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1977 pro-shot soundcheck


Flares

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In an attempt to clear up the existence of any pro-shot gigs on the 1977 tour - aside from Seattle - I contacted a man who I know, 100 per cent, is very close to former SHOWCO employees.

He replied with the tantalising prospect of a "killer" filmed soundcheck:

“I'll let you in on a secret. I have personally viewed an entire Led Zeppelin sound check that totaled 45 minutes length that was recorded. The video is amazing and very high quality. I know where the video is, I know who has it, I know for a fact no one has seen it since 1977. It's absolutely killer." 

I asked him if the video was up for sale and if it was pro-shot:

"The video is the same quality as the Seattle show from what I could remember. Unfortunately, I don't believe the video will ever be for sale."

He said that several SHOWCO employees working on the ’77 tour remembered gigs being filmed, but they didn’t know where the footage ended up. I know for a fact that this guy knows a lot of the old SHOWCO guys that worked on the tour. 

 

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Zep almost never sound checked, I would take this with a large grain of salt.  

They didn't soundcheck with the regularity of bands today, but they still would put in the occasional effort. For the 1977 tour, I would think they soundchecked before the first gig of each leg of the tour, before the main multi-night runs of Chicago, Landover, NYC, and LA, and for the big stadium shows at Pontiac, Tampa, and Seattle.

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All I can say is the guy that told me is someone who I believe is reputable. Not a drug-addled roadie from yesteryear or a Walter Mitty. I would like to reveal who he is, because you would buy into it a lot more, but I think that is unfair at this point. Obviously, I can't guarantee his veracity, only his credentials and his closeness to members of the SHOWCO team from the '77 tour. It is a tantalising one. Nowhere as good as a full show, but would be great to see.

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Lot of reels used to be stored at the museum. So many over time and they were not managed correctly.  I have some without labels, could it be Philly 1969 also? 

I do recall Zeppelin playing Carnegie Hall 1969.  I bet ever penny to my name recording and possible film exists there as well.  Nobody just plays Carnegie Hall, that is a very prestigious place and an honor to perform there.  Anyone listen to Benny Goodman's 1938 performance at Carnegie Hall ?  Pretty darn good performance and quality, just imagine Zeppelin 1969 perform there :)    The recordings are most likely stored 13 floors underground in a vault somewhere in NYC and as safe as the Coca Cola recipe. 

philly-1.jpg

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^ Yep... Especially by '77 when they were staying at bases in big cities and flying out the night of each show, hitting the stage straight from the airport . Hell they were 2+ hours late during a lot of shows, you can tell from Roberts plantations.

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I seriously do not agree with the fact that people try to make money and sell these bootlegs.... It is just not right! No one should have to pay a single CENT to be able to enjoy ANY LED ZEP SHOW! I fucking hate it! Why the fuck are people sitting on and hoarding these epic concerts?? Share it with the world man and not for money! I would never ask to be payed for anything zep. And i hate people who sell these shows. THEY ARE NOT YOURS, YOU DiD NOT PERFORM THESE SHOWS!!!! All credit goes to LED ZEPPELIN and the people who taped the shows! And this is why i created my own blog called Long Live Led Zeppelin where i am making available every known available Led Zeppelin concert bootleg spanning their entire live career 1968 to 1980! So if you want to enjoy any Led Zeppelin show for free. as it should be, than check out my blog. Here

http://longliveledzeppelin.blogspot.com

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How does a band NOT soundcheck, especially for the larger venues? Did their roadies do this so as to have the levels right for the show because I just cannot believe a band, any band, would just jump on stage, plug in and just go. Especially in those large cavernous stadiums, no soundcheck and the likelihood the audience will just hear noise with some Plantations thrown about is almost assured.

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I seriously do not agree with the fact that people try to make money and sell these bootlegs.... It is just not right! No one should have to pay a single CENT to be able to enjoy ANY LED ZEP SHOW! I fucking hate it! Why the fuck are people sitting on and hoarding these epic concerts?? Share it with the world man and not for money! I would never ask to be payed for anything zep. And i hate people who sell these shows. THEY ARE NOT YOURS, YOU DiD NOT PERFORM THESE SHOWS!!!! All credit goes to LED ZEPPELIN and the people who taped the shows! And this is why i created my own blog called Long Live Led Zeppelin where i am making available every known available Led Zeppelin concert bootleg spanning their entire live career 1968 to 1980! So if you want to enjoy any Led Zeppelin show for free. as it should be, than check out my blog. Here

http://longliveledzeppelin.blogspot.com

 

Who's talking about making money ?  Since your on the subject, what kind of car do you drive ?  I hope you know the people running those File sites ( I wont mention names) all own BWM's...lol   Google is like a Trillion multi mega company worth more than several countries put together, and they make money off those AD's and plant crap on your PC...etc.   Kim Dot Com is in the news recently.  That guy had a mega trove of expensive cars, airplanes and 240-foot luxury yacht 

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I would loved to seen Led Zeppelin Live. to young.

I think Led Zeppelin would have released any decent concert footage if any was available. None was for the 1977 shows, except the Seattle 1977 show, plus let me remind you, the band was not in good shape for the second half of the tour, Kzok DJ Steve Salton got to meet and greet the band before the concert and said Jimmy was wasted, and played sloppy throughout the show. Robert Plant was complaining that he was def in one ear. I don't want to watch my favorite band play like shit. I am happy with the DVD we do have. What would be cool if Led Zeppelin would release the 1980 concerts on CD, I know that the Zurich show was played on the radio back in the day and the version of In the Evening is stellar!! 

