Most Desired Concert To Hear, Which NO Recording Exists?

[sixpense]

For me without question is the very first show on 9-7-68.

[nick2632]

3 hours ago, markbowmanimages said:

Was there on the front row, show was between 3 and a half and 3 hours 45 minutes, first show after the release of Physical Graffiti, and the first show of the 2nd leg of the 1975 USA tour.....  They had been off for almost 2 weeks, they got into Houston the night before for a band dinner and were well rested....  Plant's voice had two weeks off too....  This show is mentioned in particular in the Davis "1975 USA Tour" Zeppelin book....

They ripped the roof off the joint that night.....  Even Robert looked down at us and said, "This is a really good gig"....  He said something about a lot of happy smiling faces and good energy in the crowd...

Dang there you go!

As said previously in this thread "It's coming!". I would definitely guess this may be the next soundboard release unless we get one from 1977. 

 I assume this show was February 27, 1975? Zeppelin throughout March 1975 is IMHO the best, most fluid playing from each member of the band, and by then Plant sounded awesome again! 

I'm sure the band was in a very great mood when they got to Houston during late February.. Feeling that warm weather once again.

[Zep Hed]

Mind if I revive this thread?

Anything from September 1968 would be fascinating. What could the set list have been? This pre-dated recording the debut album, of course. How much of that material did they have worked out? Possibly none. The set list must have resembled latter day Yardbirds even moreso than what we've heard from Spokane forward. Probably opened with Train. Played Dazed and White Summer. What would they have done for blues tunes? Did they yet have As Long As I Have You? Was Bonzo doing Pat's Delight? Who knows. The sets may have been on the short side (30-40 mins?) based on their Scandinavian appearances in March 69.

I believe one day we'll hear a live recording that pre-dates Spokane. Probably not from England; I don't get the sense that recording shows from the audience was a thing there as early as 68. But the New Yardbirds in Scandinavia? A distinct possibility.

[Bonzo_fan]

3 hours ago, Zep Hed said:

Mind if I revive this thread?

Anything from September 1968 would be fascinating. What could the set list have been? This pre-dated recording the debut album, of course. How much of that material did they have worked out? Possibly none. The set list must have resembled latter day Yardbirds even moreso than what we've heard from Spokane forward. Probably opened with Train. Played Dazed and White Summer. What would they have done for blues tunes? Did they yet have As Long As I Have You? Was Bonzo doing Pat's Delight? Who knows. The sets may have been on the short side (30-40 mins?) based on their Scandinavian appearances in March 69.

I believe one day we'll hear a live recording that pre-dates Spokane. Probably not from England; I don't get the sense that recording shows from the audience was a thing there as early as 68. But the New Yardbirds in Scandinavia? A distinct possibility.

Great thread to revive!  Anything from '68 would certainly be great.  I'll try to pick one from each year.

1968: Any

1969: April 29 or 30 - Los Angeles -- Based off of the roll they were on the preceding few days in San Francisco, these were probably phenomenal.

1970: March 31 - Philadelphia -- Falls on my birthday and during a great stretch of shows.

1971: August 19 - Vancouver -- First nights of a tour are always interesting, and they always played well in the Pacific Northwest.  Plus it would be the second-last show before the start of Plant's decline.

1972: June 23 - Denver -- Accounts on the official timeline suggest a setlist similar to Seattle and L.A.

1973: May 4 - Atlanta OR May 10 - Tuscaloosa -- Would be really cool to hear the first night of the tour, debut of "No Quarter," but I suspect Tuscaloosa may have been the better show, given the differences between Mobile and Tampa.

1975: January 18 - Bloomington -- The tease of the SBD that surfaced in February makes this even more tantalizing, as it confirms Plant hadn't caught the flu yet -- have to hear "When The Levee Breaks" in SBD quality with a strong Plant!  February 27 in Houston would also be really cool for the debut of the grand piano in "No Quarter."

1977: May 19 - Baton Rouge OR May 31 - Greensboro -- by all accounts, both were excellent.  They always played well in the Deep South, so Baton Rouge would be cool, but I might have to give the edge to Bonzo's Birthday Vol. II, especially since some accounts on the timeline suggest "Black Dog" was played as the final encore.

1979: N/A

1980: N/A

Edited May 5, 2020 by Bonzo_fan

[June72]

Following same format as above...

1968: Anything, but the Marquee show is the holiest of grails for me.

1969:  5/27-29 - Boston Tea Party (Or anything else from May) - Their most underrepresented tour of America. Only 6 shows circulate, and 3 of them are full. The final Boston Tea Party show may very well have been the fabled marathon performance rumored to be 4 hours, with the Rolling Stones and Beatles Medleys

Pretty much agreed with everything else above

 

[76229]

2 hours ago, Zep Hed said:

Mind if I revive this thread?

