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7/17/77: Reappraising the Seattle Kingdome Show


Strider

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They didn't do Moby Dick in 1979?

It was absent from the European tour in 1980 as well; mind ya "Moby Dick" didn't get a lot of airings in Europe, it was more of an American thing. Hard to say if they would have brought back the drum solo for the planned American tour in 1980.

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It was absent from the European tour in 1980 as well; mind ya "Moby Dick" didn't get a lot of airings in Europe, it was more of an American thing. Hard to say if they would have brought back the drum solo for the planned American tour in 1980.

You've gotta believe they did the drum solo and noise solo in '77 so that it would give Plant more opportunities to rest his leg - much the same reason they did the acoustic set that tour. So, maybe they dropped it after Seattle because Plant no longer needed that time and also to shorten the set lengths? Purely speculation on my part....

What was the show length for Tempe? Oakland?

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You've gotta believe they did the drum solo and noise solo in '77 so that it would give Plant more opportunities to rest his leg - much the same reason they did the acoustic set that tour. So, maybe they dropped it after Seattle because Plant no longer needed that time and also to shorten the set lengths? Purely speculation on my part....

What was the show length for Tempe? Oakland?

Same as the others minus drum solo, Wholle Lotta Love/Rock And Roll and no Heartbreaker or Black Dog either

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It was absent from the European tour in 1980 as well; mind ya "Moby Dick" didn't get a lot of airings in Europe, it was more of an American thing. Hard to say if they would have brought back the drum solo for the planned American tour in 1980.

Never noticed that, as I often skip the drum solo too... Had only one 1979 show and it was terrible... The only good thing was hearin All Of My Love live, but Page was very bad...

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Same as the others minus drum solo, Wholle Lotta Love/Rock And Roll and no Heartbreaker or Black Dog either

I'm talking about time, not set list. Black Dog was played in Oakland. Plus, "Over The Top" was different lengths different nights.

They didn't do an encore in Tempe, did they Nutrocker?

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Never noticed that, as I often skip the drum solo too... Had only one 1979 show and it was terrible... The only good thing was hearin All Of My Love live, but Page was very bad...

All My Love was played on the '80 Over Europe Tour, not at any of the 4 '79 shows.

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You've gotta believe they did the drum solo and noise solo in '77 so that it would give Plant more opportunities to rest his leg - much the same reason they did the acoustic set that tour. So, maybe they dropped it after Seattle because Plant no longer needed that time and also to shorten the set lengths? Purely speculation on my part....

No, yer right, Walter, it was probably a combination of both factors- the long solo pieces, etc were set to give Robert a rest (as previously noted the longest time he had to be standing onstage during a '77 show was about fourty five minutes at the start of the show, until JPJ's piano solo in "No Quarter")...I'm convinced that post-Seattle a conscious decision was made to sort of scale back the length of the performances, though that theory is of course impossible to prove based on the three shows they did do after Seattle.

What was the show length for Tempe? Oakland?

Well, as far as Tempe goes, what exists of the audience recording is about ninety minutes. Add about another hour or so for the "Song Remains The Same" to "Ten Years Gone" material, that'd be about two and a half hours. The Oakland shows are both about the same, 2 1/2 hours, give or take. No drum solo was played in San Diego, either, and that show is also about 2 1/2 hrs.

They didn't do an encore in Tempe, did they Nutrocker?

Nope, no encores, as the infamous Ed Ortiz review of the show notes Bonham was out from behind the drums and offstage while the last notes of "Stairway" were still ringing out.

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no encores, as the infamous Ed Ortiz review of the show notes Bonham was out from behind the drums and offstage while the last notes of "Stairway" were still ringing out.

wonder what the story was on this one...

A. needed a potty break real bad?

B. tired

C. rough night

D. personal crap

E. other or all of the above

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No, yer right, Walter, it was probably a combination of both factors- the long solo pieces, etc were set to give Robert a rest (as previously noted the longest time he had to be standing onstage during a '77 show was about fourty five minutes at the start of the show, until JPJ's piano solo in "No Quarter")...I'm convinced that post-Seattle a conscious decision was made to sort of scale back the length of the performances, though that theory is of course impossible to prove based on the three shows they did do after Seattle.

Well, as far as Tempe goes, what exists of the audience recording is about ninety minutes. Add about another hour or so for the "Song Remains The Same" to "Ten Years Gone" material, that'd be about two and a half hours. The Oakland shows are both about the same, 2 1/2 hours, give or take. No drum solo was played in San Diego, either, and that show is also about 2 1/2 hrs.

Nope, no encores, as the infamous Ed Ortiz review of the show notes Bonham was out from behind the drums and offstage while the last notes of "Stairway" were still ringing out.

Thanks buddy, I knew you'd have the info on all that! ;)

I've never heard the infamous Tempe show, so I didn't know only part of it existed. I have one of the Oakland shows on vinyl and haven't had a turntable to listen to it on for years. Thanks again, "king of '77"! :)

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wonder what the story was on this one...

