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Like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin have always given their fans top quality product, exercising stringent artistic control while also keeping one eye firmly on the cash registers. Famously refusing to appear on television in the Seventies (because in their view the TV audio speakers at the time in most sets were not equipped to reproduce their sound), this meant that you had to see them in the flesh, the only exception being their 1976 movie “The Song Remains the Same”, initially released only in cinemas which could handle the “quintophonic” sound, a forerunner of Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound with three speakers at the front - left right and middle plus two at the back. The Who’s “Tommy” had been the first rock movie to be released in that format a year and half earlier.
Snippets from the Zep archives had previously been drip-fed in the form of video promos around the time of the “Remasters” boxed sets namely for “Whole Lotta Love” and “Travelling Riverside Blues”. However with the advent of DVD technology, the Zep machine obviously thought it was now or never to dip into their (not very voluminous) archives and compile some sort of visual career retrospective.
And so onto “Led Zeppelin DVD” a two DVD set comprising five and a half hours of footage ranging from their early years up to their virtual “swansong”. The preview I attended at a cinema in Manchester, England only showed two hours of the final product but at times up there on the silver screen was what could only be described as “bottled lightning” as the stürm und drang of the Zeppelin performances pounded the audience.
I remember Zeppelin concerts in the early Seventies were “events” of the first order. Usually no support band and three hour sets were the order of the day. You were in no doubt whatsoever that you were seeing the Rock ‘n’ Roll Heavyweight Champions of the World, a title they held until Robert Plant’s car accident in 1975 curtailed their touring. Yes, there were also the Stones and The Who but these two bands had been reduced to the roles of contenders for the crown. Like the biggest dog on the block, Led Zeppelin knew they were the champs, the audience knew it, the Stones, The Who, Deep Purple and everyone else knew it. You could almost “smell” it. During this period Jimmy Page was asked what he obtained personally from being part of Led Zeppelin and famously replied “The power, the glory and ‘the Hammer of the Gods’.”
The DVD kicks off in 1970 at a Royal Albert Hall, London gig, a point in time where you could say that they themselves were contenders for the crown. The footage is typical of its time e.g .Cream’s farewell concert and it’s interesting that Zeppelin seem more concerned with the music than of putting on a show, Jimmy Page hunched over his guitar in a quasi Chuck Berry duckwalk stance, the band still entrenched in their blues-rock roots and “the Hammer of the Gods” still with the blacksmith. Concise versions of “Dazed and Confused” and “Whole Lotta Love” sound almost rushed compared to the 30 minute monsters these songs later became in live sets.
We are then transported to Australia 1972 for a piledriving “Immigrant Song”
and it is quickly apparent that Page has by now done his deal with the Devil and is in full possession of “the Hammer”, moving around like he has a firecracker up his ass. This segment has been put together as though the cameramen were on acid and it prepares you for the best part of the DVD, which is leftover footage from the previously mentioned “Song Remains the Same” movie filmed at Madison Square Garden, New York in 1973.
Jimmy Page recently expressed his surprise that the DVD of this movie was released with only a stereo soundtrack and did not utilise his quintophonic mix. Now he gets the chance to put matters right and this segment absolutely rocks as it’s plainly evident that we are now in the presence of the Undisputed Heavyweight Champions. This professionally shot footage stands apart from the video footage used elsewhere although fans’ home movie footage has been interspersed to gain perspective. How the hell were these tracks left out of the movie in the first place ? “Black Dog” “Misty Mountain Hop” and “The Ocean” are just awesome.
From here the action moves to the Earls Court Arena, London in 1975, a series of concerts widely regarded as the best of their career. Utilising video footage which was projected onto a back screen during their performance , it sometimes gives the impression that it is being shot in a TV studio so close and intimate are some of the shots. Robert Plant always regretted that Led Zeppelin were pigeonholed as a heavy group, pointing to moments of both light and shade within their sound. This other aspect of their music is exemplified here with songs from their usual mid-set acoustic interlude such as “Going to California”. Also included is “In My Time of Dying” which showcases Jimmy Page’s slide guitar playing before the twin-necked Gibson comes out for a definitive live “Stairway to Heaven”.
By the time of the Knebworth Festival concerts in England on two consecutive weekends in 1979, punk had arrived and Zeppelin’s enforced lay off had cost them the title. However it was comeback time and hundreds of thousands arrived to see if they still had what it takes. An analogy could be made with Muhammad Ali’s comeback in 1970 after being stripped of the title for refusing the draft. While he still had it in spades, he had lost the aura of invincibility that he once had. The same could be said of Led Zeppelin but they were still one of the biggest dogs on the block and there was still some thunder left in the Hammer. “Rock ‘n’ Roll”, “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” and another concise version of “Whole Lotta Love” crunch along, pulverising the senses.
After Knebworth, the John Paul Jones dominated album “In Through The Out Door” was released and a low key tour of continental Europe followed in 1980 prior to what would have been another US invasion. That was until John Bonham died unexpectedly during rehearsals. The three remaining members decided not to continue as Led Zeppelin and apart from special appearances at events such as Live Aid and the Atlantic Records Anniversary Concert they have never returned. Thor had reclaimed his Hammer and it was over.
After the showing I went home, had a couple of beers, went to bed and slept like a log. When I awoke, the realisation hit me. This thing is going to sell like hot cakes.
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