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L'undicesimo tour USA dei Led Zeppelin, viene ricordato dagli storici del rock, come un tour disastroso, concluso nel peggiore dei modi, con la tragica scomparsa del giovanissimo Karac Plat, di soli cinque anni.
Certo è che il gruppo nel post Earl's Curt, non ha navigato in buone acque, tra incidenti e abusi di sostanze varie, è anche vero, non si è mai guardato indietro, proseguendo la difficile strada del successo, in un periodo non proprio facile per gruppi come gli Zeppelin. E' anche vero che se il 1977, spetta di diritto al emergente successo del punk rock, i Led Zeppelin, hanno lasciato perdere i media e le cavolate giornalistiche dei giovani redattori di NME e Creem, per sbalordire gli states, tenendo enormi concerti da tutto esaurito, mesi prima del vero e priprio inizio del tour .
Purtroppo non esistono documenti ufficiali (a diffferenza delle brevi scaglie del 1975 e 1979, presenti sul DVD ufficiale del 2003), che possano provare la potenza della maggioranza degli spettacoli, lasciando come sempre l'arduo compito, ai tanto amati/odiati, bootlegs.
Se da un lato, esistono numerose testimonianze audio, dall'altro sono veramente rare quelle video. Ad oggi è risaputo di alcuni video privati presso gli archivi di Page. Si tratta di filmati tratti dal maxi schermo, posto alle spalle della band durante i concerti, perlopiù di bassissima qualità. Un solo spettacolo è stato strappato dall'oblio, e per anni rimaneggiato clandestinamente su VHS e più recentemente DVD. Tra i tanti, questo, intitolato semplicemente "SEATTLE 1977", documento integrale del mastodontico spettacolo tenuto al Kingsdome di Seattle, il 17 luglio 1977.
La qualità audio e video, non è eccelsa sia chiaro, ma questo straordinario reperto storico, fornisce la migliore dimostrazione della band, nei suoi ultimi giorni di gloria, sul suolo americano. A differenza del precedente tour, la voce di Robert, pare leggermente rimessa in sesto, questo in particolare, grazie al cambio di scaletta che pone The Song Remains The Same, in apertura e Rock And Roll, elevata al rango di bis.
Il cantante, non più costretto a partire in quinta, riesce lentamente a scaldare le proprie corde vocali, raggiungendo (in particolare durante l'ultima parte del concerto), i picchi estasianti della nona tournèe in america. The Song, cede il passo alla dura Sick Again, Jimmy, completo bianco e Gibson sotto il pube, macina noto su note, forneno durante Over The Hills And Far Away, un assolo superbo. Since Ive Been Loving You, pare più lenta rispetto alla controparte del film basato sui concerti newyorkesi del 1973, ma sempre ipnotica. No Quarter, forse troppo lunga, con John Paul Jones, intento a cabiare atmosfera allo show, passando funambolicamente dal sintetizzatore al pianoforte a coda. Comunque di gran classe. Il set acustico, è divertente ed inverosimile allo stesso tempo. Jonesy alla seconda voce, in The Battle Of Evermore (con Bonzo al tamburello), purtroppo non è credibile.
John Bonham, esegue una delle ultime versioni di Moby Dick, ribattezzata Over The Top, per la quale riff d'apertura, viene preferito quello provveniente da Out On The Tiles. Barba incolta e qualche chilo di troppo, ma chi lo avrebbe mai fermato comunque? Bonzo, mostra la sua consueta agilità le forza durante questa applaudittissima performance.
L'apice viene raggiunto nella parte finale dello show, con una tripletta da fare rimanere sbalorditi. Kashmir, divenuta oramai un classico, viene acclamata dai fans, cosi come la velocissima Achilles last Stand, per la quale Jimmy, si da da fare, con un assolo da ko.
Grandi esecuzioni, ma non valgono la magia del punto forte di questa serata, una delle migliori Stairway di sempre. Robert, interpreta il testo con la sua consueta solennità, mentre Jimmy Page, con la sua chitarra a doppio manico, compie un miracolo musicale. Merito della riuscita, stà senza dubbio nel forte legame artistico con Bonzo, che accompagna le peripezzie del chitarrista lungo le diverse e complicate improvvisazioni. Una versione non molto lontana dalla stupenda Stairway, edita ufficialmente su DVD nel 2003, ovvero, Earl's Curt 25 maggio 1975.
Quello che rende questa versione bootleg più sorprendente, è proprio il tiro alla fune di Page e Bonham; i due si lasciano e si riprendono, accompagnati dal pianoforte a coda di Jones, che rende il pezzo ancora più epico. Il finale di Robert, è tra i suoi migliori dopo il '73.
I bis, brevi ma intensi, consistono in un assaggio di Whole Lotta Love che cede il passo ad una scatenatissima Rock And Roll, inutile dire che Robert Plant, è strepitoso .
Concerto sicuramente non perfetto (spesso tra un brano e l'altro, Robert tossisce, e lo si vede bere il suo amato tè al miele), Jimmy è imprevvedibile come suo solito in questi ultimi anni della band, ma in questo caso bisogna riconoscerglielo, non sbaglia un colpo.