A. needed a potty break real bad?

B. tired

C. rough night

D. personal crap

E. other or all of the above

From The Concert File:

"The band cut the set short, eliminating Bonzo's drum solo entirely. Page also stood too close to the flashpots during 'Achilles' and was thrown back against the stage. The next day Plant stated that Bonham had not been feeling well and his hand had been hurting."

It would have been interesting to have been a fly on the wall during any post-Tempe band discussion, either on Caesar's Chariot or back at the Edgewater in Seattle...

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A good show in my opinion. Bonham in particular stands out. The soundtrack sound is only good when watching the video. To really hear the atmosphere the audience recording is the way to go. I would have walked away happy had I payed $15 to see the show.

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Strider: you comment that 3.75 is higher than you had it in your head previously. Where did you have it rated?

From my previous viewings of my old VHS and DVD copies of the Seattle Kingdome show, I had the performance rated at 2-2.5.

A good show in my opinion. Bonham in particular stands out. The soundtrack sound is only good when watching the video. To really hear the atmosphere the audience recording is the way to go. I would have walked away happy had I payed $15 to see the show.

Which brings me again to the original point of this thread: How the Godfatherecords "Conquering Kingdome" audio cd release is the BEST version of the Soundboard/Videotrack I have ever heard. It vastly improves your impression of the performance. It's fine for listening on its own, or if you have the video or dvd of Seattle Kingdome, turn your video sound off and play the Godfather cds instead along to the visuals.

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Which brings me again to the original point of this thread: How the Godfatherecords "Conquering Kingdome" audio cd release is the BEST version of the Soundboard/Videotrack I have ever heard. It vastly improves your impression of the performance. It's fine for listening on its own, or if you have the video or dvd of Seattle Kingdome, turn your video sound off and play the Godfather cds instead along to the visuals.

Not that it really compares sound quality wise to the Godfather release (which I have heard, and I agree that it is the best video soundtrack source), but what did you think of the Seattle audience recording I sent you, Strider?

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Not that it really compares sound quality wise to the Godfather release (which I have heard, and I agree that it is the best video soundtrack source), but what did you think of the Seattle audience recording I sent you, Strider?

Sorry Nutrocker for not being more timely with my response to your kind PMs, but I seem to have a browser problem accessing the links you sent. I cannot hear the links either on my computer or my phone.

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Sorry Nutrocker for not being more timely with my response to your kind PMs, but I seem to have a browser problem accessing the links you sent. I cannot hear the links either on my computer or my phone.

You actually have to download the files to yer computer, Strider, or did you try that too? The whole concert should download as a RAR file to make it easier, then open the downloaded file on yer 'puter.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Had another listen to this last night and watched the video as well. This is a good show, the stigma is invalid. They are obviously happy to see each other and are having a good time. Bonham is on fire, Page and Plant give good effort and Jones is all smiles.

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  • 1 year later...

Great review, Strider...and funny, because I just upgraded my old VHS copy too! What inspired me to do so was seeing some of the clips people had posted on this forum. I had always thought the show was kind of disappointing, but when I saw the clips, I thought "wow, that's better than I remember." I even watched the OTHFA clip, which I thought for sure would make me cringe (again). To my surprise, even that guitar solo sounded okay (when I first heard it, I thought WTF?!?!). To be honest, though, it was always the visuals more than the audio that disappointed me about the Seattle show anyway. On all the other clips I've seen of '77 (barring the Chicago sickness and the Oakland post-massacre restraint) Jimmy is dancing around like a maniac in ways that almost seem impossible (how can a skeleton dance like that AND play a big double-neck guitar?). Jimmy's cool moves have always been a small but important part of my '77 obsession. And at the beginning of Seattle especially, he's pretty lethargic. Oh well...I'm glad the show is getting reappraised, I think it deserves it, for sure.

I've noticed that about Jimmy's demeanour at the beginning too, and does anyone know why he's wearing what looks like a turtle-neck under his dragon suit at the beginning? Maybe it had to do with his "touch of sleeping sickness"? Or maybe it was the AC in the dome because Bonzo wears a hoodie/house-coat type thing in "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp" and has a scarf on for parts of the show as well. Any theories?

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Jimmy was reported to have been feeling "off" prior to the show, even indicating that he was going to take short solos during the songs. This changed after the first few numbers as he starts to stretch out around OTHAFA. Bonham often added and removed layers of clothing during shows, seemingly at similar points in the concert. One can draw their own conclusions on what can cause people to get a short bout of the "shivers"...

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Like I said in the other apparent thread about this, I don't mind Zeppelin shows like this. Despite their morale and health I think its descent show. I particularly liked when Jimmy broke a string and they improvised that section of Black Country Woman/Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp.

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