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Who's talking about making money ?  Since your on the subject, what kind of car do you drive ? 

What i meant was, the part where he said Unfortunately, I don't believe the video will ever be for sale...... It just annoys me very much that people sell these shows and make money from it..... its just not right. I wasnt trying to say anything bad about anyone here, just that the person who has the show should just share it! I hope someone steals it and shares it with us!!!! There should be no reason for it. It should be as simple as my blog!!! http://longliveledzeppelin.blogspot.com   just go there, find the show you want and download it! During the process of my completing my collection, i came across many sites and blogs where people were charging people for these shows! I just dont believe in it, I believe that we should all be able to hear and enjoy these shows! And there DEFINITELY was other shows filmed in 1977. Like it has been well known that the Pontiac Silverdom where they broke their own record was definitely filmed! We know because of these pictures....

19.jpg

30.jpg

This would be so awesome to have this show on video!

 I don't want to watch my favorite band play like shit.

Hey, even when zep played a lil off, they were still the best! Zeppelin's worst is better than ANYTHING you hear today. Anyone here will say the same thing. And Zep never really played like shit. Recently, a lot of us around here have come to the conclusion that even Tempe 1977 isn't that bad, and its actually decent! And lets not forget, when have you ever heard a crowd boo Zep?? Never! Also, Seattle is Definitely not a bad show at all! Its actually awesome! Not just because it has video ether. I mean its really true, Jimmy's sloppiness was his thing! And lets face it, There never was a single show where they were full on, straight up terrible playing like shit, on ANY tour, not just 77. And 1977 IS NOT SLOPPY OR TERRIBLE like many try and say. I have every show and i listen thoroughly. I am a huge fan of 75 and 77.  After the Warmup shows in Chicago in 1977, and the Silverdome, from there all the way through to the LA shows they were rockin very good! Every show was really good! Powerful! Robert really got his voice back and is always hitting notes and having fun throwing adlibs in everywhere and really pushing it good! Bonzo NEVER misses a beat, Jonesy always takes us on a journey through musical masterpieces and Jimmy is a force to be reckoned with! His solo's are crazy, insane, sloppy! otherworldly, AWESOME! They were just really powerful!!!!! I'll tell you what man, Zeppelin never truly played like shit at all.

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I would loved to seen Led Zeppelin Live. to young.

I think Led Zeppelin would have released any decent concert footage if any was available. None was for the 1977 shows, except the Seattle 1977 show, plus let me remind you, the band was not in good shape for the second half of the tour, Kzok DJ Steve Salton got to meet and greet the band before the concert and said Jimmy was wasted, and played sloppy throughout the show. Robert Plant was complaining that he was def in one ear. I don't want to watch my favorite band play like shit. I am happy with the DVD we do have. What would be cool if Led Zeppelin would release the 1980 concerts on CD, I know that the Zurich show was played on the radio back in the day and the version of In the Evening is stellar!! 

I could not agree less. Of course they had a few bad shows on that tour, but most shows are very good. I broke it down like this on an earlier post under another topic: About 1/3 of the shows were just amazing, Jimmy was playing tight, and energetic along with the rest of the band; about 1/3 were average shows, Jimmy sloppy in places but all in all good shows; and about 1/3 sub-par shows where Jimmy is in the bag and his playing is off and sloppy. This shows on this tour were Jimmy's to either soar or stall as the other three were in excellent form pretty much throughout the tour. So, 2/3 of the gigs played being at least good to excellent is nothing to complain about. 

Case in point, I have seen Van Halen twice, once in 84' and once in 87' and both times they sucked, they were horrible. The first time EVH seemed so wasted he forgot how to play his guitar and Dave was a train wreck as well. The second time the show was somewhat saved (as in a halfway decent guitarist dumbing down the leads) by Sammy as he took over the lead guitar chore from EVH who was once again wasted and could not play. 

During the 70's & 80's this was par for the course...don't even get me started on Guns & Roses shows. Holy shit!

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One interesting point to mention is that I remember in one or two articles/intervviews(or discussions with

the SHOWCO staff) Page thought sound checks were pointless because the sound changes completely

when a venue is filled up. Still doesn't quite clear everything up, like the testimony from many that in 77'

some of the snack stands had small monitors allowing you to not miss the show while on line. Were these

people on acid, or is something odd here ???

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"I know where there's amazing footage of a '77 Led Zeppelin sound check with fantastic sound and video
but will never be shown." :shifty:

Translates to me: Na-nana-na-na. I have a toy you wanna play with but you can't have it.  :( :sarcastic_hand:

The band is no more. Every rarity especially audio and video of the band is considered a gem. Millions love
their music. I don't understand why people don't share. Unless it's being saved for a special anniversary of
the group? But if someone is just hoarding LZ footage to collect cobwebs I don't get that.:unsure: A personal gift
from one of the members is one thing to keep private, but stuff with the group performing man I'd love for fans
to be able to see it.

* I must add I'm not ranting at the original poster :) Just a bit bummed that there could be great LZ stuff still
hidden away and a chance it will never be seen. If Jimmy has little treats tucked away he isn't sharing well that
is perfectly okay. :yesnod: This though not the same scenario.

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