Nitpicking Page (The quest for the best performance of 1975)

[Oso2]

So would you consider doing USA 1973 next?

[JMH]

The work has already started in the 73 thread

[1975NQ]

On 3/6/2024 at 10:07 AM, Christopher Lees said:

One of those things you don't know until you play in a band and experience it yourself on stage. I've had this happen and it's very frustrating. Unless you play in a band, you would think it's just sloppy playing, bad timing or just being human and less than perfect, but if you play gigs, you KNOW what not hearing the monitors can do and you can sense it in recordings. Another thing about not having a good monitor mix is that it can really make it hard to play on an inspired level, because it sounds like crap on stage and you hate it, so it's hard to get into it. The best you can do is rely on being well-rehearsed and go through the motions, but there's something missing.

I love reading these types of comments on this forum, very insightful - thanks for sharing.

[1975NQ]

On 3/24/2024 at 6:24 AM, gibsonfan159 said:

No Quarter- 0:55, some weird tones behind the wah pedal. Otherwise solid intro and good emotion from Plant on the verses. Jones'  transition is hesitant as it takes him a while to readjust. A very unexciting routine as John takes extra long to get through the warm up phrases. Things liven up more once Bonzo enters. 9:57, Page enters out of nowhere to join the jam. Solo- James plays steadily but a little hesitant. 11:27, finally taking off but playing on the looser side. 12:27, a fluid start on this run but tangles up on the end. 13:20, Bonham getting restless on the hi hat. 15:24, some experimental licks. Not bad playing here but the flow and phrasing is very lackluster. 18:50, the energy picks up on the excellent outro as Jimmy shreds with the wah. Plant and Bonham were the most inspired for this mostly sleepy version. "B".

 

It's funny how different listeners like different things about Zep, but that's what makes us all unique. Apples and oranges, as they say. I personally would give this No Quarter an A++. The vibe is right. What you call "sleepy" is what I call laid back and fluid, which for me is the perfect approach for this song (talking specifically here about Page's solo). Regarding this particular version, the crowd was pretty rowdy to the point of concerning Plant and Page. I believe they played this extremely laid back version as a way to chill them out. I think JPJ was taking his sweet time noodling around in the beginning for this very reason. But the guitar solo itself is fantastic and one of my favorites for this song.

Regarding the show itself, it has my vote for best show of March. Plant himself is in fantastic voice but unfortunately is popping and cracking all over the place, which is a huge detractor for me. I'm sure it was even more frustrating for him because when he's on (in between voice cracks), he sounds absolutely fantastic.

[JMH]

Is 11.3. on the list?

[gibsonfan159]

14 hours ago, JMH said:

Is 11.3. on the list?

Up next

[JMH]

That'll be interesting. Just had it on in the background and apart from the out of tune twelve string in TSRTS I cannot remember any train wrecks. Sounded like a solid 1975 show, with a good Plant and a very forceful IMTOD.

 

Edited April 4 by JMH

[Sted]

11 hours ago, JMH said:

That'll be interesting. Just had it on in the background and apart from the out of tune twelve string in TSRTS I cannot remember any train wrecks. Sounded like a solid 1975 show, with a good Plant and a very forceful IMTOD.

 

Black dog solo wasn't sounding too good

[JMH]

May very well have been the case. My concentration can have drifted off during DC already.

[Oso2]

What's next? Dan Diego March 14?

 

[gibsonfan159]

Nitpicking Page 3/11/1975 Long Beach, CA (Grame Remaster)

SBD with AUD patches.

Rock And Roll- Plant a little scratchy. 1:00, he forgets about the "Book of love". Solo- messy intro and some off chords at the end but the middle was played very well. 3:10, Plant forcing a good scream. 3:14, loose chords by Jim. Not the strongest opener. "B".

Sick Again- 1:11, a couple sloppy chords by Jim. Robert sounding much better now. Solo- played surprisingly well. Outro solo- 4:25-4:32, a series of forced phrases and sloppy runs. Otherwise not too bad. "B+".

OTHAFA- Intro played nicely (and in tune). Verses sounding good with only a slightly raspy Plant and Jim's tone is noticeably thicker on this tonight. Solo- 3:30, playing aggressively. 3:50, straining in a couple places. 4:27, hang up. 4:41-4:50, the expressive playing starts to teeter on sloppiness but he sticks it out. 5:55, rare Jones flub. Bonham accompanies Page on the outro with some cymbal rolls. "B+".

IMTOD- Robert is in high spirits for the verses. First solo- solid phrasing, not rushing anything. Maybe loose in places but overall very good. 5:20, Robert really getting expressive. Second solo- Jim does a good job keeping up with the blazing tempo. Not bad. Bonham goes berserk on the outro and the energy is through the roof. 10:12, Jimmy mis-times the return but quickly corrects it. 10:46, Plant pushing his vocals to the limit. The high spirits on this one make it a must hear. "A++".

TSRTS- Intro sounds solid, the verses are almost too relaxed. First solo- articulation isn't great. 2:55, very obviously a string out of tune which I think throws Jim off. He survives though. 3:08, Robert squeaking a little. 3:35-3:50, that string sounding dreadful but Jimmy keeps pushing. Outro- good playing by Jimmy is overshadowed by technical issues. Just gotta laugh this one off. "C+".

