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Led Zeppelin's WORST show?


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I agree with most of what has been said previously, an awful lot of the 77 tour was terrible with the exception of a few shows - I love Cleveland, though some may disagree, but I really haven't heard anything from the 80 tour that was any good at all The saddest thing is their very last concert in Berlin was absolutely atrocious. Jimmy's playing is awful - really awful throughout. I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before but the only member of the group who was consistently brilliant was John Paul Jones, Even Bonham had the odd off day. Roberts voice wasn't up to scratch on many occasions from 73 onwards - though when he was on form he was amazing. It was Jimmy really that let the side down consistently throughout 77 and especially 80. Mind you, even when Page is playing badly he's still light years better than anyone else.

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San Diego '77 is pretty "bad" in my opinion because John Bonham should not have been playing that show in his condition (be it illness, overindulgence or whatever it was ailing him). Sure, the rest of the band is in good shape but when your drummer is playing that erratically you have no business as professional musicians to subject a paying audience to that kind of a performance. A postponement/rescheduling was definitely in order there.

^This.

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That Berlin "Stairway To Heaven" tends to divide people- you either love it or hate it. Me, I love it, because in spite of the fact that Page is a bit too out of it to have the necessary chops to pull off such a long solo, he's still playing as though his fuckin' life depended on it- what he lacks in accuracy/fluency he makes up for in passion IMO.

No shit? You haven't heard Tempe? PM sent, my friend...

You're awesome dude! Now I have something to listen to while wrapping Christmas presents later tonight.

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I don't care about the latter day Zep haters, they usually listen to Destroyer and Berlin and then make misguided summary judgments of entire tours.

That's okay, I'll enjoy my Birmingham and my Pontiac and my Koln and my Rotterdam and everything will be just fine.

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sheffield 1973 is also one of the worst zeppelin shows ever.

Could someone elabrate more please?

Plant had a bad cold, his voice is shot...Sheffield makes his vocals on the early '75 shows sound like Pavarotti.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before but the only member of the group who was consistently brilliant was John Paul Jones,

I mention that all the time...by 1980 John Paul Jones really was the man on stage. Most nights he carried the band!

You're awesome dude! Now I have something to listen to while wrapping Christmas presents later tonight.

You're welcome...share yer thoughts on Tempe with us when you get a chance.

I don't care about the latter day Zep haters, they usually listen to Destroyer and Berlin and then make misguided summary judgments of entire tours.

That's okay, I'll enjoy my Birmingham and my Pontiac and my Koln and my Rotterdam and everything will be just fine.

Hear hear!

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Zeppelin did not peak in 73', I would say every tour had it peaks, highs and lows. Yes they were more consistent from 68' - 73' but IMO some of their very best performances are from 75', 77', & 80'. The whole west coast run in 75' was the band at it's absolute best (except Plant, but he was still pretty good). I have said it before, 77' was a strange tour, 1/3 of the shows were horrible, 1/3 were average, and 1/3 were brilliant. The brilliant 77' shows were the best shows the band ever did hands down, they had the best set lists, Plant was just as good as he was in 72' (IMO of course), and when Jimmy in particular was on, he did shit on the guitar that was mind blowing. 79' had two strong shows out of four and one of those shows, 7-24-79 I feel is in the top five shows of their live career. The 80' tour was like a mini repeat of 77' but with less highs and more average shows, however Vienna, Zurich, and Frankfurt are amazing performances.

Not making excuses, after all I would have been pissed if I were at the 77' Tempe gig, the Aug 11 79 gig, or the July 8 80 Berlin gig, but to be at Seattle 75, NY or LA 77, or Zurich 80' would have been awesome!!!

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I too feel that Berlin '80 is a decent show. Page is generally very good up through one of the best (and the longest) Trampled Under Foots ever. He must've exhausted himself and he knew he wouldn't be up to Achilles Last Stand (which is a shame but at least the Munich version is tops), and he was right cuz SIBLY and White Summer/Black Mountain Side are a real chore to sit through. I can only imagine how amazing that White Summer would have been if Jimmy's playing had been good. Thankfully Kashmir gives him time to hang back and take it easy, letting the others do what they do best, and then he has just enough fluidity to make a really special solo on Stairway. The encores don't even need explanation, they're brilliant.

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I too feel that Berlin '80 is a decent show. Page is generally very good up through one of the best (and the longest) Trampled Under Foots ever. He must've exhausted himself and he knew he wouldn't be up to Achilles Last Stand (which is a shame but at least the Munich version is tops), and he was right cuz SIBLY and White Summer/Black Mountain Side are a real chore to sit through. I can only imagine how amazing that White Summer would have been if Jimmy's playing had been good. Thankfully Kashmir gives him time to hang back and take it easy, letting the others do what they do best, and then he has just enough fluidity to make a really special solo on Stairway. The encores don't even need explanation, they're brilliant.