Anything from September 1968 would be fascinating. What could the set list have been? This pre-dated recording the debut album, of course. How much of that material did they have worked out? Possibly none. The set list must have resembled latter day Yardbirds even moreso than what we've heard from Spokane forward. Probably opened with Train. Played Dazed and White Summer. What would they have done for blues tunes? Did they yet have As Long As I Have You? Was Bonzo doing Pat's Delight? Who knows. The sets may have been on the short side (30-40 mins?) based on their Scandinavian appearances in March 69.

I believe one day we'll hear a live recording that pre-dates Spokane. Probably not from England; I don't get the sense that recording shows from the audience was a thing there as early as 68. But the New Yardbirds in Scandinavia? A distinct possibility.

My guess at a Sept '68 setlist would be something like

Train Kept a Rollin

Dazed

one of You Shook Me or ICYB, more likely the latter due to the (money-saving) lack or organ on the tour

Smokestack Lightning (possibly jamming into How Many More Times later in tour?)

Communication Breakdown (again later in tour, supposedly developed on this tour out of onstage jamming on "Train")

White Summer / Black Mountain Side

with improvs, band intros etc, about a 40 minute set is my speculation.

 

By November '68, As Long as I Have You would be in too, plus the drum solo, extending it to around 55 mins / an hour.

[June72]

19 minutes ago, 76229 said:

My guess at a Sept '68 setlist would be something like

Train Kept a Rollin

Dazed

one of You Shook Me or ICYB, more likely the latter due to the (money-saving) lack or organ on the tour

Smokestack Lightning (possibly jamming into How Many More Times later in tour?)

Communication Breakdown (again later in tour, supposedly developed on this tour out of onstage jamming on "Train")

White Summer / Black Mountain Side

with improvs, band intros etc, about a 40 minute set is my speculation.

 

By November '68, As Long as I Have You would be in too, plus the drum solo, extending it to around 55 mins / an hour.

What makes you think that's when ALAIHY and the drum solo came in? Is it mentioned in reviews or is this speculation?

[Zep Hed]

1 hour ago, 76229 said:

My guess at a Sept '68 setlist would be something like

Train Kept a Rollin

Dazed

one of You Shook Me or ICYB, more likely the latter due to the (money-saving) lack or organ on the tour

Smokestack Lightning (possibly jamming into How Many More Times later in tour?)

Communication Breakdown (again later in tour, supposedly developed on this tour out of onstage jamming on "Train")

White Summer / Black Mountain Side

with improvs, band intros etc, about a 40 minute set is my speculation.

 

By November '68, As Long as I Have You would be in too, plus the drum solo, extending it to around 55 mins / an hour.

Good call on Smokestack Lightning. Obviously the arrangement carried forward to become HMMT. Perhaps For Your Love which they did a few times in early 69.

[hummingbird69]

I want to hear the fabled last hours of the Boston Tea Party gig that cuts off during HMMT.

[badgeholder]

Hawaii '71 - right between Berkeley and Japan, very likely two hot shows

any '69 show that featured Bonzo using the double bass kit 

Carnegie Hall '69,  Royal Albert Hall '69, Perth '72, Montreux '72...

 

[76229]

3 hours ago, June72 said:

What makes you think that's when ALAIHY and the drum solo came in? Is it mentioned in reviews or is this speculation?

Speculation. As far as I know there are very few reviews from '68, the Marquee show was reviewed, but not the university gigs or places like the Bridge Club in Canterbury. Hardly surprising as once they dropped the Yardbirds name few knew who they were, and Grant had trouble getting even booking agents interested in the UK, never mind journalists. Until Chris Welch, though even in his case I don't think he reviewed Zeppelin til 1969?

I'm purely guessing on ALAIHY on the basis that some sources I've seen say it was routined in the early rehearsals at Page's boat house. Introducing the drum solo after a few gigs (if it wasn't in the set from the start) would've made sense as it's a handy way to bulk out the set and show Bonzo's skills off.

In the end it's all speculation. Re: a boot of UK '68 appearing, I'd spontaneously combust with excitement if it ever happened, but I doubt it will. Bootlegging wasn't by any means unknown in the UK back then, eg Cream were bootlegged at Klooks Kleek in 1966. But with no record yet out, little press coverage (and Little Games (the album) having not even had a release in the UK), I'd be surprised if the crowds at '68 UK gigs were much more than a handful of opportunistic punters and scenesters. Though you do see blokes online saying "I saw em when they were still the New Yardbirds!!". Maybe a bit like those millions of people who were at the infamous Sex Pistols gig at Manchester Free Trade Hall in '76!

