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Nitpicking Page 1973


gibsonfan159

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3 hours ago, Strider said:

Stoke 1973 was the first show I heard from the 1972-73 European Tour. Yes, before Offenburg, before Southampton, before Alexandra Palace, before Munich, before Vienna.

As such, I will always have a sentimental attachment to Stoke. Even after hearing all of the other concerts from the tour, Stoke remains in my top 5 from Euro '73 and is definitely my favourite from the UK leg. I just love the sound and impact of Bonham's drums on the soundboard tape.

gibsonfan159, are you going to have some 50th anniversary nitpicking posts for the West Coast Swing of 1973?

True about the sbd tape mix. Bonham’s drums with the kick come nicely through.

Gotta say that when I quickly compared the LedZep boots Youtube version to Wendy’s recent, Wendy has been able? to lift the bass a little in the mix or my head is doing me tricks. Didn’t sound ruined either.***
 

*** AI stuff they claim. An opinion devider but for me as long as the job does not create distortions I am OK and welcome it.

Edited by JMH
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Nitpicking Page 5/31/1973 L.A. Forum (Source Mix)

73531-la-jm_775.jpg.199b455408f46b1e1371aaec406a03b8.jpg1973531-bonzo8.jpg.10f33fccf3859caa12e7259786e255be.jpg1973-05-31-la-jf-001.jpg.d234113914f543ceefee0a7f4bf38fb4.jpg

Bonzo's Birthday Party, a very listenable set of AUD sources. 

Rock And Roll- Robert sounding surprisingly strong for the opener but still squeaky in places. Solo- Jimmy plays with enthusiasm and nails down a solid one. Plant straining more on the returning verses. Good finish for a strong start. "A".

Celebration Day- Plenty of energy. 1:31, minor guitar flub on the chorus transition. First solo- not bad. Outro- 2:52, Page's fingers get ahead of him a bit as his articulation gets messy. Not one of his better outro solos. "B+".

Black Dog- Squeaky Plant on the verses but the attitude is there. 1:45, Plant pushes himself for an excellent air raid scream. Solo- 4:20, some choppy phrasing. Page not entirely loosened up yet but it's nothing too bad. "B+".

OTHAFA- The intro sounding slightly out of tune, naturally. Verses are solid with a confident Plant. Solo- Jim's phrasing is smooth and focused. 3:19, nice fluid run. 4:09, very small flub. 4:23, struggling just a bit coming out of the solo. The outro again reveals a string just slightly out of tune. Overall still a decent version, "B+". (Plant acknowledges the out of tune guitar)

MMH- Good start. 2:13, Plant pushing his vocals beyond their limits. Solo is played well and Bonham hammers out some good fills. Not bad but Plant struggles in several places. "B+".

SIBLY- Jimmy's fingers are electric as he blazes through a beautiful intro. Plant strains some on his opening vocals, sounding tired in places. Solo- Page still firing on all cylinders with an elegant, perfectly phrased solo. Robert sings with emotion on the outro verses but is still pushing himself. "A-".

No Quarter- Sounding heavy as ever on the intro. 2:27, Plant's vocal effect causes screeching feedback. 3:11, singing with passion. Jones- starts with somewhat aimless phrasing but Bonham adds some nice fills to push it along. Solo- nimble phrasing to start. Page noodles away flawlessly as Bonham boosts the energy level. 7:25, Bonzo getting impatient. The three instrumentalists find a mesmerizing groove and lay down a magical jam. 11:23, Bonham absolutely dominating with pure attitude. This easily stands with the best versions. "A+++".

TSRTS- Tremendous energy. Robert is solid on the verses and Jimmy knocks the first solo out of the park, even with the breakneck tempo. Plant struggles on the next verses, straining slightly. Outro- starts excellent but Jimmy trips up at 4:33. Couldn't be easy to play this at this speed. Overall an amazing version minus some rough spots. "A-".

Rain Song- Plant spills with emotion through the verses. The mellotron and guitar mesh well. Rock section- Plant giving his all as Bonham blasts away, very good. Beautiful outro. "A++".

Dazed- As far as intros go this one leaves a powerful impression. Plant again pouring out lots of emotion through the verses. First workout- Page's fingers fly through time and space with blinding speed as the others try to keep up. Top tier opening for this version. Jimmy's transition into San Fran is a little off track as he struggles to play smoothly. By 7:22 it's sounding excellent. Second workout- 17:20, Jim setting the strings on fire. 18:10, perfect syncopation. Simply an amazing jam session from Jimmy. Mars- a dynamic rendition as Jimmy switches up some chords. The climax played perfectly with Bonham hammering down the triplets. Robert sounding very good on the final verses. Outro- 26:30-26:40, Page on another level. He doesn't noodle away endlessly on this one however and they soon wrap it up. (Someone near the taper mentions Page broke a string). San Fran rough spot aside this is a superb performance equal to any of the Euro versions. "A++".

