Led Zeppelin - 2017 - Destroyer 40th Anniversary

Led Zeppelin

2017

Destroyer 40th Anniversary

Led Zeppelin
April 27, 1977
Richfield Coliseum
Cleveland, OH

Destroyer 40th Anniversary
EVSD 503-505
Soundboard

01. The Song Remains the Same
02. The Rover (introduction) / Sick Again
03. Nobody's Fault But Mine
04. In My Time of Dying
05. Since I've Been Loving You
06. No Quarter
07. Ten Years Gone
08. The Battle of Evermore
09. Going To California
10. Black Country Woman
11. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
12. 1White Summer
13. Black Mountain Side
14. Kashmir
15. Moby Dick
16. Guitar Solo
17. Achilles Last Stand
18. Stairway To Heaven
19. Rock and Roll
20. Trampled Underfoot

LED ZEPPELIN – The Coliseum – April 27

It took those over two years to do it, but Led Zeppelin finally reached a Cleveland area stage once again last Wednesday night at the Coliseum. This show in particular, as well as their current tour in general, is nothing less than a re-assertion of their status among the Rolling Stones, Who and any other acknowledged deities of rock. It presents a challenge – as well as a set of standards to equal – to new wave heroes such as Aerosmith, Frampton and Blue Oyster Cult.

Zeppelin’s three-hour set passed with flying colors my personal shorthand estimation of a concert’s quality. It didn’t seem that long. The amount of material played, the musicianship involved, and the internal and external (special effects) manifestations of their music merged into an impressive, at time awe-inspiring, whole. The width of styles, moods and atmosphere, paired with consistent authenticity, crossed one of the widest spectrum of which any current combo seems capable.

Zeppelin’s show, considerably revamped since their ’75 appearance in the same arena, was in general an effective mix of blues-ended structures such as In My Time of Dying, Nobody’s Fault But Mine and Since I’ve Been Loving You. The maximum amount of instrumental stretching-out however came on No Quarter. Working from both electric and acoustic pianos, John Paul Jones again impressed with his general versatility. Jimmy Page later joined in for what to me was his apogee of an evening’s worth of standout soloing. It was one of the best rock jams I’ve ever witnessed.

About midway through, Zep revived something they haven’t done in concert since the early 70s – an acoustic set. The founders and main perpetrators of the heavy metal music form sat themselves down and ran through delightful versions of Battle of Evermore, Going to California and Black Country Woman, even reviving the rockabilly Bron-Y-Aur Stomp from Led Zeppelin III (with Jones on stand-up bass).

Some more electrically oriented playing led into the visual highlight of the evening; a rotating, smoke-filled laser light cone surrounded Page as he spun out his famed violin bow work, with lasers behind him shooting arrow-straight beams at the ceiling at well-timed intervals. The show wound up with more conventional crowd-pleasers such as Kashmir and the Zeppelin signature song, Stairway to Heaven (with the biggest mirrored ball in rockdom used to wind it up.

John Bonham consistently kicked ass on drums, Robert Plant was 100 percent improved in voice and stage demeanor since their last time here, and a warm, lucid in-group chemistry projected even across the Coliseum’s vast terrains. A surprisingly sedate and mature crowd did their part to create something I had previously thought was unique to small-hall presentations – a general warmness and intimacy of feeling emanating from the band and its reception by the listeners. It’s an attitude much more difficult to project over 20,000 seats than it is over 3,000. Such was the strength of Led Zeppelin’s performance, an in-person proof of why they still rank as one of the top viewing experiences in rock.

(C. Michalski / Scene April 1977)

This show gets criticized a lot, but it is really a good show, with lots of energy and intensity. The playing is great and the versions of Kashmir, Achilles Last Stand, and Ten Years Gone are exceptional, as is No Quarter. A really enthusiastic crowd feeds off of Zeppelin's energy, making for a memorable show. Plant sometimes complaining of monitor problems, especially during the acoustic set.

The soundboard for Led Zeppelin’s April 27th, 1977 show in Cleveland first surfaced on vinyl in the 1980’s on the European release Destroyer (DRGM 505), listed as being from Seattle and packaged in a color jacket with a picture of Page on the cover. This was copied in the U.S. with the same title and matrix number but comes packaged in a plastic carrying case and the tape has a different mastering which many consider inferior, and releases have the songs out of proper sequence. The Swingin’ Pig issued the four LP set Destroyer and other vinyl titles released in the late eighties include Sweet Jelly Roll (Rock Solid Records), Nobody’s Fault But Mine (Sad Song) and Hard Way To Heaven (UNI), which is incomplete and includes the Live Aid set.

