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Atlanta 1977


Laurence Santos

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Hey guys, i think Atlanta 1977 may be one of the best ever 1977 shows (at least caught on tape). Shame the quality is so awful, but the versions of No Quarter (one of my favourite ever versions), Achilles Last Stand and Stairway To Heaven are among some of the best on the tour! Notice how wonderful is Plant's intro to Ten Years Gone, pontuacted by so melancholic guitar chords by Page.."it's always best to be in love with everybody, but this is about the first time you ever knew it would happen to you"..it makes me cry, really! What do you guys think about?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxO3GFqIqCE

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Atlanta is probably the first '77 show where the machine was firing on all cylinders, as it were. No, we don't have recordings for four of the shows prior to Atlanta, but I'd be inclined to say that they were early enough in the tour that all the kinks hadn't been ironed out yet. Even the Cincinatti shows aren't 'perfect', but Atlanta is pretty damn good. If only the guy taping the show hadn't kept his damn recorder under his seat...it'd be one of the better '77 recordings if he'd kept the fucking thing in his lap (compare the difference in sound quality when he's checking the tape, it's like night and day)

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I agree it is a great show but the show is a muddy listening experience. This was only the second time Jimmy had worn the full white dragon suit. dare I say that I have seen some videos taped at the Omni- I think they had a closed circuit television system like Houston- Maybe? I have a Zoso magazine from like 1989 that it lists these other shows as a possibility for being videotaped as well.

all four Chicago

Cincinatti-both shows

Cleveland-both shows

and of course Houston and Pontiac.

I also think both Oakland shows might have been taped with one camera- I have footage of Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1977 and Aerosmith 1979-Bill Graham always recorded shows he was involved in.

Achilles Last Stand

omni77_lck1.jpg

Link to my photo setlist of the Atlanta show.

http://forums.ledzep...__fromsearch__1

Edited by DavidZoso
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Atlanta is probably the first '77 show where the machine was firing on all cylinders, as it were. No, we don't have recordings for four of the shows prior to Atlanta, but I'd be inclined to say that they were early enough in the tour that all the kinks hadn't been ironed out yet. Even the Cincinatti shows aren't 'perfect', but Atlanta is pretty damn good. If only the guy taping the show hadn't kept his damn recorder under his seat...it'd be one of the better '77 recordings if he'd kept the fucking thing in his lap (compare the difference in sound quality when he's checking the tape, it's like night and day)

I would disagree on that one, I was at the April 10th Chicago show (as was my older brother and much older cousin), none of us were stoned or drinking (I was 9, my brother 14, and my cousin 27) so we all had very good recollection. My cousin had been going to concerts since 65' and had seen Zeppelin on every American tour since 72' ( he was a bit late coming to the Zeppelin banquet). In his opinion, and he is a musician as well, he felt the playing at the April 10th show was simply amazing, we all did but since he was older with more experience I defer to him. The show was great and Page was indeed on fire and playing incredibly well. I fact when Listen to this Eddie came out my cousin bought a copy and said too bad Zeppelin did not play as well as they did in Chicago (the 10th) by comparison. He felt the June 21st show was pretty good but no where near as good as the April 10th.

Opinions? Thoughts? Is there a good quality boot of the April 10th show avail?

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I would disagree on that one, I was at the April 10th Chicago show (as was my older brother and much older cousin), none of us were stoned or drinking (I was 9, my brother 14, and my cousin 27) so we all had very good recollection. My cousin had been going to concerts since 65' and had seen Zeppelin on every American tour since 72' ( he was a bit late coming to the Zeppelin banquet). In his opinion, and he is a musician as well, he felt the playing at the April 10th show was simply amazing, we all did but since he was older with more experience I defer to him. The show was great and Page was indeed on fire and playing incredibly well. I fact when Listen to this Eddie came out my cousin bought a copy and said too bad Zeppelin did not play as well as they did in Chicago (the 10th) by comparison. He felt the June 21st show was pretty good but no where near as good as the April 10th.

Opinions? Thoughts? Is there a good quality boot of the April 10th show avail?

April 10 is also a very good show (the best of the four Chicago '77 shows by a large margin)- the band bounced back nicely from Page's 'gastroentritis' the night before and obviously felt compelled to give the audience something special on the 10th (reflected in Jimmy's choice of outfit, I'd reckon). Unfortunately there isn't a 'good quality' recording of the show; what we do have is pretty overloaded...the quality of the Atlanta and April 10 recordings are pretty similar, but there are good performances going on underneath all that distortion...

However, you actually saw the April 10 show...lucky bastid!

