Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Led Zeppelin 1977-07-20 Arizona State University Activities Center Tempe, AZ

Led Zeppelin
July 20, 1977
Arizona State University Activities Center
Tempe, Arizona

Audience Master>Cassette>Cassette>DAT>CD-R

I'm posting this show in response to a request.

1. The Battle of Evermore (8:54)
2. Going to California (8:21)
3. Black Country Woman (3:19)
4. Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp (9:23)
5. Trampled Underfoot (10:09)
6. Black Mountainside (0:51)
7. Kashmir /end cut/ (8:54)
8. Guitar Solo /cuts in/ (15:48)

1. Achilles' Last Stand (12:37)
2. Stairway to Heaven (14:09)

From Lewis and Pallett's "Concert File":

The most bizarre performance of the tour. Jimmy didn't even bother with
White Summer and launched into Kashmir after only a few bars of Black
Mountainside. Surprised, the rest of the band joined in one by one. There
were no encores.

Fan Ed Ortiz recalled, "The show was due to start at 8 p.m. but didn't
start until nearer 9 p.m. Jimmy wore the black dragon suit trousers plus
a white t-shirt and a white scarf for the first two numbers. He was not
very animated, choosing to stand perfectly still for most of the show
near Bonzo's drum riser. He seemed rather out of it and forgot to step on
his guitar effect for Over The Hills And Far Away, with Robert actually
doing it for him. Things got stranger as it went on. Jimmy chose not to
do White Summer and instead went right into Kashmir after a few bars of
Black Mountainside. There was no Bonzo solo, and a pyrotechnic miscue
went off after the opening bars of Achilles. A loud explosion with a
blinding white light. You could see Jimmy going over to the side of the
stage and raising his fist, presumably at a roadie. After the number,
Robert announced that the explosion was not meant to happen and that the
person responsible would be "castrated." Bonzo seemed to be in a hurry
to get the gig over, and he was off his drum stool and gone before
Robert finished the last lyric of Stairway-so hence, no cymbal tapping
at the end.

H.P. Newquist of Guitarist Magazine recalled, "The band cut the set short,
eliminating Bonzo's drum solo entirely. Page also stood too close to the
flashpots on Achilles and was thrown back against the stage. At a brief
meeting with Plant the next day, he stated that Bonham had not been feeling
well and his hand had been hurting."

My Notes:
All in all, this is a very strange performance, to say the least. It's
proof that even the best band in the world can have a bad night. Based on
the descriptions from eyewitnesses, it sounds like neither Page nor Bonzo
were "feeling well." We can only imagine why. The tape is incomplete,
missing much of the first half of the show. The sound is distant and rather
muddy. It's listenable, but not great. I'd say this show is not for the
casual fan. It's most interesting as a document of a very strange night in
the career of Led Zeppelin, but it's a bit rough to listen to. This show is
somewhat hard to find, since no bootleg label has ever released it.

No artwork is included, but the torrent contains EAC Logfiles, FLAC
fingerprints, a flyer that advertised the show, a ticket stub, and
this info text.

Enjoy!

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