When CDs first began to be manufactured this was one of the very first tapes to come out. The Swingin’ Pig copied their vinyl release on Destroyer (TSP-CD-059-2), a 2CD set released in 1990. Neutral Zone issued The Destroyer (NZCD 89013), containing “Going To California” to “Rock And Roll” and with “Stairway To Heaven” dropped, and Nobody’s Fault But Mine (NZCD 89015) containing the first hour of the show from “The Song Remains The Same” to “The Battle Of Evermore.” Destroyer (Archive) is a 1989 West German production in “perfect soundboard quality” but attributes this show to August 1977. Coming Back To The Murder Stage (Buccaneer Records BUC 021/2) is a 2CD set erroneously attributing this show to April 28th, and also includes the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary reunion set.

Destroyer (BGS009-2) is a 2CD 1992 Italian release which claims to be re-mastered and replicates the artwork on the earlier Archive release. Australia issued this tape at least three times beginning in 1993 with Led Zeppelin Live (Apple House Music SL-23 and SL-24), two CDs with the songs out of sequence. The second disc of the Apple House production was copied on SW 39, and both were issued on the Banana label as Last Stand Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 on (BAN-025-A & B) Destroyer (Silverbird ZLNCD29) with correct date and a bonus track “Hey Joe” from Band Of Joy demo.

The early nineties also saw the release the first of four separate Tarantura releases on The Destroyer 1st Day (Tarantura T6CD-1). This box set was issued in 1993 containing both the April 27th soundboard and the April 28th audience recordings. The label issued the soundboard again two years later on The Destroyer Gold (Tarantura TUDCD-004~006).

Destroyer: Final Edition (Cobra Standard 004) is a 3CD set issued in a cardboard sleeve with same lettering as first TSP vinyl. The Pot label issued The Original Stereo Destroyer (POT-001/002) on two discs and Antrabata includes this on three discs in The Final Statements, a 9CD box set that also includes the September 4th, 1970 Los Angeles and July 28th, 1973 New York tapes. The Destroyer (Last Stand Disc LSD-16/17/18) is a three disc set released in 1997 with excellent three disc set with 24-bit re-mastering in excellent quality.

Shout To The Top also released Destroyer (STTP 055/056/057) about this time. Empress Valley released The Destroyer (EVSD-40/41/42) in 2000 in an LP sized case with the front cover replicating the old Smilin’ Ears vinyl edition of the audience recording from the following night. This version is, by almost unanimous consensus, the best sounding and most complete version of the tape. Several years later Tarantura issued two separate six-disc box sets simultaneously with both Cleveland shows. The Destroyers (TCD-10-1~3) and The Destroyer (Flesh/Trade Mark Of Quality TMQ 20021 1-3) are two different remastering jobs and are singled out to be among the very worst titles released by Tarantura.

In 2004 Empress Valley released the tape again in The Supreme Destroyers (EVSD-276/277/278). This is a 9CD box set released with two separate covers that contains also the audience recordings from the April 28tg Cleveland show and the May 30th Largo, Maryland show. This show also appears on the DVDR-A title Destroyer (Genuine Masters GM-27.04.1977-DVD-A-18) which is superb.

Destroyer on the SODD label is the latest release and a rare non-Rolling Stones title. The sound quality compares favorably with Empress Valley’s first release which is considered to be the best version of them all. The familiar cuts are still present with the tape beginning at the first verse of “The Song Remains The Same.” Also there are two faint digital faults on disc one that can be found at 4:22 in “Sick Again” and at 18:11 in “No Quarter.”

These sound like speed bumps, not very loud and don’t eliminate any music. For the pickiest of collectors this is an issue, but for those who are more forgiving it won’t be. With that said many do hope that the SODD people will fix these errors and make the correction available as Scorpio has done with their Ultimate Studio Sessions box set. If that were to occur, then this release would be the definitive version of this often pressed show which is a solid concert despite some criticisms. That this is a soundboard recording betrays many of the mistakes that are made on stage particularly by Page. In the first hour of the show in particular he misses some cues and plays some bum notes.

What this concert really needs is a good audience recording to hear how the music was being received in the venue since the echo oftentimes covers them up. Plant is in good voice and the rhythm section is solid as usual. This night is right by the end of the first of three legs of their massive 1977 U.S. tour and would be followed by another night in Cleveland and the massive, record setting concert in Pontiac (whose clear audience recording was released only once by TDOLZ which runs way too slow).

