The Song Remains The Same, (The Rover intro) Sick Again, Nobody's Fault But Mine, In My Time of Dying, Since I've Been Loving You, No Quarter, Ten Years Gone, Battle of Evermore, Going to California, Black Country Woman, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, White Summer ~ Black Mountainside, Kashmir, (Out On the Tiles intro) Moby Dick, Jimmy Page solo, Achilles Last Stand, Stairway to Heaven, Trampled Underfoot, Rock and Roll.
 |
Click here to view the US '77 Tour Programme (flipbook) |
Review excerpt: Led Zeppelin Rises to a Night of Firsts
At 8:12pm, the house lights were extinguished. The flickering lights from matches and disposable lighters blossomed around the hall. Twin spotlights cascaded around guitarist Jimmy Page as he hit the opening chords of The Song Remains the Same.
We’re sorry about being 2 ½ years late,” singer Robert Plant said after the second song. “We’ll try to make up for it with little chatter and a lot of music.”
This was an event – Zep’s first show since 1975 and it was happening right here in Dallas. The audience was primed; more so because of Plant’s throat problems.
But Led Zeppelin did not disappoint. The band played for three hours – way over the norm for a rock concert. And for a first show, it was amazingly professional – loose, easy going but never sloppy. If Plant felt too much time was being taken between numbers, he would apologize to the crowd. During one of these apologies, he said: “You realize that this is the first one.” The remark was greeted by a standing ovation.
The first laser beam was spotted at 9:05pm during No Quarter.Smoke was billowing from the side of the stage and John Paul Jones was in the midst of a piano solo when the two green lasers spread from the rear of the stage and cast figure-eights on the ceiling. The fire marshall said he restricted some of the pyrotechnics Zeppelin planned for this show, but they weren’t missed.
The band displayed more of its talents than one would expect from its last couple of albums or last year’smovie The Song Remains the Same, filmed largely at Zep’s Madison Square Garden concert.
Zep devoted a good bit of its show to music such as that found on the second side of the band’s third album – acoustical, almost folk-like in its appeal.
During one number (Battle of Evermore), Page played the mandolin. Jones played acoustic guitar. John Bonham played a tambourine…. And on another (Bron-Y-Aur Stomp), Page played acoustic guitar and Jones played stand-up bass – possibly a first for a “heavy metal” rock band. But these were not the only “firsts” or “records”… The show could make the latest revision of Guinness for:
-The world’s longest drum solo
-The first use of synthesized kettle drums
-The most equipment repair required during a drum solo
-First use of a sliding drum platform that eased Bonham to the stage apron, assuring a standing ovation at the completion of his solo.
-The longest interlude during the drum solo in while not a single cymbal was struck
-The largest revolving ballroom light ball
-The most stage lights
-The most following spotlights (15)
-The cleanest stage
The concert also attracted one of the most well-behaved audiences for a show of this type. These were people who came to see and hear their idols, not to cause trouble. Their calls for an encore seemed to be an honest tribute more than an excuse to set things on fire.
Outside the hall, after the show, vendors hawked Zeppelin t-shirts, posters, programmes and even bumper stickers.
Yes it was an event – and its significance was not lost on the media. Radio station KAFM did a remote broadcast from the lobby after the show. Radio station KZEW played an hour of uninterrupted Led Zeppelin music beginning at midnight. KFWD promised the first couple of persons to come to the Esquire Theater after the show would receive free Led Zeppelin records. (Times, April '77)
|
Click here to view the US '77 Tour Programme (flipbook) |
The band rehearse for three days at the Memorial Auditorium in Dallas.
Review excerpt: Led Zeppelin Rises to a Night of Firsts
At 8:12pm, the house lights were extinguished. The flickering lights from matches and disposable lighters blossomed around the hall. Twin spotlights cascaded around guitarist Jimmy Page as he hit the opening chords of The Song Remains the Same.
We’re sorry about being 2 ½ years late,” singer Robert Plant said after the second song. “We’ll try to make up for it with little chatter and a lot of music.”
This was an event – Zep’s first show since 1975 and it was happening right here in Dallas. The audience was primed; more so because of Plant’s throat problems.
But Led Zeppelin did not disappoint. The band played for three hours – way over the norm for a rock concert. And for a first show, it was amazingly professional – loose, easy going but never sloppy. If Plant felt too much time was being taken between numbers, he would apologize to the crowd. During one of these apologies, he said: “You realize that this is the first one.” The remark was greeted by a standing ovation.
The first laser beam was spotted at 9:05pm during No Quarter.Smoke was billowing from the side of the stage and John Paul Jones was in the midst of a piano solo when the two green lasers spread from the rear of the stage and cast figure-eights on the ceiling. The fire marshall said he restricted some of the pyrotechnics Zeppelin planned for this show, but they weren’t missed.
The band displayed more of its talents than one would expect from its last couple of albums or last year’smovie The Song Remains the Same, filmed largely at Zep’s Madison Square Garden concert.
Zep devoted a good bit of its show to music such as that found on the second side of the band’s third album – acoustical, almost folk-like in its appeal.
During one number (Battle of Evermore), Page played the mandolin. Jones played acoustic guitar. John Bonham played a tambourine…. And on another (Bron-Y-Aur Stomp), Page played acoustic guitar and Jones played stand-up bass – possibly a first for a “heavy metal” rock band. But these were not the only “firsts” or “records”… The show could make the latest revision of Guinness for:
-The world’s longest drum solo
-The first use of synthesized kettle drums
-The most equipment repair required during a drum solo
-First use of a sliding drum platform that eased Bonham to the stage apron, assuring a standing ovation at the completion of his solo.
-The longest interlude during the drum solo in while not a single cymbal was struck
-The largest revolving ballroom light ball
-The most stage lights
-The most following spotlights (15)
-The cleanest stage
The concert also attracted one of the most well-behaved audiences for a show of this type. These were people who came to see and hear their idols, not to cause trouble. Their calls for an encore seemed to be an honest tribute more than an excuse to set things on fire.
Outside the hall, after the show, vendors hawked Zeppelin t-shirts, posters, programmes and even bumper stickers.
Yes it was an event – and its significance was not lost on the media. Radio station KAFM did a remote broadcast from the lobby after the show. Radio station KZEW played an hour of uninterrupted Led Zeppelin music beginning at midnight. KFWD promised the first couple of persons to come to the Esquire Theater after the show would receive free Led Zeppelin records. (Times, April '77)
The Song Remains The Same, (The Rover intro) Sick Again, Nobody's Fault But Mine, In My Time of Dying, Since I've Been Loving You, No Quarter, Ten Years Gone, Battle of Evermore, Going to California, Black Country Woman, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, White Summer ~ Black Mountainside, Kashmir, (Out On the Tiles intro) Moby Dick, Jimmy Page solo, Achilles Last Stand, Stairway to Heaven, Trampled Underfoot, Rock and Roll.