Rain Song- I bet Page was happy to get back to six strings. Despite Plant's voice being stronger than usual he keeps croaking when going for higher notes. The mellotron sounds very unusual through the soundboard. Solid playing throughout. The rock section is good, maybe lacking some spirit. (7:45, Jones makes some comical sounds with his Mellotron and Bonham mimics him on the kettle drum. ) "A-".

Kashmir- Bonham's drums sound good on this recording with the phaser effect adding the "swish". Tempo moves pretty fast. 1:50, awkward high note from Rob but he nails it. 5:30, snare work. Page's outro soloing is a bit sticky. Honestly a strong version, lots of energy and no real notable flaws. "A+".

No Quarter- Robert is heard stating that Jones is having problems before the start. Jones' acapella section is marred by a crackling sound as he plays and it takes him a while to get on track with the phrasing. 6:08, more strange noises coming through. 6:15, Robert shouts something in the background. 6:48, getting into a wonderful flow here. 9:22, Bonham enters and the groove is impeccable as usual. Page enters the jam unusually with some feverish riffing. Solo- he does come in fluidly for his spot, sounding coherent. 13:20, this sweep lick is the usual sloppy. 14:12, finding a sweet spot in the groove. 15:02, Page boosts his overdrive and has very nice execution on these grittier licks. He dabbles with the wah before putting a nice solo to rest. Plant has good enthusiasm on the return although his vocals are in the raspy range. 19:47, Jones plays some off sounding chords. 20:00, Jimmy absolutely nailing the phrasing through here. 20:38, chord flubs as he jumps back to the main riff. I don't think the SBD helps this one and the AUD recording probably sounds way more impressive, but it's a damn good performance despite the minor hiccups. "A+". (Some hammering on the stage is heard afterwards and Bonham remarks "We're building a shithouse").

Trampled Underfoot- Excellent start with appropriate energy. Jones plays his solo spot Solo- decent start. 3:46, terribly inarticulate run. 4:12, playing nice aggressive licks. 4:21, switching to a major key phrasing including an ascending country style run which just sounds awkward. 4:48, articulation disaster. A nice mixture of awesome and trainwreck as only Jimmy Page can do. Good finish. "B" is fair for an overall rating. (Robert comments that Jimmy broke two strings).

Dazed- Good enthusiasm on the intro, with Page experimenting with wah riffs. First workout- sounds a little stale and straight forward but the playing is solid. Plant makes some questionable noises throughout. 7:50, a persistent buzzing sound finally gets put to rest. Jimmy segues into Woodstock nicely.10:30, things get a little askew here, nothing major. Bow section around six and a half minutes. 18:55, off to the races as Jimmy opens with a nice series of pull offs, followed by some turkey gobbling around 19:02. More sticky fingers afterwards and a very sad attempt at Ozone Baby. 20:12, a pretty embarrassing descending/ascending run. 22:16, Jimmy is definitely feeling inspired but his fingers aren't quite aligned with his mind. 23:28, Page butchers the chords on the Mars section. 23:44, this delay on the vocals actually sounds great. 24:50, Bonham absolutely killing on the climax. Jimmy's outro jam is fairly average. Some serious flubs on this one but somehow it doesn't seem bad overall. "C+".

Stairway- Intro comes in pretty fast. Playing with confidence and everything moves along perfectly. 3:54, a unique "I remember laughter". The spirit on this really stands out, let's hope this solo holds up. 5:51, Jim's strumming reveals a string out of tune. Solo- very nice start. 6:53, Jim does solid work with the tremolo strumming. 7:17, off notes. 7:24, some strange chords here but he makes them work. 8:18, Jimmy feeling it and nailing the groove. Not perfectly articulate but he's staying on track. Nails the final phrases. One of the more expressive and standout solos I've heard despite it not being entirely articulate. Plant naturally struggles with the climax a little but pushes through. The outro reveals that out of tune string again. Not a perfect version but this makes a strong impression to me as the enthusiasm is top notch and Jim's solo is phrased very well although there's a couple flubs with articulation. "B+" on a nitpick level, but give it a listen. 

WLL- Page miffs the opening riffs pretty badly. I'm not sure how you get a guitar tone to sound this lifeless. 2:00, The Crunge starts off as usual but Page quickly gets off track and plays slightly off time throughout. Plant is even singing off key. The theremin section is actually impressive. 6:33, Page comes in double time on the funk riffing to seemingly make up for that Crunge disaster but I'm not sure it helps. Not the worst thing I've heard but it's not good. "C".

Black Dog- Sounding good performance wise but that soundboard guitar tone is as criminal as the holocaust. Solo- Page straining a bit. 4:25, he says screw it and improvises a nice set of palm muted chord riffs, followed by severe turkey gobbling. The ending is fairly decent. "B" overall. 

Final Assessment- For one, this is mostly a soundboard which we know reveals more than what a true live sound does. With this said it's a fairly strong 75 performance with the usual Jim slumps throughout. Robert warms up quickly but never really hits any kind of impressive peak. Bonham is pretty lively and Jones is Jones. High spirits prevail on In My Time Of Dying, Kashmir, and No Quarter. Not a bad listen but don't expect to be overly impressed.

 

[JMH]

Without that damn out of tune twelve string it would be quite the killer first half of a 75 show.

Cheers, Mr. Gibson!