Edited by Nutrocker
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April 10 is also a very good show (the best of the four Chicago '77 shows by a large margin)- the band bounced back nicely from Page's 'gastroentritis' the night before and obviously felt compelled to give the audience something special on the 10th (reflected in Jimmy's choice of outfit, I'd reckon). Unfortunately there isn't a 'good quality' recording of the show; what we do have is pretty overloaded...the quality of the Atlanta and April 10 recordings are pretty similar, but there are good performances going on underneath all that distortion...

However, you actually saw the April 10 show...lucky bastid!

Yeah, don't you forget the 4/10/77 show..on my opinion the first GOOD 1977 performance. I think there were some nervous moments on this show (like Plant sounding a bit instable (he cracks badly during the closing section of The Battle Of Evermore) and Page staying around the edges during the solos) but shits all over the place the previous few performances. However, some songs on 4/10 sounded not so good (like No Quarter and Achilles) mostly due Page's nervosism, but it's still not a show to be skipped. Sadly, it's an pretty underrated gig due the such awful sound quality, like is Atlanta, and i only wish another at least decent source appear someday of these great shows..who knows if the fans would appreciate better them?

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April 10 is also a very good show (the best of the four Chicago '77 shows by a large margin)- the band bounced back nicely from Page's 'gastroentritis' the night before and obviously felt compelled to give the audience something special on the 10th (reflected in Jimmy's choice of outfit, I'd reckon). Unfortunately there isn't a 'good quality' recording of the show; what we do have is pretty overloaded...the quality of the Atlanta and April 10 recordings are pretty similar, but there are good performances going on underneath all that distortion...

However, you actually saw the April 10 show...lucky bastid!

Yep, first concert I saw. I have a post here describing it in detail, I believe under the 1977 thread. What still blows my mind is how my normally conservative parents allowed my cousin to take both me and my brother to a rock concert at the ages of 9 & 14 respectively. And at the last minute to boot. My father is passed but when I recently asked my mother about this she simply smiled and replied, "your father and I need some time alone from you two bastards so we jumped at the chance, I figured with your cousin Tommy, what could possibly happen." Gotta love a response like that :thumbsup:

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I attended all 4 Chicago shows and the Easter Sunday show was the best. The performance and atmosphere created one of those magic nights. This would be a great concert to hear a better representation of. I wrote a review of this show that can be read in the timeline under the title "Stormtroopers Easter." I also reviewed the other Chicago 1977 I was lucky enough to have been at.

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Yep, first concert I saw. I have a post here describing it in detail, I believe under the 1977 thread. What still blows my mind is how my normally conservative parents allowed my cousin to take both me and my brother to a rock concert at the ages of 9 & 14 respectively. And at the last minute to boot. My father is passed but when I recently asked my mother about this she simply smiled and replied, "your father and I need some time alone from you two bastards so we jumped at the chance, I figured with your cousin Tommy, what could possibly happen." Gotta love a response like that :thumbsup:

SR, that was similar to my experience in 1973, when my strict stepmother allowed my hippie uncle in San Francisco to take me to the Kezar Stadium show, which I've related elsewhere. It was one thing to let my Big Brother to take me to shows; he was vetted by the organization and she had met him and approved of him.

But she was usually at odds with her uncle over his lifestyle choices, so that was a big shock when she relented to my whining. I have a sneaking suspicion her reason for relenting was similar to your mom's response...she wanted me away so she could get her groove on.

Here's another eerie similarity, SR...both of us were 9 when we saw our first Led Zeppelin concert. As my first was June 25, 1972, I was still technically 9 years and 10 months and 26 days old.

Back to Atlanta '77...have only heard bits here and there but don't have the complete concert, as the sound quality can be off-putting. I wonder what the taper's reaction was when he got home and listening to his tape, realized he'd pretty much wasted his opportunity.

What is known about this guy? Was he a one-and-done taper, or had he taped other Atlanta concerts, either prior or after the Zeppelin gig? Did he learn from his mistake and his tapes get better?

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when I recently asked my mother about this she simply smiled and replied, "your father and I need some time alone from you two bastards so we jumped at the chance, I figured with your cousin Tommy, what could possibly happen." Gotta love a response like that :thumbsup:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Unfortunately my folks wouldn't let my aunt and uncle take me to the 17/7/77 Seattle show (I was nine), but they relented for the Stones in '81...

Back to Atlanta '77...have only heard bits here and there but don't have the complete concert, as the sound quality can be off-putting. I wonder what the taper's reaction was when he got home and listening to his tape, realized he'd pretty much wasted his opportunity.

What is known about this guy? Was he a one-and-done taper, or had he taped other Atlanta concerts, either prior or after the Zeppelin gig? Did he learn from his mistake and his tapes get better?

