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BEST live song and WORST live song


Trinity

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Worst: Train KAR (all performances. Plant sounds like he forgot the lyrics)

You can say that again...

... and I'll add to that:

Rock & Roll...

"... been a long time, been a long time, been a OMFG Plant your voice isn't what it was in 1969, you aren't warmed up yet, and you cannot expect to hit that kind of register to open a concert." (It's okay, you're still the greatest singer of all time)

As for the best, I've always loved SIBLY, especially the dark version from Blueberry Hill - I don't know if its the way it was recorded but Plant sounds like a god damn banshee and the tone on Page's guitar is just, well.., that's about the best it ever sounded.

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No Quarter '75 is a favorite, specifically San Diego and Vancouver. I mean, the studio version is awesome, but live, Zeppelin packs more into that song than most bands do in an entire concert.

As for worst, I'm not sure. I've not actively sought out any of the reputedly "bad" gigs.

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Greensboro '75, too...worst fucking Zeppelin gig EVER!

Oh, I dunno...I actually dug Greensboro out of my 'archives' on its anniversary a few days ago and gave it a listen for the first time in years, probably. It's not that bad, actually. IMO the Indianapolis show a few days before was a hell of a lot worse (this in spite of the fact that the Indianapolis recording is cut to fuckin' ribbons), as far as Plant's voice and Page's finger goes.

Nope...Tempe '77 is by far the worst travesty of a performance Led Zeppelin -and particularly James Patrick Page- ever perpetuated upon a paying audience. I listened to that thing exactly once, years ago, and I think I'm still scarred from it to this day...

I digress, though...

Best live song? No Quarter. Even the half hour ones.

Worst? The aforementioned 1977 "Noise" solo. I can never figure out why some of the '77 recordings cut Bonham's drum solo yet leave ten or twenty minutes of Page torturing the audience intact...

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Oh, I dunno...I actually dug Greensboro out of my 'archives' on its anniversary a few days ago and gave it a listen for the first time in years, probably. It's not that bad, actually. IMO the Indianapolis show a few days before was a hell of a lot worse (this in spite of the fact that the Indianapolis recording is cut to fuckin' ribbons), as far as Plant's voice and Page's finger goes.

Nope...Tempe '77 is by far the worst travesty of a performance Led Zeppelin -and particularly James Patrick Page- ever perpetuated upon a paying audience. I listened to that thing exactly once, years ago, and I think I'm still scarred from it to this day...

I digress, though...

Best live song? No Quarter. Even the half hour ones.

Worst? The aforementioned 1977 "Noise" solo. I can never figure out why some of the '77 recordings cut Bonham's drum solo yet leave ten or twenty minutes of Page torturing the audience intact...

Well I think Indy and Greensboro are two of the worst, but you're right, Tempe is awful. They were mailing it in at that point...the Oakland shows that followed were a little better, however...not a great way to end your concerts in the USA for all-time...

Yeah the 1977 noise solo...when it was under 12 min, it could be cool, but some of them (last night in LA 1977) were 30 min!!!!!! BORING...and lame. As much as I love Led Zep, the self-indulgence of 1975 and 1977 were ridiculous...40 min of Dazed and Confused, 30 min of Moby Dick, and 20-30 min of Page's electronic wanking, all in a row...fucking excruciating for the crowd...no wonder they threw firecrackers!

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in general, and maybe there are some fair versions out there, but;

battle of evermore 77

why oh why choose to play a song that jonesy seriously struggles with? why not just play another acoustic number altogether? it would have been so much easier

guitar solo 77

shite. i love jimmy but this represents his absolute nadir

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Yeah the 1977 noise solo...when it was under 12 min, it could be cool, but some of them (last night in LA 1977) were 30 min!!!!!! BORING...and lame. As much as I love Led Zep, the self-indulgence of 1975 and 1977 were ridiculous

I have to agree, although I've never been a fan of the noise solo at any length. And he shouldn't have played White Summer in 77 in his condition. His fluidness and consistency in his speed were no where near 1969-1970. Self-indulgent as they were, I don't think anyone can deny 1977 was the year Led Zeppelin burst into flames and began falling..

Edited to Add: Another indication why Page has never used any footage from the 1977 tour. There are several complete shows, but none have ever been released or included in box sets because the feel, the mood and the shows were not the Led Zeppelin Page wanted everyone to remember. Rightfully so.

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I have to agree, although I've never been a fan of the noise solo at any length. And he shouldn't have played White Summer in 77 in his condition. His fluidness and consistency in his speed were no where near 1969-1970. Self-indulgent as they were, I don't think anyone can deny 1977 was the year Led Zeppelin burst into flames and began falling..