Il dvd è consigliato ai veri fans della band, quelli che pur amando il dvd del 2003 e tutte le sue ghiottonerie, hanno ancora fame del Dirigibile, e vogliono vedere distante, oltre le colline.
Elenco tracce e testi
04 Sick Again (00:00)
From the window of your rented limousine, I saw your pretty blue eyes
One day soon you're gonna reach sixteen, Painted lady in the city of lies.
Oh, do you know my name? Do I look the same
You know I'm the one you want. I must be the one you need, yeah
Clutching pages from your teenage dream In the lobby of the Hotel Paradise
Through the circus of the L.A. queens. How fast your learn the downhill side
Oh, do you know my name? Do I look the same
You know I'm the one you want. I must be the one you need,.
Lips like cherries and the brow of a queen, Come on, flash it in my eyes
Said you dug me since you were thirteen,Then you giggle as you heave and sigh.
Oh, do you know my name? Do I look the same
You know I'm the one you want. I must be the one you need.
Hours, hours, and the moments in between, Oh, baby, I couldn't count the times
the fun of comin', oh the pain in leavin', Baby, dry those silver eyes
Oh, do you know my name? Do I look the same
You know I'm the one you want. I must be the one you need,
Ooh, that's right.
06 Over The Hills And Far Away (00:00)
Hey lady
You got the love I need
Maybe more than enough
Oh, darlin', darlin', darlin'
Walk a while with me
Ohh, you've got so much
So much
So much
Many have I loved
Many times been bitten
Many times I've gazed along the open road
Many times I've lied
And many times I've listened
Many times I've wondered how much there is to know
Many dreams come true
And some have silver linings
I live for my dream and a pocketful of gold
Mellow is the man
Who knows what he's been missing
Many many men can't see the open road
Many is a word that only leaves you guessing
Guessing 'bout a thing you really ought to know, ohh ohh ohh ohh
Really ought to know, ohh ohh
I really ought to know
08 No Quarter (00:00)
Close the door, put out the light
Know they won't be home tonight
The snow falls hard and don't you know
The winds of Thor are blowing cold
They're wearing steel that's bright and true
They carry news that must get through
They choose the path where no one goes
They hold no quarter
They hold no quarter
Walking side by side with death
The devil mocks their every step
The snow drives back the foot that's slow
The dogs of doom are howling more
They carry news that must get through
To build a dream for me and you
They choose the path that no one goes
They hold no quarter
They ask no quarter
They hold no quarter
They ask no quarter
They ask no quarter
They give no quarter
10 The Battle Of Evermore (00:00)
The queen of light took her bow
And then she turned to go
The prince of peace embraced the gloom
And walked the night alone
Ooh, dance in the dark of night
Sing to the morning light
The dark lord rides in force tonight
And time will tell us all
Oh, throw down your plow and hoe
Rest not to lock your homes
Side by side we wait the might
Of the darkest of them all
I hear the horses' thunder
Down in the valley below
I'm waiting for the angels of Avalon
Waiting for the eastern glow
The apples of the valley hold
The seeds of happiness
The ground is rich from tender care
Repay, do not forget, no, no
Oh, dance in the dark of night
Sing to the morning light
The apples turn to brown and black
The tyrant's face is red
Oh the war is common cry
Pick up your swords and fly
The sky is filled with good and bad
That mortals never know, oh, now
Oh well, the night is long
The beads of time pass slow
Tired eyes on the sunrise
Waiting for the eastern glow
The pain of war cannot exceed
The woe of aftermath
The drums will shake the castle wall
The ringwraiths ride in black, ride on
Sing as you raise your bow
Shoot straighter than before
No comfort has the fire at night
That lights the face so cold
Oh, dance in the dark of night
Sing to the morning light
The magic runes are writ in gold
To bring the balance back, bring it back
At last the sun is shining
The clouds of blue roll by
With flames from the dragon of darkness
The sunlight blinds his eyes
Bring it back, bring it back
Bring it back, bring it back
Bring it back, bring it back
Bring it back, bring it back
Oh now, oh now, oh now, ahh
Oh now, oh now, oh now
Bring it back, bring it back
Bring it back, bring it back
Whoa now, oh now, oh now, qhoa
Whoa now, oh now, oh now
Bring it, bring it, bring it, bring it
Bring it, bring it, bring it
Bring it, bring it, bring it
Bring it, bring ahhh
11 Going To California (00:00)
Spent my days with a woman unkind
Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine
Made up my mind to make a new start
Goin' to California with an achin' in my heart
Someone told me there's a girl out there
With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair
Took my chances on a big jet plane
Never let them tell you that they're all the same
Oh, the sea was red and the sky was grey
Wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today
The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake
As the children of the sun began to awake
Watch out
Seems that the wrath of the Gods got a punch on the nose
And it started to flow, I think I might be sinkin'
Throw me a line, if I reach it in time
I'll meet you up there where the path runs straight and high
To find a queen without a king
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings, la la la la la
Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin' to find a woman who's never, never, never been born
Standin' on a hill in my mountain of dreams
Telling myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems
14 Kashmir (00:00)
Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream
I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed
Talk and song from tongues of lilting grace, whose sounds caress my ear
But not a word I heard could I relate, the story was quite clear
Oh, oh.