I love that Stairway, pretty crazy that the longest solo is on the last performance too, it's without a doubt an interesting last concert

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Plant had a bad cold, his voice is shot...Sheffield makes his vocals on the early '75 shows sound like Pavarotti.

I mention that all the time...by 1980 John Paul Jones really was the man on stage. Most nights he carried the band!

You're welcome...share yer thoughts on Tempe with us when you get a chance.

Hear hear!

Do you have a link to the sheffield bootleg?

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  • 2 weeks later...

it says a lot about how spoiled Zep fans are that some can dismiss an entire tour without hardly listening to anything from it

Spoiled because even when they were having an "off" night, they were still better than 95% of what ever else was out there! When my friends dump on "later days" Zeppelin I just break out 6-21-77 or 7-24-79 or 6-30-80 and that ALWAYS shuts them up!

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I think the reason why people tend to "rag" on the '77 and '80 tours -particularly the 1980 tour- is because with the benefit of hindsight and nostalgia we can look back on the the band's real glory days (say, '69 to '72) and know full well that they were capable of so much more when it came to live performances. Throw in the condition Jimmy Page was in -by choice- in the latter years and there's really no way to excuse his shoddy performances some nights.

I've related the story before about how my first exposure to live Led Zeppelin beyond the Song Remains The Same soundtrack was the Berlin '80 show, and thinking that they sounded like a completely different band, in a lot of ways. And indeed they were, in many respects...and when you look back as to why it wasn't necessarily for the better. With retrospect these days I am more and more convinced that, in spite of Page's optimism at the time, by 1980 Zeppelin's days were clearly numbered. Something had to give, and, unfortunately it did in the worst possible way.

The cracks were definitely starting to show in 1977. By 1980 they were painfully obvious.

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  • 3 years later...
On 1/3/2015 at 1:07 PM, Laurence Santos said:

Their top 10 worst shows for me:

 

Tempe 7/20/77

Greensboro 1/29/75

Chicago 7/6/73

Kansas City 11/5/69

Nuremberg 6/27/80

Chicago 4/9/77

Indianapolis 1/25/75

Sheffield 1/2/73

Bremen 6/23/80

Landover 5/28/77

 

Agreed?

Plant's voice may have been...nonexistent on 1/25/75, but I thought the band was on fire, with Jimmy playing great to have a broken finger.

7/6/73 is the worst 73 show I've heard yet. Even Jones is erratic.

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  • 4 months later...

Wow, only one mention of 8/11/79--I guess it doesn't need to be mentioned every-time.... :D

 

Well, aside from some of the more obvious ones that have been posted--I'm sure I have Tempe bookmarked somewhere and will get to it (should be a good trip)...

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I think when cherry picked the Percy shows when he is sick makes for a horrible show after all the singer ins crucile for a good show. . Tempe 77 is bad for what we know (not knowing the first half) but Jimmy almost got blown up and seeing how he was on the horse his nerves probably were shattered at that point making ALS a shit show. . I'm not a fan of 5/24/75. . Bonzo's not into it. . The band seem lazy. . IMO. .Chicago 73. . The shows in 75 when Robert cant sing. . I guess we all know what is bad and what is good. . And then there's the GREAT nights:)

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On 2/5/2018 at 4:29 PM, gibsonfan159 said:

Plant's voice may have been...nonexistent on 1/25/75, but I thought the band was on fire, with Jimmy playing great to have a broken finger.

7/6/73 is the worst 73 show I've heard yet. Even Jones is erratic.

Yeah, they were pretty rattled by the crazy fucking crowd at the Chicago Stadium . They do sound very unsettled and Plants voice was as bad as ever. They sound distracted and edgy, but I don't know of it's the worst. Maybe the 80 tour show when they all sound pretty uninterested and Plant forgets a verse in Stairway. Manheim?? 

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My vote would probably go to Landover 5/28/77. Tempe is rough for sure, but it's enjoyable in a "so bad it's good" sense. Landover is just depressing. Three hours of both Page and Bonham delivering uninspired, lethargic performances, all captured in a flat dry soundboard. Maybe the worst sounding soundboard of 1977 from what we have thus far. 77 haters can surely get plenty of ammo from a show like this. Amazing how they pulled it all together just two nights later. The difference between the last two Landover shows is honestly night and day.

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1 hour ago, ZepHead315 said:

My vote would probably go to Landover 5/28/77. Tempe is rough for sure, but it's enjoyable in a "so bad it's good" sense. Landover is just depressing. Three hours of both Page and Bonham delivering uninspired, lethargic performances, all captured in a flat dry soundboard. Maybe the worst sounding soundboard of 1977 from what we have thus far. 77 haters can surely get plenty of ammo from a show like this. Amazing how they pulled it all together just two nights later. The difference between the last two Landover shows is honestly night and day.

Agreed! 

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