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May 3rd 1971 Copenhagen


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So last night I listened to this show for the first time and was blown away at how much I was enjoying this performance. Between the rare inclusion of Four Sticks (love the intro) and Gallows Pole (pretty cool but you can tell it was under rehearsed) and how strong, powerful and beautiful Robert's voice was this night I'm surprised I haven't heard much praise regarding this show. Plant's singing on Since I've Been Loving You and Stairway is tremendous. Curious on what others think about this concert?

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I am blown away by the arrangement for Four Sticks. I love the false start and the end is pretty cool too. As I mentioned in Holy Grail thread To have this show in a perfect soundboard that's well balanced and dynamic sounding would become my fav recording of all Zep shows just for Four Sticks, although Gallows Pole is gravy.

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I've always been quite familiar with Gallows Pole from it, it's been one of my favorite tunes for quite some time now, though always dismissed the rest of the gig because the sound quality was aweful. Well after seeing your post I decided to give the whole show a chance, and more importantly I decided to listen to different sources and sure enough I found a very enjoyable copy and have listened to a little more than half of it and it's a very good show! I really like Misty Mountain Hop around the end, Gallows Pole and Four Sticks speak for themselves.. Awesome Communication Breakdown though! As Juxtiphi stated, a well balanced soundboard of the show would be perfect.

Thank you for the post!

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I'm blown away that besides this Copenhagen show, it was part of what was called the "1971 European Tour"; and yet, the only other dates identified were a re-scheduled Liverpool date one week later (originally March Back to the Clubs tour), and the Milan show July 5.

Maybe this belongs in Steve's Zep Mysteries thread, but can't understand why more dates have not been identified for this "European Tour?" Given the experimentation of this great Copenhagen show (above mentioned Four Sticks, Gallows Pole, plus Misty Mountain Hop for the first time ever. think even Rock and Roll, introduced as It's been a Long Time, might have been a first ever live attempt), imagine how the rest of the "tour" must have sounded with experimentation like this show.

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Along with the epic Seattle '72 show, Copenhagen '71 is my favourite pre-'75 Zeppelin performance. Both gigs show that the band took a justifiable pride in the new material they performed, long before it was officially released on record.

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I'm blown away that besides this Copenhagen show, it was part of what was called the "1971 European Tour"; and yet, the only other dates identified were a re-scheduled Liverpool date one week later (originally March Back to the Clubs tour), and the Milan show July 5.

Maybe this belongs in Steve's Zep Mysteries thread, but can't understand why more dates have not been identified for this "European Tour?" Given the experimentation of this great Copenhagen show (above mentioned Four Sticks, Gallows Pole, plus Misty Mountain Hop for the first time ever. think even Rock and Roll, introduced as It's been a Long Time, might have been a first ever live attempt), imagine how the rest of the "tour" must have sounded with experimentation like this show.

Didn't they play Belfast on that "tour" too? That's where they played the IV songs first, correct? I've always enjoyed the Copenhagen show too, off my cassette recording from back in the day. Haven't listened in a while, I'll definitely have to revisit it too!

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Along with the epic Seattle '72 show, Copenhagen '71 is my favourite pre-'75 Zeppelin performance. Both gigs show that the band took a justifiable pride in the new material they performed, long before it was officially released on record.

Seattle is one of the shows I just can't listen to because the sound quality is so horrendous, I love the idea of the near 3 hour show as early as 72 but man.... The sound is really rough, to the point that you can barely tell which song you're listening to

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Seattle is one of the shows I just can't listen to because the sound quality is so horrendous, I love the idea of the near 3 hour show as early as 72 but man.... The sound is really rough, to the point that you can barely tell which song you're listening to

I have 6 versions of this show, The EVSD version seems to have the clearest sound. Once you get used to the sound its not that bad. Bonham has a killer solo in this show, His drums sound so powerful.

( Not to mention his flat out balls to the wall drumming during Dazed!)

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^^^

Agreed...Seattle '72 is a prime example of a recording where "bootleg ears" are definitely a must have! It's probably better quality than some of the rougher '77 recordings, Chicago 10/4/77 immediately comes to mind...

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Didn't they play Belfast on that "tour" too? That's where they played the IV songs first, correct? I've always enjoyed the Copenhagen show too, off my cassette recording from back in the day. Haven't listened in a while, I'll definitely have to revisit it too!

Belfast was the kickoff to the Back to The Clubs tour throughout the UK. Basically, it ran for the month of March culminating in the BBC recording which first aired April 1, 1971.

The mystery is calling the May-early July "tour" a European Tour, when there really wasn't a tour: there was Copenhagen, Liverpool rescheduled from March (Robert's voice gave out towards the end of the Back to the Clubs tour, so this show was rescheduled for May 10), then Milan July 5. There was rumor of a Rome date before Milan, but never substantiated.

Despite calling it the European Tour, Jimmy admitted he was focused on mixing the 4th album and the birth of his daughter, so one really doesn't know all the potential dates scheduled/actually played. I for one, find it hard to believe they'd fly to Copenhagen just for one show (at least they played 2 there in 1979), without adding a couple of other dates,

And I bring this up again because of the loose feel of Copenhagen's great show, and the fact they tried new numbers without worry, like the 2nd Seattle date in July 1972. Almost makes me wish for the Liverpool show live, to see if they had the same approach, and other dates of that "tour" if other dates happened.

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Yeah, Copenhagen is a great show, and there are some better versions of the main source out there - but still, the sound of the tape is pretty dire.

I agree with Nutrocker - This show and Seattle '72 are both just epic and it would be great to get them in soundboard quality.

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I forget which version I have but found it listenable. It's boomy with some distortion but better sounding than the 72 Seattle show IMO.

Thanks for all you thoughts on this show.

I've always listened to the version off the Equinox label called "Previews & Novelties." I always thought it sounded good to me with a good set of headphones, but I haven't ever looked around for a different boot. If you could figure out which version you have please share!

EQ-005.jpg

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I've always listened to the version off the Equinox label called "Previews & Novelties." I always thought it sounded good to me with a good set of headphones, but I haven't ever looked around for a different boot. If you could figure out which version you have please share!

EQ-005.jpg

Last week when I first seen this thread, I gave each source a quick listen to several tracks and this is the one that I think sounds the best. It really doesn't sound bad at all, quite pleasant really! I would stick with this until something better arrives.

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lol they're talking about those long boxes some boots came (come?) in. Never had one, they look pretty awkward IMO.

Awkward? No, not really. The boxes have a double gate fold cover lined with pics of the band. The packaging is high quality on par with the best vinyl productions. Very Nice indeed.

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lol they're talking about those long boxes some boots came (come?) in. Never had one, they look pretty awkward IMO.

I was joking about the fact that someone said their show didn't have Ten Years Gone, when we are talking about the '71 Copenhagen show. Anyway....

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