Oh, I been blind... mama, there ain't no denyin'
I've been blind, ain't no denyin', no denyin'
All I see turns to brown, as the sun burns the ground
And my eyes fill with sand, as I scan this wasted land
Trying to find, trying to find where I've been.
Oh, pilot of the storm who leaves no trace, like thoughts inside a dream
Heed the path that led me to that place, yellow desert stream
My Shangri-La beneath the summer moon, I will return again
Sure as the dust that floats high in June, when movin' through Kashmir.
Oh, father of the four winds, fill my sails, across the sea of years
With no provision but an open face, along the straits of fear
Ohh.
When I'm on, when I'm on my way, yeah
When I see, when I see the way, you stay-yeah
Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, when I'm down...
Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, well I'm down, so down
Ooh, my baby, oooh, my baby, let me take you there
Let me take you there. Let me take you there
17 Achilles Last Stand (00:00)
It was an April morning when they told us we should go.
As I turned to you, you smiled at me; how could we say no?
Whoa, the fun to have! To live the dreams we always had.
Whoa, the songs to sing! When we at last return again.
Sending off a glancing kiss to those who claim they know
Below the streets that steam and hiss, the devil's in his home.
Whoa, to sail away! Sandy lands and other days.
Whoa, to touch the dream! That hides inside and is never seen, yeah.
Into the sun of south and north at last the birds have flown.
The shackles of commitment fell in pieces on the ground.
Whoa, to ride the wind! To tread the air above the din.
Whoa, to laugh aloud! Dancing high above the crowd.
Seek the man whose pointing hand the giant step unfolds.
With guidance from the curving path that churns up into stone!
If one bell should ring, celebration for a king.
So fast the heart should beat, as proud the head with heavy feet, yeah.
[Solo]
Days went by when you and I made an eternal summer's glow
As far away and distant, our mutual time to grow.
Whoa, the sweet refrain! It soothes the soul and calms the pain.
Oh, Albion remains! Sleeping now to rise again.
Wandering the wanderings. What place to rest the search?
Where the mighty arms of Atlas hold the heavens from the earth!
Where the mighty arms of Atlas hold the heavens from the earth!
From the earth!
I know the way, know the way, know the way, know the way.
I know the way, know the way, know the way, know the way.
Where the mighty arms of Atlas hold the heavens from the earth!
18 Stairway To Heaven (00:00)
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for
Ooh ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven
There's a sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, it makes me wonder
There's a feeling I get when I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, it really makes me wonder
And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May queen
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on
And it makes me wonder
Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know
The piper's calling you to join him
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
19 Whole Lotta Love (00:00)
You need coolin'
Baby, I'm not foolin'
I'm gonna send you
Back to schoolin'
Way down inside honey, you need it
I'm gonna give you my love
I'm gonna give you my love
Oh, wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
You've been learnin'
Baby, I been learnin'
All them good times, baby, baby
I've been yearnin'
Way way down inside, honey, you need it
I'm gonna give you my love
I'm gonna give you my love
Oh! Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
I don't want, ah
Ahh, ahh
Ahh, ahh, ahh
Ah-ah, ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh
Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh
Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh
Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh
Ahh, ahh, ah! No, no, no, no
Ah
Lord!
Lo-ooh-whoa-ooh-whoa-ooh-whoa-ooh-whoa!
You've been coolin'
Baby, I've been droolin'
All the good times, baby
I've been misusin'
Way way down inside
I'm gonna give you my love
I'm gonna give you every inch of my love
Gonna give you my love
Hey! Alright! Let's go!
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Wanna whole lotta love
Way down inside, woman, you need it
Lord!
My, my, my, my
My, my, my, my
Oh!
Shake for me, girl
I wanna be your back door man
Hey, oh, hey, oh, hey, oh
Oooh ahh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Ooh my, my babe
Keep it coolin' baby
A-keep it coolin' baby
A-keep it coolin' baby
Ah-keep it coolin' baby
Ahh, ahhh-hahhh-oh
20 Rock And Roll (00:00)
It's been a long time since I rock and rolled
It's been a long time since I did the stroll
Ooh, let me get it back, let me get it back, let me get it back
Baby, where I come from
It's been a long time, been a long time
Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time, yes it has
It's been a long time since the book of love
I can't count the tears of a life with no love
Carry me back, carry me back, carry me back
Baby, where I come from, whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh
It's been a long time, been a long time
Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time
Oh, seems so long since we walked in the moonlight
Makin' vows that just can't work right
Ah yeah, open your arms, opens your arms, open your arms
Baby, let my love come running in, let it
It's been a long time, been a long time
Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time
It's been a long time, been a long time
Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time
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