it suffers by coming between the AMAZING 3-12-75 Long Beach show and the Seattle/Vancouver bacchanals. And it's not complete...it's missing the WWL/Crunge/Theremin/Black Dog encore, which often was one of the highlights of the tour. I would recommend this for completists only. The cover features a photo from one of the Earl's court shows, not San Diego.

There you have it kashmiran...hope it's of some use to you.

[Rock Historian]

Here's a bit of info from the New Orleans date. "Drag Queen" is one of the namy names that this show is famous for.

http://offbeat.com/2011/05/01/stairway-to-bourbon-street-led-zeppelin-in-new-orleans/

[fenderbass]

Here's a bit of info from the New Orleans date. "Drag Queen" is one of the namy names that this show is famous for.

http://offbeat.com/2...in-new-orleans/

That's a good link you provided. I know some people that were at this show. They all say it was great.

[jesus32]

Well, in my experience with 1) the labels releasing the boots, 2) the packaging, and 3) most crucially, the store I'm buying them from, I can assure that they are all complete, high-quality SBDs with no speed issues (The man pre-tests copies all of the boots he keeps in stock, and he's collected for 30 years, so...yeah, I trust him on this ).

I'm buying them more for the instant gratification of it, really. My internet threshold is not unlimited until after 2am, so downloading can be a hassle unless the show is really, really good.

And. finally, I'm aware that they are not the "best" shows, but what does that matter? It certainly doesn't hurt to expand one's collection, and anyway, these are the only ones that the store has that I don't already own.

I think the best show of all of them is Conspiracy Theory, especially, for the No Quarter cover, more than 30 minutes of inspiration. I really think that they should publish one of these concerts. For all of those real fans it would be an incredible jewel.

[jroxx1121]

i was at the show at the garden on 6/7/77, it was opening night of a 6 show stand and the band was always excited to play NYC, of course the garden is the greatest gig in the world and that night it was exceptionally good, they were in top form, the sound was great and the band was tight. i know im probably biased, being a new yorker, i was 16, i was in the presence of my idols and it was a show i remember vividly today!!!

[tmtomh]

I think the best show of all of them is Conspiracy Theory, especially, for the No Quarter cover, more than 30 minutes of inspiration. I really think that they should publish one of these concerts. For all of those real fans it would be an incredible jewel.

Agreed. The San Diego date is fantastic, best of the ones listed. One of the best 1975 shows, period, IMHO (though of course many would put 3-12, 3-24, 3-25 and 3-27 ahead of it).

The 6-7-77 NYC soundboard is cool, but IMHO not a very good performance. Kashmir is an absolute train wreck, and it's generally not a great night for Jimmy. @jroxx1121 - no offense intended; I can only imagine how great that show was to be at - and with the venue acoustics and overall atmosphere I'm sure they sounded great!

[Strider]

Agreed. The San Diego date is fantastic, best of the ones listed. One of the best 1975 shows, period, IMHO (though of course many would put 3-12, 3-24, 3-25 and 3-27 ahead of it).

Oh c'mon...REALLY? San Diego is nice and I can see why you would prefer it to the 6-7-77 NY show, but it's not even the best 75 show on his list: both Rampaging Cajun 2-28 Baton Rouge and 3-11 Long Beach are more consistently better shows, and COMPLETE! San Diego isn't complete, which is a major demerit in my book.

[Strider]

That would be Earls Court 23.5.75 in my book. It's a shame that's not circulating in the same quality as the last 2 EC shows.

I was only referring to the 5 shows the original poster, kashmiran, listed, not the entire 75 tour.

[tmtomh]

@strider - I take your point on New Orleans; but (perhaps because 3-12 Long Beach is so much better than 3-11), I still prefer San Diego to 3-11 Long Beach.

[Nutrocker]

The 6-7-77 NYC soundboard is cool, but IMHO not a very good performance. Kashmir is an absolute train wreck, and it's generally not a great night for Jimmy. @jroxx1121 - no offense intended; I can only imagine how great that show was to be at - and with the venue acoustics and overall atmosphere I'm sure they sounded great!

This show is a good argument for why the audience recordings can be superior to the soundboard tapes- the atmosphere on the "Rawhide" source audience recording makes for a great listen, and Jimmy's sloppy playing on the night doesn't come across with the same clarity as on the soundboard. When I first heard the soundboard (which I discarded very quickly) I was almost embarrassed for Mr Page.

[tmtomh]

This show is a good argument for why the audience recordings can be superior to the soundboard tapes- the atmosphere on the "Rawhide" source audience recording makes for a great listen, and Jimmy's sloppy playing on the night doesn't come across with the same clarity as on the soundboard. When I first heard the soundboard (which I discarded very quickly) I was almost embarrassed for Mr Page.

Interesting - and great point! I'll have to check out the AUD source.

[Rock Historian]

New Orleans is from May 14, and Conspiracy Theory is Mar 14, from San Diego.

Please do yourself a huge favor and do not buy any of these! At best they are all fine shows, but not the best shows from any of the tours they happened in. And, depending on the version of the shows you're looking at, the copies are likely to have errors such as speed issues, or are unnecessarily incomplete.

You can get mp3 copies of all of them via sites like guitars101 or dime a dozen for lossless. Within 20 minutes, you could have all of these with no sweat. There is absolutely no reason to hold onto the nostalgia of buying a cd copy of these anymore. Collectors have already shelled out the money and put them online.

I was going to suggest that tip as well, but not sure if that would qualify as "improper" guildline usage? And your correct-there is no sense in buying a "boot" any longer, unless you want it for the original artwork or something of that nature. With the creation of the "internet" you can find just about ANYTHING-if you look hard enough.........which can be good, or bad if ya think about it.

In the last 6 months, I've probably downloaded 30 "boots' from various sites-sure beats payin for em".