SODD package this in a basic fatboy plastic jewel case. The label usually issue bonus discs with their Rolling Stones titles, but there is no such bonus discs with this one. Destroyer utilizes the font and graphic design first used by TSP in the eighties with a Madison Square Garden shot on the front cover. The overall design is basic but effective and this version comes so very close to being definitive that we all hope the label will fix the errors.

Led Zeppelin
April 28, 1977
Richfield Coliseum
Cleveland, OH

Destroyer 40th Anniversary
EVSD 506-505
Audienc

01. Introduction
02. The Song Remains The Same
03. The Rover Intro / Sick Again
04. Nobody's Fault But Mine
05. In My Time Of Dying / You Shook Me
06. Since I've Been Loving You
07. No Quarter / The Nutcracker Suite
08. Ten Years Gone
09. The Battle Of Evermore
10. Going To California
11. Black Country Woman / Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp
12. White Summer / Black Mountain Side
13. Kashmir
14. Over The Top / Moby Dick
15. Guitar Solo / The Star Spangled Banner
16. Achilles Last Stand
17. Stairway To Heaven
18. Encore Call
19. Rock And Roll
20. Encore Call
21. Trampled Underfoot

This audience recording remains, despite the cuts and flaws, one of the outstanding documents from Zeppelin’s eleventh tour. It captures the same kind of sound that Jimmy Page was trying to achieve on the studio recordings by taking into account, not only the instruments, but the effect it has upon the room it is played. This tape pick that up perfectly and displays the power and mystery of Led Zeppelin in concert with one of the best live versions of “No Quarter” on record.

There are also little mysterious little fragments in the show like the impromptu “Surrender” before “Since I’ve Been Loving You.” Since it is cut before and after the context is missing and one hopes that another tape source were to surface in the future which would provide the missing information. Before “Black Country Woman” Plant mentions “Dancing Days” and sings the first line of “Bob Dylan’s Blues” (Well, the Lone Ranger and Tonto / They are ridin’ down the line / Fixin’ ev’rybody’s troubles / Ev’rybody’s ‘cept mine / Somebody musta tol’ ’em / That I was doin’ fine). This is the only recorded instance of Led Zeppelin ever quoting Dylan on stage and raises the interesting issue of the relationship between the two. Robert Plant would also mention Dylan on stage when he introduced “In My Time Of Dying” since Dylan covered the same tune for his debut album in 1962. Jimmy Page also mentions Dylan’s 1978 show in Nuremberg in a long interview before the Knebworth festival in 1979, but otherwise there is nothing.

Although Dylan collaborated with and admired many artists, he has never said anything about Zeppelin and the only hint of his attitude of the band comes from the famous story from the Los Angeles Swan Song party in 1974. Manager Peter Grant introduced himself to Dylan as the manager of Led Zeppelin and Dylan’s reply is “I don’t come to you with my problems, do I?” It gives the impression that he didn’t (and still doesn’t) think much of our four heroes. Nevertheless the second night in Cleveland is one of the legendary concerts in Led Zeppelin’s live history and the EVSD isn’t a bad version of the tape

Led Zeppelin
April 28, 1977
Richfield Coliseum
Cleveland, OH

Newly Discovered Destroyer / Cleveland Rockx
EVSD 1088-1090
Audience

01. Introduction
02. The Song Remains The Same
03. The Rover Intro / Sick Again
04. Nobody's Fault But Mine
05. In My Time Of Dying / You Shook Me
06. Since I've Been Loving You
07. No Quarter / The Nutcracker Suite
08. Ten Years Gone
09. The Battle Of Evermore
10. Going To California
11. Black Country Woman / Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp
12. White Summer / Black Mountain Side
13. Kashmir
14. Over The Top / Moby Dick
15. Guitar Solo / The Star Spangled Banner
16. Achilles Last Stand
17. Stairway To Heaven
18. Encore Call
19. Rock And Roll
20. Encore Call
21. Trampled Underfoot

In early 2019 the Tarantura label released Destroyers, a nine CD box set featuring recordings from both concerts Led Zeppelin performed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1977. This box set was the first to utilize a newly surfaced recording of the second performance on April 28, 1977, a recording that had been kept in a very tight circle of people from Cleveland. Apparently the recording was not released with permission and to make matters worse, suffered the effects of heavy handed mastering. The decision was made to release the recording on an internet Led Zeppelin fan forum site so fans could here the unaltered recording, so it’s no surprise when Empress Valley announced this new title shortly after. As usual the label released it on two packages, Destroyer Newly Discovered! Cleveland Rocks is a 3 CD version containing just the new tape and Destroyer a nine CD box set featuring the well known recordings from both nights plus this new tape and based upon the CD matrix numbers, the label uses old discs for both. In typical EV fashion, the 9 disc box set comes in two different covers.