Not sure about the taper of the Atlanta show, except for his faux pas of leaving the recorder under his seat (oops!). That totally sounds like a rookie mistake (I've only recorded one concert in my time -Neil Young, this past November- but at least I knew what not to do!) I know this, though: Pink Floyd played the Omni within days of the Zeppelin show and the audience recording of the Floyd is damn good...so good that it's actually been passed off as a soundboard in the past, let's put it that way. Clearly the Atlanta '77 Pink Floyd gig was not taped by the same guy who recorded the Zeppelin show, the quality of the recordings is like night and day. Quite frankly I wish the Floyd taper had taped Zeppelin as well...if they had, that recording would be up there with the four Millards and the last third of the Fort Worth show as the best audience recordings of the '77 tour.

Funny how this discussion is revolving around the two worst sounding audience recordings of the '77 tour, Atlanta and the fourth night in Chicago :lol:

Edited by Nutrocker
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:lol: :lol: :lol:

Unfortunately my folks wouldn't let my aunt and uncle take me to the 17/7/77 Seattle show (I was nine), but they relented for the Stones in '81...

Not sure about the taper of the Atlanta show, except for his faux pas of leaving the recorder under his seat (oops!). That totally sounds like a rookie mistake (I've only recorded one concert in my time -Neil Young, this past November- but at least I knew what not to do!) I know this, though: Pink Floyd played the Omni within days of the Zeppelin show and the audience recording of the Floyd is damn good...so good that it's actually been passed off as a soundboard in the past, let's put it that way. Clearly the Atlanta '77 Pink Floyd gig was not taped by the same guy who recorded the Zeppelin show, the quality of the recordings is like night and day. Quite frankly I wish the Floyd taper had taped Zeppelin as well...if they had, that recording would be up there with the four Millards and the last third of the Fort Worth show as the best audience recordings of the '77 tour.

Funny how this discussion is revolving around the two worst sounding audience recordings of the '77 tour, Atlanta and the fourth night in Chicago :lol:

I hate the way that some of the best early 1977 shows (including Pontiac) were recorded on an such bad quality!

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I hate the way that some of the best early 1977 shows (including Pontiac) were recorded on an such bad quality!

The Cincinatti recordings aren't bad, and of course the 28/4/77 Cleveland recording is top notch (as is the SBD for the previous night). The other first leg gigs...not so much. That's what worries me about any of the missing shows surfacing (Dallas, St Paul, Bloomington, St Louis, Indianapolis)- would those be shite recordings as well?

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The Cincinatti recordings aren't bad, and of course the 28/4/77 Cleveland recording is top notch (as is the SBD for the previous night). The other first leg gigs...not so much. That's what worries me about any of the missing shows surfacing (Dallas, St Paul, Bloomington, St Louis, Indianapolis)- would those be shite recordings as well?

I guess it depends on whether the tape that surfaces is a Soundboard or an audience. Also, it could depend on the city. Does Dallas have a history of good audience recordings like Los Angeles, Osaka, or Seattle? What about St. Louis?

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Does Dallas have a history of good audience recordings like Los Angeles, Osaka, or Seattle? What about St. Louis?

This is a good point. Based on the '75 St Looie, Indy, Greensboro and Dallas audience recordings, those aren't too bad. Bloomington, the '75 Stones recording I've got is kind of iffy. Places like L.A., Seattle, Boston, yer pretty much guaranteed good sounding recordings since those locales were home to some good tapers.

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This is a good point. Based on the '75 St Looie, Indy, Greensboro and Dallas audience recordings, those aren't too bad. Bloomington, the '75 Stones recording I've got is kind of iffy. Places like L.A., Seattle, Boston, yer pretty much guaranteed good sounding recordings since those locales were home to some good tapers.

Greensboro 01-29-75 isn't a good recording....it's very distant and a bit muddy to my ears in some parts....but it is still listenable...

Edited by LiveWire1979
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Greensboro 01-29-75 isn't a good recording....it's very distant and a bit muddy to my ears in some parts....but it is still listenable...

Well, as long as it's listenable :lol: Let's face it, there are some AUD recordings that are decidedly unlistenable- Atlanta '77 is right on the edge of being unlistenable in places. Greensboro '75 sounds better than that. I really don't think there are any really bad '75 AUD tapes, ya can't say that about '77...

I wonder if anyone was recording the Tampa stadium show and not only captured the beginning but the riot as well? lol

There's at least three different Tampa recordings. The best sounding one is also the most complete (the "Bring On The Blimp!!!" recording), as it's got a bit of pre show preamble, Plant's "We're gonna take a break" remarks following NFBM, a bit of audience following the announcement (no rioting sounds, though, unfortunately) as well as some news clips regarding the storm and riot. Probably would have been a decent show if it hadn't gotten rained out...

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  • 6 months later...

I saw Zep at the Atlanta Stadium in 1973. That show I don't remember but the Atlanta show in 1977 was great in fact it was so good two weeks later we drove to Birmingham, Al to see it again. It was just as good. Best band ever.

Edited by KenfromGa
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