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Bonhams Best Shows


Reed Perry

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I think that '77 was Bonzos year. And '75 too. But then again, Bonzo is the only drummer that i've heard that never made a mistake during live performances.

It was apparently due to illness, but ya gotta hear San Diego 19/6/77 if ya wanna hear Bonzo having an off night...

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Bonham was pretty subdued at the Mannheim shows in '80. Not his peak.

Best title I've seen for an audience tape was "Stamina Through Clean Living" - O.K.C. '77 with Bonham pictured on the front.

Curious if Bonham had been able to live and get clean - would his drumming have returned to his earlier style, vs. the drug fueled manic '77 version? Many musicians seemingly lose interest in their muse after becoming cleaning - Frank Beard is a drummer that comes to mind here.

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Sue isn't one for lacking confidence or holding back on committing to her point

Here's one noone's thought of: 1970/03/27. The Moby Dick on this show kicks the shit out of the one from the RAH show. Just go listen, it's amazing.

agree. For me, the drums at The Summit in Houston are the most intentional for the entirety of a show. Man on a mission.

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Bonham was average for 1980. I don't hear any remarkable percussion during the final Zep tour. Bonham does his best to hold it together. But he's a shadow of his former greatest years, '69-73.

I tend to opine Bonham's top shows come from his greatest year: 1977

06/21 - self-explanatory

04/28 - standouts SIBLY, ALS, RnR, - generally the whole show features incessant and unrelenting fills, time signature play and start/stops. This show will rocket to the top amongst fans if and when a soundboard is released.

05/21 - standout ALS. Insane fills.

07/17 - standouts OTT, SA, ALS - fantastic bombastic confident drumming. Get the audience recording, screw the dry video soundtrack. The audience source has the atmosphere of Pontiac with much better sound.

05/22 - standouts OTT, ALS, whole show - he's not afraid to show off here.

Towards the end of Zeppelin playing the shows themselves were the only thing that distracted Bonham from his drug exacerbated rapidly deteriorating manic depressive mental state. He constantly worried about whether he still had the chops to be the drummer of the world's greatest band - every night of '77 he was on a mission to prove to himself and the public that he still had it. When he stumbled, as in San Diego, he came back doubly determined.

From the band's account his passing in 1980 was in part motivated by his anxiousness and insecurities.

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Bonham was average for 1980. I don't hear any remarkable percussion during the final Zep tour. Bonham does his best to hold it together. But he's a shadow of his former greatest years, '69-73.

Your way off with your "greatest years" dates!

Bonham was phenomenal in 75' & 77' - do you know your Led Zeppelin history? If you did, you'd know Bonham was great on the tours in 75' & 77'

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Bonham was average for 1980. I don't hear any remarkable percussion during the final Zep tour. Bonham does his best to hold it together. But he's a shadow of his former greatest years, '69-73.

Just listen to this "bluesunday"

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Bonham was average for 1980. I don't hear any remarkable percussion during the final Zep tour. Bonham does his best to hold it together. But he's a shadow of his former greatest years, '69-73.

Bonham's lack of enthusiasm in 1980 probably stemmed from the fact that -not unlike his Brummy bro Robert Plant- he really wasn't too keen on doing the tour and being away from home at that time in the first place, and was apparently covering his malaise in booze and drugs worse than ever, which naturally reflected in his playing. Note that it was Bonham's health issues that brought the Nuremberg show to a crashing halt after three songs, not Page's. For possibly the first (and only) time.

John Bonham owns some of the 1977 shows; some nights it was like he felt it was necessary to compensate for Page's underperformance (Seattle being a good example), even if he did tend to overplay from time to time.

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Bonham's state of mind was unlikely to improve during the '80 US tour. First few shows would have gone well, then nerves and alcohol (Bonham) and ego and drugs (Page) would have brought it all down. Tour Over Europe worked because of the scale and limited pressure - US would not have gone well. Page just needed to quit heroin - Bonham on the other hand needed both psychological and chemical help, which he was unlikely to receive nor entertain. Percy would have stepped in and put an end to it, with Henry taking care of sheep and his kids. There was little time left, and his drumming days had run their course

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Really you truly believe Bonham would call it quits on Zeppelin. Bonham loved Zeppelin man. They all did equally. Jonesy wanted to earlier if i remember, Plant wanted to after Karac's passing....Never ended because they truly loved Zeppelin and what it stood for. Jonesy especially stepped up for Page and Bonham during those last few years. He held it together man. They all took care of each other, this band didn't go on stage then fack off like so many others, no they hung out ,chilled, smoked dope and got a closer knit on there live repertoire. They all would have intervened on page sooner than later, problem with bonhams habit was he was just sick of touring, sick of the zeppelin machine. Nobody in Zeppelin could or would intervene on that because it was partly there fault. Which is why when the band broke up and it all went silent, they all felt horrible about not taking care of him properly.

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Haha, true.

I'd be curious to know exactly at what point during the show that the shit went down in Oakland on 23 July...we know Bonham was offstage, and noticed the initial kerfuffle and proceeded to put the boot in...so I'm guessing it was during the acoustic set or "White Summer". What a crazy situation...they did go too far with that one.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'd be curious to know exactly at what point during the show that the shit went down in Oakland on 23 July...we know Bonham was offstage, and noticed the initial kerfuffle and proceeded to put the boot in...so I'm guessing it was during the acoustic set or "White Summer". What a crazy situation...they did go too far with that one.

I believe Bonham raised the victim's voice a few octaves during the Noise Solo. His playing during the two shows was as strong as always, even the day after the event.

It's important to note Bonham was a minimal player in the altercation and likely acted on impulse to what he saw, but failed to get the full story or an explanation prior to getting involved. I do believe it haunted him in the years following and was one of many hurdles he saw in coming back to America.

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It is striking to hear the difference between 1980 Bonham and 1977 Bonham.

He was unstoppable in '77 and threw in fills and time changes everywhere. In '80 he was so much more linear. Even at Brussels, where he seemingly has plenty of energy, playing perhaps his best '80 version of Achilles Last Stand, he puts forth a very boring and straightforward Trampled. His heart was still very much in it in '77.

In '80 he just wanted to be home with his family. It's odd that he was the one that fought hard for Plant to return to the band just a few years prior.

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In '80 he just wanted to be home with his family. It's odd that he was the one that fought hard for Plant to return to the band just a few years prior.

Well, they were best friends since childhood, knew one another pretty well. I'd be inclined to say Bonham knew Robert's ego ultimately wouldn't let him walk away :lol: As for Bonzo himself, sure, he might have wanted nothing more than to stay at home on the farm, but I really couldn't see him retiring, either...

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I think it's funny listening to everyone talking about the shows where JB would kick ass and over play, I always thought his greatest asset is how well he could restrain himself for the sake of making the song tight!

Kashmir comes to mind, the Solid steady studio version where every note is perfectly placed to match the keys and the guitar, that is something special!

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