Edited May 5, 2020 by 76229

[EthanG]

I heard some people say they played GTBT in ‘68. Don’t know if they knew for sure though...

[Zep Hed]

2 hours ago, EthanG said:

I heard some people say they played GTBT in ‘68. Don’t know if they knew for sure though...

Yea, Ethan. Depends what from the debut album they had prepared by the start of that New Yardbirds tour. They had a few weeks between the first rehearsal and the start of this tour so enough time to work out the tracks they were "borrowing" which made up most of the album. GTBT would've been one of the originals - with Breakdown and YTIGC - so perhaps those developed later.

[Zep Hed]

Adding a few for each year 69-77...

7 Mar 69 Hornsey Wood Tavern - nothing available from this "tour" other than a brief radio session
17 Apr 69 Club Lafayette, Wolverhampton - end of a long stretch of unaccounted-for shows, musta be a special one for Robert
28 Jun 69 Bath Festival - say no more
22 Jun 70 Reykjavik - new set list debuts
23 Mar 71 Marquee Club, London - end of the tour proper other than BBC concert
10 May 71 Liverpool Uni - "one-off" rescheduled show, set list possibilities endless
19 Aug 71 Vancouver & 17 Sep 71 Honolulu - opening and closing nights of tour
21 Nov 71 Wembley - they got the first night but not the second?
21 Dec 71 Salisbury UK - another rescheduled show, tour closer, set list fun awaits
16 Feb 72 Perth AUS - only unaccounted-for show of the tour and it's the opener
28,29 Oct 72 Montreux - just because, may stand out kinda like Copenhagen 79
16 Jan 73 Aberystwyth - absurd they played to fewer than 1,000 people at this stage of their career
2 Mar 73 Copenhagen - tour opener at a place that produced some killer shows
4 May 73 Atlanta - another tour opener, nearly 50,000 people not bad though quickly forgotten
11 Jan 75 Rotterdam - after 18 months away
18 Jan 75 Bloomington, Minn - don't know what to make of the "leak" a while back (didn't hear it myself) but still in No Recording "Exists" status
27 Feb 75 Houston - echo prior comments, grand piano in NQ, expanding The Crunge, adding Woodstock
1 Apr 77 - nearly 2 years away the tour opener

[The Only Way To Fly]

9 hours ago, Zep Hed said:

22 Jun 70 Reykjavik - new set list debuts

+ 1 I think I said Reykjavik when this thread first kicked off. The B&W film of their visit is really awesome. Wish there was more. My son & I went to Iceland and walked to the Sportshalle - here's a youtube clip inside & outside the hall. Could not believe how small it was in there! 

 

[Zep Hed]

1 hour ago, The Only Way To Fly said:

+ 1 I think I said Reykjavik when this thread first kicked off. The B&W film of their visit is really awesome. Wish there was more. My son & I went to Iceland and walked to the Sportshalle - here's a youtube clip inside & outside the hall. Could not believe how small it was in there! 

 

Duly noted yup you called Reykjavik and I'm with you would love to hear/see a larger chunk of this show! 👍

[hindenburg6880]

For live recordings: the very first appearance as New Yardbirds at the school in Gladsaxe.

And (ok, not a real concert recordings but): the very, very first rehearsal at Gerrard Street 68 plus the very, very last rehearsal 80 before tragical death of JB.

[SilverVishnu]

25 minutes ago, hindenburg6880 said:

The very, very first rehearsal at Gerrard Street 68

This allegedly was at least recorded.

From book Trampled Under Foot by Barney Hoskyns:

"ROBERT PLANT I didn’t even know what we had. I was nineteen when I heard the tapes of our first rehearsal. I mean, it really wasn’t a pretty thing. It wasn’t supposed to be a pretty thing. It was just an unleashing of energy. But it felt like it was something I’d always wanted."

[NegativeCrepe]

Greensboro 77, I bet it’s a killer

[Rich Holt]

On 5/5/2020 at 1:06 PM, Bonzo_fan said:

Great thread to revive!  Anything from '68 would certainly be great.  I'll try to pick one from each year.

1968: Any

1969: April 29 or 30 - Los Angeles -- Based off of the roll they were on the preceding few days in San Francisco, these were probably phenomenal.

1970: March 31 - Philadelphia -- Falls on my birthday and during a great stretch of shows.

1971: August 19 - Vancouver -- First nights of a tour are always interesting, and they always played well in the Pacific Northwest.  Plus it would be the second-last show before the start of Plant's decline.

