I thought that sounded better than the others, but I still felt Robert Plant's lead vocals were buried in this mix. So I used the X-Minus audio editing software to boost them up to a volume I liked better. Additionally, I boosted the talking between songs even more so one can usually actually hear what is being said.
The sound quality still isn't totally excellent, but it's very listenable, and I like it better than other 1980 concerts by the band that I've heard. If anyone else knows of something from that time that sounds better, please let me know and I'll consider sharing that one.
At the time, drummer John Bonham was having increasing trouble with alcoholism. (He would die later in 1980, ending the band.) Sometimes that affected his drumming during concerts. In fact, just three days before this concert, he collapsed after the first song in Nuremburg, Germany, forcing the concert to end early. So the band brought in a second drummer (Simon Kirke of Bad Company) to help out. In my opinion, I don't hear any problems. Either Bonham was having a good night, or the second drummer covered up his flaws.
Bassist John Paul Jones later had this to say about the short European concert tour this show was a part of: "Morale was very high. We were in really good spirits. We were stripped down a lot, musically, and as an act, we remember back to what we were doing. Punk kind of woke us up again. 'Oh yeah, I remember what we are supposed to be doing here.' It was about to go for a change of gears and round two ... By the time John [Bonham] died, we all had sorted it out and were ready to go again. He died in rehearsals for an American tour."
This was the fifth to last concert Led Zeppelin ever did, not counting later reunions.
This concert is two hours and nine minutes long.
01 talk (Led Zeppelin)
02 Train Kept a Rollin' (Led Zeppelin)
03 Nobody's Fault but Mine (Led Zeppelin)
04 talk (Led Zeppelin)
05 Black Dog (Led Zeppelin)
06 talk (Led Zeppelin)
07 In the Evening (Led Zeppelin)
08 talk (Led Zeppelin)
09 The Rain Song (Led Zeppelin)
10 talk (Led Zeppelin)
11 Hot Dog (Led Zeppelin)
12 All My Love (Led Zeppelin)
13 talk (Led Zeppelin)
14 Trampled under Foot (Led Zeppelin)
15 talk (Led Zeppelin)
16 Since I've Been Loving You (Led Zeppelin)
17 talk (Led Zeppelin)
18 Achilles Last Stand (Led Zeppelin)
19 talk (Led Zeppelin)
20 White Summer [Instrumental] (Led Zeppelin)
21 Kashmir (Led Zeppelin)
22 talk (Led Zeppelin)
23 Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin)
24 talk (Led Zeppelin)
25 Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin)
26 talk (Led Zeppelin)
27 Money [That's What I Want] (Led Zeppelin)
28 talk (Led Zeppelin)
29 Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin)
https://www.imagenetz.de/fyHH8
The cover photo comes from a concert in Munich five days after the concert featured here.
The link is for a Gerry Rafferty gig! Hihi, would it be possible to link to the Zep show? Thank you for al you do for us music freaks! 💙
ReplyDeleteLink for the Zep is for Gerry Rafferty.
ReplyDeleteWhile we await... Here is some brilliant reading material the beautifully summarizes the best of the zep bootleg covering their entire career! A really fun read. I also own EVERYTHING on the list WOHOOO! I also also just sent Paul a few more soundboards from 1980's shows. If they pass the mustard (or at least the ketchup) hopefully he will post them! Here's the link to the PDF: hXXps://spaces.hightail.com/receive/YcbfW6JQz4
ReplyDeleteChange XX to tt
Hopefully, he'll remember to post the correct Zippyshare links in the future. LMAO
DeleteNah. Zep in 1980 is a disaster. Anyone who downloads this
Deletedeserves a little Gerry Rafferty.
As if Paul hadn't made that abundantly clear in the post already...if he feels he has made it presentable as a fairly decent 1980 boot, I trust him...[shrugs]
DeleteOops! Sorry about that. I just fixed the link.
DeleteAnd don't I said it my write-up that this doesn't sound "excellent." But I think it's very listenable if you're a Zep fan.
Mike, thanks for the files. I was just reading that PDF, and I'm glad to find out this is what it says about the Frankfurt show: "Perhaps the best performance of the 1980
DeleteTour Over Europe. SBD and AUD recordings provide together the complete performance." Although it lists the Switzerland one as more of a "must have." I'd be curious what other people think of these 1980 shows.
Thank you! Awesome 👍
DeleteI just listened to the Zurich show from the night before this one that I sent Paul from Jimmy's Personal Tapes supposedly and it was very enjoyable... excellent soundboard quality and the playing...although not prime zep... was very enjoyable with some great solo's from Jimmy along the way!
ReplyDeleteMy faux-audiophile ears give this a thumbs up, perfectly acceptable.
ReplyDeleteCertainly doesn't set off my sensory dysphoria where rough mixes feel like ratty cloth to my ears...There's a recent ABB boot on Guitars101, '71 I think, Atlanta, where the lineage notes really detail the work done to bring it up to a similarly listenable level as this Zep, and I would still give this Zep the edge in listening on a casual, backyard level.
Thanks Paul.
ReplyDelete