Stairway- 2:20, Jones ending this phrase oddly. 3:25, Plant delivers an amazing vocal and is followed by Page flubbing some chords. Plant's vocals are full of energy and character and Bonham is playing dynamically. Solo- solid noodling but it's almost overdone as he leaves no breathing room for the phrasing. Robert bravely pushes himself on the climax and luckily survives unscathed. "A-".

Heartbreaker- Heavy, mid-paced intro and strong vocals from Rob through the verses with only a couple slight squeaks. Solo- smear runs have some rough articulation but otherwise Jimmy plays well. The beginning of the fast section has Bonzo doing some interesting stuff. 6:06, Bonham going wild with the drum fills. Not Page's smoothest playing as he hesitates in a few places toward the end. "B+".

WLL- Strong start. A short but tight funk jam dissolves into an effective freak out. Solo- Jimmy strangely mistimes the two opening E notes but plays the rest fine. Boogie Chillen- (5:53, "I wish my mom and papa had been black"). 8:14, maybe not the smoothest Page through here but he hangs on alright. 10:12, Robert's final air raid falters in a few places before he reaches the top. The outro coda has a different feel to it as they wrap it up a little oddly. Nothing bad here, just a little disjointed. "B+".

The Ocean- 0:44, the mystery lyric here appears to be "What the hell am I nervous for". 1:28, Jones plays out of key. The doo wop section get started well but sounds unconfident. 3:55, Jones still playing some off notes. The spirits are high on this version but the performance standards aren't. "B".

CB- Inferior, murky source for this. Page and Bonham have a percussive battle before launching. Page's first solo is fairly lackluster and drowned by wah. He pushes for another round but the others have a difficult time following his lead and it becomes disjointed. They do finish up ok for this mediocre run through. "B".


Final Assessment- It takes a few numbers to get warmed up but by the time SIBLY rolls around they're off to the races, Jimmy especially. The mid set peak dies back down however for the closers as they appear to lose focus. Don't let the B+ ratings on the first songs fool you, these are mostly hurt by the normal rough start from Plant, who's honestly not sounding too bad for the era. Highlights are a theatrical, ominous version of No Quarter, a passionate, charismatic rendition of the Rain Song, and a powerhouse performance by Page on Dazed as he threatens to leave the others in the dust. This is one that might shine more with a soundboard. 

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23 minutes ago, gibsonfan159 said:

Nitpicking Page 5/31/1973 L.A. Forum (Source Mix)

73531-la-jm_775.jpg.199b455408f46b1e1371aaec406a03b8.jpg1973531-bonzo8.jpg.10f33fccf3859caa12e7259786e255be.jpg1973-05-31-la-jf-001.jpg.d234113914f543ceefee0a7f4bf38fb4.jpg

Bonzo's Birthday Party, a very listenable set of AUD sources. 

Rock And Roll- Robert sounding surprisingly strong for the opener but still squeaky in places. Solo- Jimmy plays with enthusiasm and nails down a solid one. Plant straining more on the returning verses. Good finish for a strong start. "A".

Celebration Day- Plenty of energy. 1:31, minor guitar flub on the chorus transition. First solo- not bad. Outro- 2:52, Page's fingers get ahead of him a bit as his articulation gets messy. Not one of his better outro solos. "B+".

Black Dog- Squeaky Plant on the verses but the attitude is there. 1:45, Plant pushes himself for an excellent air raid scream. Solo- 4:20, some choppy phrasing. Page not entirely loosened up yet but it's nothing too bad. "B+".

OTHAFA- The intro sounding slightly out of tune, naturally. Verses are solid with a confident Plant. Solo- Jim's phrasing is smooth and focused. 3:19, nice fluid run. 4:09, very small flub. 4:23, struggling just a bit coming out of the solo. The outro again reveals a string just slightly out of tune. Overall still a decent version, "B+". (Plant acknowledges the out of tune guitar)

MMH- Good start. 2:13, Plant pushing his vocals beyond their limits. Solo is played well and Bonham hammers out some good fills. Not bad but Plant struggles in several places. "B+".

SIBLY- Jimmy's fingers are electric as he blazes through a beautiful intro. Plant strains some on his opening vocals, sounding tired in places. Solo- Page still firing on all cylinders with an elegant, perfectly phrased solo. Robert sings with emotion on the outro verses but is still pushing himself. "A-".