1972: June 23 - Denver -- Accounts on the official timeline suggest a setlist similar to Seattle and L.A.

1973: May 4 - Atlanta OR May 10 - Tuscaloosa -- Would be really cool to hear the first night of the tour, debut of "No Quarter," but I suspect Tuscaloosa may have been the better show, given the differences between Mobile and Tampa.

1975: January 18 - Bloomington -- The tease of the SBD that surfaced in February makes this even more tantalizing, as it confirms Plant hadn't caught the flu yet -- have to hear "When The Levee Breaks" in SBD quality with a strong Plant!  February 27 in Houston would also be really cool for the debut of the grand piano in "No Quarter."

1977: May 19 - Baton Rouge OR May 31 - Greensboro -- by all accounts, both were excellent.  They always played well in the Deep South, so Baton Rouge would be cool, but I might have to give the edge to Bonzo's Birthday Vol. II, especially since some accounts on the timeline suggest "Black Dog" was played as the final encore.

1979: N/A

1980: N/A

Why do you say Plant's decline started in August 1971? 

[76229]

On 5/9/2020 at 9:30 AM, hindenburg6880 said:

For live recordings: the very first appearance as New Yardbirds at the school in Gladsaxe.

And (ok, not a real concert recordings but): the very, very first rehearsal at Gerrard Street 68 plus the very, very last rehearsal 80 before tragical death of JB.

Sadly, most of those present imply very little rehearsing was done on that last day in 1980. Mick Hinton said Bonzo was so much the worse for wear he fell off the drum stool twice and the attitude was "well it's early days, let's wrap it up and have a proper go tomorrow" sort of thing.

[chillumpuffer]

On 5/5/2020 at 10:46 PM, 76229 said:

Speculation. As far as I know there are very few reviews from '68, the Marquee show was reviewed, but not the university gigs or places like the Bridge Club in Canterbury. Hardly surprising as once they dropped the Yardbirds name few knew who they were, and Grant had trouble getting even booking agents interested in the UK, never mind journalists. Until Chris Welch, though even in his case I don't think he reviewed Zeppelin til 1969?

I'm purely guessing on ALAIHY on the basis that some sources I've seen say it was routined in the early rehearsals at Page's boat house. Introducing the drum solo after a few gigs (if it wasn't in the set from the start) would've made sense as it's a handy way to bulk out the set and show Bonzo's skills off.

In the end it's all speculation. Re: a boot of UK '68 appearing, I'd spontaneously combust with excitement if it ever happened, but I doubt it will. Bootlegging wasn't by any means unknown in the UK back then, eg Cream were bootlegged at Klooks Kleek in 1966. But with no record yet out, little press coverage (and Little Games (the album) having not even had a release in the UK), I'd be surprised if the crowds at '68 UK gigs were much more than a handful of opportunistic punters and scenesters. Though you do see blokes online saying "I saw em when they were still the New Yardbirds!!". Maybe a bit like those millions of people who were at the infamous Sex Pistols gig at  Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall in '76!

Corrected it for you. I was sort of there. I was next door at the Free Trade Hall

Edited May 10, 2020 by chillumpuffer

[Badgeholder Still]

1 hour ago, 76229 said:

Sadly, most of those present imply very little rehearsing was done on that last day in 1980. Mick Hinton said Bonzo was so much the worse for wear he fell off the drum stool twice and the attitude was "well it's early days, let's wrap it up and have a proper go tomorrow" sort of thing.

Doesn't mean i don't want to hear a recording. Bring it on.

[hindenburg6880]

13 hours ago, Badgeholder Still said:

Doesn't mean i don't want to hear a recording. Bring it on.

Yes, even if they were worse a combination of Gerrard Street 1968 and final rehearsal 1980 would be the true 'Alpha & Omega' of Led Zeppelin.
The same would be Gladsaxe 7th September 1968 and Berlin 7th July 1980. The latter we already have.  

[76229]

19 hours ago, Badgeholder Still said:

Doesn't mean i don't want to hear a recording. Bring it on.

Re: the Gerrard St rehearsal, even if that wasnt recorded and Plant is misremembering, I bet Page did record the rehearsals at the Pangbourne boathouse that took place in the week between coming back from Sweden and going into the studio on the 25th Sept 68. They were used, I'm sure, for fine tuning before recording and Page must have wanted to do the record quickly (doubtless to save cash!). It doesn't make sense they wouldn't be recorded, the tapes could be listened to to make final decisions on arrangements, work out vocal stylings etc.

By contrast, Gerrard St a month earlier was much more of a "let's see if we can stand each other / play well with each other" kind of deal, and I bet Page wouldn't want to pay to record that.