The recording itself is very good and just a notch below the first recording, it is clear and very atmospheric. The taper was position in section 210 on the right side of the stage and managed to capture a perfectly balanced, clear and detailed recording. He used a Phillips portable tape recorder and Memorex Tracs 90 and 120 cassettes, he was positioned on a platform usually used for a television camera for sports broadcasts. The batteries were loose in the machine and thus the recording suffered from speed fluctuations, the majority of these were fixed although some issues can still be heard during In My Time Of Dying, No Quarter and Ten Years Gone. The taper did an excellent job of tape management and managed to capture the complete concert save for a few tape flips and pauses during the encore cheering. The only real detriment to this recording is it does have some audience interference sporadically, conversations asking about getting a copy of the tape, having a baby on the way, and some serious coughing are some of the topics. Empress Valley did a nice job on the mastering and pretty much left the tape alone to stand on its own merits.

In a 2008 interview with Uncut magazine, Robert Plant spoke of the 1977 tour: “By 1977, I was 29, just prior to Karac’s passing, and that sort of wild energy that was there in the beginning had come to the point where we were showboating a bit. Unfortunately, we had no choice. We were on tours where places were going ape-shit. There was no way of containing the energy in those buildings. It was insane. And we became more and more victims of our own success. And the whole deal about the goldfish bowl and living in it, that kicked in”. The first minute and half of this recording conveys this image, the recording picks up the depth of the arena and the massive ovation and anticipation and the lights going out and band taking the stage.

This concert is easily one of the best from 1977, the atmosphere captured on this tape rivals the first source as well as confirms this performances legacy. The playing is laid back and yet intense, this is one of my favorite 77 versions of Since I’ve Been Loving You, Plant and Page tease the crowd while Jones adds these flourishes on the keys that are outstanding, and Bonham’s drumming is superlative, the band does not force a thing. No Quarter is also a standout, the theramin section has a bit of tape speed issue and someone close to the taper coughs a lot, surely partaking for the mystic journey that is No Quarter. The audience cheer and Jones begins his solo and goes into the Nutrocker portion, the piece is somewhat of a novelty and does not compare to the proper solo section, Page attacks his guitar with a staggered fury of leads adding to the dramatic effect. The whole piece is sometimes soft and luxurious, sometimes aggressive and angry, the results will blow one’s mind.

Despite a few firecrackers, the acoustic set is nice, the audience are respectful and the band manage to get an intimate feel with a crowd of 18,000 in a large arena. Plant tells the audience “It’s really nice to do acoustic stuff because it breaks the um…it makes the music flow a little more so you don’t know what the hell’s gonna happen next…we really enjoy it”. After the upbeat combo of Black Country Woman and Bron-YR-Aur Stomp, Jimmy’s Black Mountain Side seems to have the audience in a lull and Kashmir catches them by surprise. The recording is powerful, Bonham’s drumming is incredible and the song retains its grandeur. While Bonham’s Ode To Excess does get tedious, Page’s guitar solo is focused and to the point, as with many performances on this tour, it includes the Star Spangled Banner and leads into a blistering take on Achilles Last Stand. This song is best heard on audience recordings, I find the soundboard versions fall rather flat, the hall ambiance adds greatly to the songs depth. Great version of Stairway to finish the set, the audience seem to relish in the song, the hard rock section is quite powerful and well delivered by the band, Plant tells the audience “Thank you very much, we had a really great time…thank you. We hope you enjoyed it too…Good Night!”, the ovation seems to raise the rafters of the Coliseum.

Really great recording and for the 3 CD version I purchased, the packaging is very minimalist. A simple glossy cardboard sleeve with common pictures of Page on the front and the band and their entourage in front of Caesars Chariot on the rear. While this minimalist packaging has kept the price down, it could have been nicer, the original download files of this tape came with a seating chart overview of the area showing the tapers position, an information sheet with recording and mastering notes, pictures of the master cassettes, not to mention a huge file of pictures from these concerts by Cleveland Rock Photographer Janet Macoska. Any of this could have been used to embellish the cover, nonetheless this is a really great addition to my collection and for the price you cannot beat it.