Hey Avocadoneers , Kevzero here, welcome to Bootleg Corner. Throughout the years I’ve amassed a rather large collection of bootleg CDs, vinyl, downloads, even the occasional cassette; from live recordings to outtake sessions. I’ve decided to start a blog here to review them, and, hopefully, create a space for other Avocado fans of Recordings Of Indiscriminate oRigin(RIORs) to gather together and discuss less authorized material. I’m thinking of making this a bi-weekly thing, but that may change as I gauge interest(including my own)
This week…
Led Zeppelin Berlin 7th July 1980 (Compact Disc)
Label: Cellar Dweller Productions (United Kingdom) 2012
Track List:
Disc 1
1 Train Kept A-Rollin’
2 Nobody’s Fault But Mine
3 Out On The Tiles-Black Dog
4 In The Evening
5 The Rain Song
6 Hot Dog
7 All My Love
8 Trampled Underfoot
Disc 2
1 Since I’ve Been Loving You
2 White Summer/Black Mountain Side
3 Kashmir
4 Stairway To Heaven
5 Rock And Roll
6 Whole Lotta Love
Liner Notes:
None
Band Performance: B-
This is Led Zeppelin’s last stop on their, ultimately final, 1980 European tour. The set list, consistent with the entire tour, is a mix between older songs and a few, all on disc 1, “Presence” and “In Through the Out Door” songs. Note how the rollicking “Hot Dog” is sandwiched between two slower ballads. Disc 2 has almost exclusively long, all except “Rock and Roll” are well over ten minutes, songs and covers all the classics. Robert Plant chatters about the show being the end of the tour, but there’s no real “ironic” finality-of-the-band moment. John Bohnam would be dead in a little more than a month and the band, barring the occasional reunions, would cease immediately
Highlights
Trampled Underfoot
In The Evening
Rock and Roll
Lowlights
Hot Dog. Band seems out of sync; there are much better performances on the same tour
White Summer/Black Mountain Side. A slogging instrumental that goes on far too long
Kashmir. Recording is a mess in some places
Recording: C-
A soundboard recording it has a very tinny sound and a slight but very noticeable hum that you can never truly “unhear”. “Kashmir” is cut in places
Does Kevzero Recommend? For fans of Zeppelin, Yes. It’s obviously a very big historical moment in Led Zeppelin’s career and well worth a listen
For casual fans, No. there are much better concerts earlier on their career and even on the 1980 tour itself
Next Time: an extremely, almost exhaustingly, comprehensive listen as The Beatles attempt to “Get Back” but ultimately “Let It Be”