Fallen Angel (Tarantura TCD-104-1~3)
Kingdome, Seattle, WA – July 17th, 1977
Disc 1 (68:48): The Song Remains The Same, (The Rover intro) Sick Again, Nobody’s Fault But Mine, Over the Hills and Far Away, Since I’ve Been Loving You, No Quarter
Disc 2 (63:49): Ten Years Gone, Battle of Evermore, Going to California, Black Country Woman, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, White Summer ~ Black Mountainside, Kashmir
Disc 3 (76:05): Out On the Tiles / Moby Dick, guitar solo, Achilles Last Stand, Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, Rock and Roll
Fallen Angel is the latest Led Zeppelin on the Tarantura label. The outside box of this set has the MTV logo on the cover which indicates this comes from the MTV master video tape, ever before used. A minute long gap in “No Quarter” is filled using an audience recording. The sound quality is very good and punchy with a pronounced emphasis upon the lower frequencies. During some points the bass tends to overshadow the other instruments in the mix.
Seattle is the the first show of what was supposed to be the third leg of their massive summer tour in 1977. They would play a few more shows, but this remains one of their final shows in the US. A review of this concert states that “the Led Zeppelin concert at the Kingdome came off without too much trouble. There were several arrests, lots of dope and booze smuggled in – either under coats or inside bodies – and some very sick kids from drinking too much.
“Led Zeppelin has earned a reputation for attracting surly crowds which generally fight and riot. But the most damage was to the ears and there is a possibility 62,000 people will spend today saying, ‘Huh?’ What attracted these people, generally hard-core rock fans, was the experience. It was appreciated by some when the lead singer, Robert Plant, told the crowd he was deaf in one ear. It was a miracle the whole band wasn’t stone deaf. Later, Plant said his hearing came back during one number.
“The concert started shortly after 8 p.m. amid fireworks and people holding up lighted matches, the moment everybody had been waiting for. Throughout the long Sunday, the huge crowd remained orderly as it waited to get through the gates and have the experience. … Plant promised that the 1977 tour would be ‘blood, thunder and the hammer of the gods.’ A squad of paramedics was geared up for the blood and everybody else was geared up for the thunder and hammer part.” (Post-Intellengencer – July 1977)
The packaging for Fallen Angel, like with the Winterland and Wembley boxes, is gorgeous with the discs in a cardboard sleeve and packaged with a Tshirt. With so many competing versions of this show in circulation, and with the generally mediocre nature of the performance, this is ultimately a very nice luxury to have.
4 Comments
I have the Godfather – it is good and a quite bit cheaper – get it if you want it but this is not one of my favorite shows.
So now we can can try the newest releae of this show from Godfather Records – 3 CD set that is said to not have the issues with this release. Let’s hope it sounds a little more even and will be far less costly!
I have to agree with LedMan that there was some serious bass boost on this recording. I have to tweak my system more than usual to even things out. Once that is done, though, the sound actually is very crisp. Taste is such a factor here, as is the limitations of eq’ing your system from title to title.
It’s no secret to Tarantura collectors that part of the attraction is the limited number of releases and the fancy packaging. Good Ole Zeppelin, Empire Strikes Back and now this all come in some serious similar deluxe packaging including a t shirt and look great on my shelves however to my ears this one is too bass heavy. When I popped disc #1 into my Bose Wave Music System I couldn’t run fast enough to get it out. I felt I almost blew my speakers. This is probably best listened to on a system with a EQ.