No Quarter- Sounding heavy as ever on the intro. 2:27, Plant's vocal effect causes screeching feedback. 3:11, singing with passion. Jones- starts with somewhat aimless phrasing but Bonham adds some nice fills to push it along. Solo- nimble phrasing to start. Page noodles away flawlessly as Bonham boosts the energy level. 7:25, Bonzo getting impatient. The three instrumentalists find a mesmerizing groove and lay down a magical jam. 11:23, Bonham absolutely dominating with pure attitude. This easily stands with the best versions. "A+++".

TSRTS- Tremendous energy. Robert is solid on the verses and Jimmy knocks the first solo out of the park, even with the breakneck tempo. Plant struggles on the next verses, straining slightly. Outro- starts excellent but Jimmy trips up at 4:33. Couldn't be easy to play this at this speed. Overall an amazing version minus some rough spots. "A-".

Rain Song- Plant spills with emotion through the verses. The mellotron and guitar mesh well. Rock section- Plant giving his all as Bonham blasts away, very good. Beautiful outro. "A++".

Dazed- As far as intros go this one leaves a powerful impression. Plant again pouring out lots of emotion through the verses. First workout- Page's fingers fly through time and space with blinding speed as the others try to keep up. Top tier opening for this version. Jimmy's transition into San Fran is a little off track as he struggles to play smoothly. By 7:22 it's sounding excellent. Second workout- 17:20, Jim setting the strings on fire. 18:10, perfect syncopation. Simply an amazing jam session from Jimmy. Mars- a dynamic rendition as Jimmy switches up some chords. The climax played perfectly with Bonham hammering down the triplets. Robert sounding very good on the final verses. Outro- 26:30-26:40, Page on another level. He doesn't noodle away endlessly on this one however and they soon wrap it up. (Someone near the taper mentions Page broke a string). San Fran rough spot aside this is a superb performance equal to any of the Euro versions. "A++".

Stairway- 2:20, Jones ending this phrase oddly. 3:25, Plant delivers an amazing vocal and is followed by Page flubbing some chords. Plant's vocals are full of energy and character and Bonham is playing dynamically. Solo- solid noodling but it's almost overdone as he leaves no breathing room for the phrasing. Robert bravely pushes himself on the climax and luckily survives unscathed. "A-".

Heartbreaker- Heavy, mid-paced intro and strong vocals from Rob through the verses with only a couple slight squeaks. Solo- smear runs have some rough articulation but otherwise Jimmy plays well. The beginning of the fast section has Bonzo doing some interesting stuff. 6:06, Bonham going wild with the drum fills. Not Page's smoothest playing as he hesitates in a few places toward the end. "B+".

WLL- Strong start. A short but tight funk jam dissolves into an effective freak out. Solo- Jimmy strangely mistimes the two opening E notes but plays the rest fine. Boogie Chillen- (5:53, "I wish my mom and papa had been black"). 8:14, maybe not the smoothest Page through here but he hangs on alright. 10:12, Robert's final air raid falters in a few places before he reaches the top. The outro coda has a different feel to it as they wrap it up a little oddly. Nothing bad here, just a little disjointed. "B+".

The Ocean- 0:44, the mystery lyric here appears to be "What the hell am I nervous for". 1:28, Jones plays out of key. The doo wop section get started well but sounds unconfident. 3:55, Jones still playing some off notes. The spirits are high on this version but the performance standards aren't. "B".

CB- Inferior, murky source for this. Page and Bonham have a percussive battle before launching. Page's first solo is fairly lackluster and drowned by wah. He pushes for another round but the others have a difficult time following his lead and it becomes disjointed. They do finish up ok for this mediocre run through. "B".


Final Assessment- It takes a few numbers to get warmed up but by the time SIBLY rolls around they're off to the races, Jimmy especially. The mid set peak dies back down however for the closers as they appear to lose focus. Don't let the B+ ratings on the first songs fool you, these are mostly hurt by the normal rough start from Plant, who's honestly not sounding too bad for the era. Highlights are a theatrical, ominous version of No Quarter, a passionate, charismatic rendition of the Rain Song, and a powerhouse performance by Page on Dazed as he threatens to leave the others in the dust. This is one that might shine more with a soundboard. 

No "Moby Dick" rating?

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I put intentipnally the Mobile one on today but was so into 5/31 in my mind after reading this. Was doing my business in the garage and was like damn this sounds more awesome than I remembered. Then Plant asked the audience where they were… hang on a tick. I put the Mobile on, haha. 
 

It happens.

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