Edited to Add: Another indication why Page has never used any footage from the 1977 tour. There are several complete shows, but none have ever been released or included in box sets because the feel, the mood and the shows were not the Led Zeppelin Page wanted everyone to remember. Rightfully so.

And there weren't any muti-tracks to fix all the voice cracks and guitar screwups.

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Edited to Add: Another indication why Page has never used any footage from the 1977 tour. There are several complete shows, but none have ever been released or included in box sets because the feel, the mood and the shows were not the Led Zeppelin Page wanted everyone to remember. Rightfully so.

To me, it was the first Zeppelin tour that didn't feel FUN. Granted there are some incredible gigs from 1977 (2nd night in Cleveland, the Landover run, the LA run) but overall it just seemed DARK and not fun. Even 1975 with all of its pomp and grandeur seemed fun and like the guys were having a blast. 1977 felt like they all knew Jimmy looked and played like shit (most of the time), they were almost self-parodying, and the crowds were there more for the event than the show. Add in the heavies in the background beating people up and doing some scary shit (the Oakland incident is not the only thing I've read about from this tour) and it just seems very unfun. I think the spirit of Zeppelin, the humor that balanced the mystery, ended after 1975 and certainly their heart was ripped out after the tragedy of Plant's son's death. The fact they rather ruthlessly pressured him to continue with the band after 1977 adds to it...1979 was no fun and even 1980 doesn't seem genuine...you never REALLY feel Robert was 100% into it. Hard to believe a massive US tour was planned for 1980-81...

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How about The Wanton Song. Without the layers and the Leslie it sounded pretty weak. Hot Dog should never have been played live and White Summer from their last show was terrible. Whenever I hear that performance I want to cry over what Jimmy had become by that time.

I agree ZepFanatic. It always felt to me that something was lost after Robert's car accident. The time away from home during the tax exile, RP's recovery, sinking further into overindulgent rock star land. It seemed like the band's togetherness wasn't what it was earlier, that the atmosphere had deteriorated. And Karac's death changed Robert so much. The 1969-1977 RP was gone. 1969-1975 LZ was business, but it was also fun. 1979-1980 was just business. 1977 was a transition although it was more business than fun.

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I do wonder how that '80 US tour might've went. Perhaps they would've found the occasional groove, maybe end up doing another great LA Forum run, playing a GREAT version of Hot Dog,etc... who knows. Carouselambra might've rocked

:thumbsup:

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I'd probably cry if I witnessed "No Quarter" live, so I'll go with that. Worst not too many I could think of, but I've never been a fan of 'Hot Dog' - studio or live.

That would've been a good time to hit the concession stand for pork chops with brown gravy or a foot long frankfurter.

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That would've been a good time to hit the concession stand for pork chops with brown gravy or a foot long frankfurter.

Awww, I love Hot Dog!! It is a fun song to me and makes me laugh. At Knebworth it looked like they were having a blast playing it. :)

Some other Bests for me would be: SIBLY, STH, No Quarter, The Rain Song, The Ocean, Misty Mountain Hop-MSG 1973; IMTOD, Trampled Under Foot, That's The Way, Bron-Yur Stomp, Tangerine-Earls Court, 1975; ALS, Ten Years Gone, NFBM-79 Knebworth

Can't really think of any worst except maybe Live Aid, but they were not well rehearsed and nervous, and a couple of songs at the 1988 Atlantic records were out of tune and some mishaps in 1977.

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I do wonder how that '80 US tour might've went. Perhaps they would've found the occasional groove, maybe end up doing another great LA Forum run, playing a GREAT version of Hot Dog,etc... who knows. Carouselambra might've rocked

I believe the 1980 US Tour was to take in the East Coast and Midwest and the Spring 1981 Tour would have been the West Coast jaunt...

I always wonder "What if?" about those tours and the aborted summer/fall 1975 US tour, as well as the remainder of 1977...

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The WLL medleys from 70-73

Thank You 1971

Ten Years Gone LA 1977

Tangerine Earls Court 75

No Quarter 75 and 77 and i also like the one from 8/4/79

TSRTS 77 Bonzo tore it up that year

Did they ever mess up in In My Time Of Dying? I think that and Kashmir are probably their best performed songs in 75 and after

i just listened to the thank you from montreal 6/7/72 and Page's solo is god-like. there is one part where he plays these amazing string of notes at superhuman speed. The Flash would be impressed

http://starship.gotdns.com/zeppelin/beauty...t.jsp?R_idx=458

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