pluribus Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Part of me wants to say the Boston Tea Party 1969, or maybe Bath 1970, but I'd actually vote for Madison Square Garden 1973 via the movie The Song Remains The Same. I guarantee you that no other shows that the band performed have influenced so many fans and attracted so many new ones. The simple act of filming the gigs and releasing them not only put Zeppelin in a position where very few other bands had ever been (on movie screens), but they were able to squeeze the whole experience in there. The theatrics, the virtuoso abilities, 30 minute improvisations, mystery, excess, smoke machines, fantasy sequences, a violin bow and a private airplane. Apart from seeing them live, there was no other way for fans to get that experience, and it was a check that they could keep cashing over and over and over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IpMan Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Part of me wants to say the Boston Tea Party 1969, or maybe Bath 1970, but I'd actually vote for Madison Square Garden 1973 via the movie The Song Remains The Same. I guarantee you that no other shows that the band performed have influenced so many fans and attracted so many new ones. The simple act of filming the gigs and releasing them not only put Zeppelin in a position where very few other bands had ever been (on movie screens), but they were able to squeeze the whole experience in there. The theatrics, the virtuoso abilities, 30 minute improvisations, mystery, excess, smoke machines, fantasy sequences, a violin bow and a private airplane. Apart from seeing them live, there was no other way for fans to get that experience, and it was a check that they could keep cashing over and over and over. Good point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the chase Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 The reason I included the O2 is because on a global scale this was an important show. Of course us fans know better, understand they were one of the best live acts of all time during their tenure from 68-80', however due to such mediocre shows post-Bonham (Live Aid, R&R HOF), and one really shitty one (40th Anniversary), the casual fan or listener has been under the impression Zeppelin were just hype, a mediocre live band who's true talent lay in Page's amazing production in the studio. The O2 gig proved, almost 30 years after they played their las show with Bonham, that they were in fact exactly as all of us fans claimed in regard to a live act. In fact, with the absence of Bonzo it proved to an ever greater degree how amazing the three remaining were / are in a live setting, leaving everyone knowing if Bonzo would have been alive and behind the kit (no disrespect to Jason) the show would have been even better. So, I guess in retrospect I did err in my inclusion as the O2 was, IMO, VITAL to their reputation as a live act, thereby adding to their overall legacy, but not to their period of true activity. I'm the one who first mentioned the '02 reunion. I did put in a disclaimer. Now I'm not so sure it was even needed. It made things right. PP&J could close the book with their heads held high with a return to live greatness. One very good tight show and goodbye.. It was very important to THEM!! For very different reasons. Like I said... it also shut up a lot of naysayers.. Possibly more than any show the original 4 did.. We all know John Bonham wasn't there and he's irreplaceable .. His son was there though.. playing his heart out.. making the old man and his Mother proud. Was Jason an official member? No. Who cares? He did a great job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stryder1978 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 ...and the boys in the band also referred to the O2 gig as a Led Zeppelin gig, unlike the Page/Plant tours. The O2 gig was important for a LOT of reasons - even the fans were questioning if they still "had it". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And You Know How It Is? Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I'm curious to know how Copenhagen 1979 got in this thread... Because, unlike the aborted 1975 tour, Plant felt completely disconnected from his role in the band due to his son's death, and was intent on quitting. Besides the point made earlier about it being the longest stretch ever in Zep's history between live gigs, for the first time, a Zep member felt no connection or commitment to the band, or being in the band, at this juncture. It certainly didn't help matters that Jonesy and Jimmy didn't fly back for his son's funeral, which Plant took personally as well. Fact is, Zep would have ended right there in 1977 if it wasn't for John Bonham. Bonzo being close to Robert, was the one that got through to him, pushed him to meet up for rehearsals in May 1978, cajoled him into the studio to cut ITTOD, and eventually function as a live working unit, which started in Copenhagen that July night. Robert has stated this publicly. No matter that Bonzo died in September 1980, he got Plant out again, which lead to Knebworth, 1980 Europe Tour, and the 1980 US Tour Part 1, which would have extended into future dates had Bonzo lived (and probably their next studio album being recorded in the Fall of 1981, after US Part 2 in the Spring of 1981, and other dates elsewhere that summer). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Old Hermit Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Because, unlike the aborted 1975 tour, Plant felt completely disconnected from his role in the band due to his son's death, and was intent on quitting. Besides the point made earlier about it being the longest stretch ever in Zep's history between live gigs, for the first time, a Zep member felt no connection or commitment to the band, or being in the band, at this juncture. It certainly didn't help matters that Jonesy and Jimmy didn't fly back for his son's funeral, which Plant took personally as well. Fact is, Zep would have ended right there in 1977 if it wasn't for John Bonham. Bonzo being close to Robert, was the one that got through to him, pushed him to meet up for rehearsals in May 1978, cajoled him into the studio to cut ITTOD, and eventually function as a live working unit, which started in Copenhagen that July night. Robert has stated this publicly. No matter that Bonzo died in September 1980, he got Plant out again, which lead to Knebworth, 1980 Europe Tour, and the 1980 US Tour Part 1, which would have extended into future dates had Bonzo lived (and probably their next studio album being recorded in the Fall of 1981, after US Part 2 in the Spring of 1981, and other dates elsewhere that summer). I've always found it somewhat of a tragic irony that it was Bonzo who effectively saved the band by getting Plant back into the fray after little Karac's passing, and it was Bonzo who ultimately paid the price for the band continuing past 1977... but at the same time, his demise saved the band AGAIN by stopping them in their tracks before they became but a greatly diminished shadow of their former selves, a path they were already on, his early death preserved the band's legacy in amber. Even if Bonzo hadn't died during the rehearsals for the upcoming North American tour, he (or Page) in all likelihood would have died during it... either way, the band's days were numbered by the autumn of 1980 (the will was certainly there to continue but the band itself was in the throes of disintegration, thanks to the combination of personal tragedy and substance abuse), the patient effectively died of natural causes and left behind a peerless, unimpeachable legacy that will never be equalled again, certainly not in our lifetime, if ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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