For Led Zeppelin fanatics, this 1976 release is a treasure of amazing live performances, on their tour, their final, three-night stand at Madison Square Garden in 1973 which was full of the old power songs like ‘No Quarter’, ‘Whole Lotta Love’, ‘Black Dog’, ‘Dazed and Confused’ and ‘Stairway to Heaven’.
1973 was the year the most influential band peaked in its career and gave fans music they wanted. The concert is heavily edited, with the best moments of three consecutive nights spliced together for the final mix. But then, in reality aren't all official live recordings put together this way? And there is no doubt that what we are left with is definitive concert versions of these nine songs. Though badly edited it is excusable. Page delivers two of his finest ever solos in 'No Quarter' and 'Stairway to Heaven,' while his chord/lead work on the title track is simply astounding. Similarly, the violin bow solo in 'Dazed and Confused' and the rockabilly solos in 'Whole Lotta Love' are masterful. Don’t miss a repeat watch of his guitar and violin solos. Also, Plant is in fine voice throughout, and the rhythm section of Jones and Bonham is frighteningly intense. There are also amusing bits, like when Robert Plant flashes the two-finger salute with one hand and the V for Victory with the other during the "you know sometimes words have two meanings" lyric from the song ‘Stairway to Heaven’.
The film starts off with a fantasy sequences and then shots of the band at home with their families before the tour starts, then there's documentary footage of the band arriving in New York and driving into Manhattan, before the concert begins. So you have John Bonham, manager Peter Grant and tour manager Richard Cole dressed up as gangster hitmen driving an old-timer from one country estate to another, which they proceed to shoot up with machine guns. Then you have Robert Plant on his farm where he's watching his kids playing, John Bonham is plowing the fields with a tractor, John Paul Jones reading "Jack and the Beanstock" to his daughters, and Jimmy Page is playing a hurdy gurdy by the lake (he turns around, his shades glow orange and the world goes psychedelic). There’s the security for the band, the limos and finally you are in a dark, crowded space, the band seems to be onstage, we hear the massive drum intro to "Rock 'n' Roll," then the lights come on and it's Led Zeppelin.
So between the psychedelic sequences of the performances are never before seen vids of at-home glimpses in the lives of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, the late John Bonham, and John Paul Jones, as well as fantasy sequences supposedly inspired by the thoughts and fantasies of the band's individual members. How would you like to see your favorite band members working on the farm, with the kids or at bar? It's different from most videos, but interesting.
Look out for shots like the argument of Robert and Peter Grant arguing about how they caught people selling bootleg material inside the venue - posters - and arguing with the venue manager about it, security cops and fans hanging around outside, guys getting let into the concert without tickets, a fan getting chased and taken into a toilet by security cops. There’s also the major footage of the robbery of the lost $200,000, for which there was a press conference at the time and some of the people involved were taken in for questioning.
Band members supervised the re-mastering and Dolby 5.1 re-mixing of the film’s image and sound. Those watching on a 5.1 system for a change will notice that not all the sound comes from the center channel, for its mixed beautifully. There are over 40 minutes of newly-added extra features including: Two never-before-released songs in rare performance footage: ‘Celebration’ and ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’; Vintage TV Footage: Drake Hotel Robbery during the New York Concert Stand; Robert Plant BBC Interview and Tampa Concert Band Arrival all falling in the Bonus DVD.
At the finale, the band end their concert, walks offstage, the house lights come on, and the band gets into their limo and moves on. The band are seen at the airport getting into the airplane ,,,,,,,, Led Zepplin and the credits roll. Quite fun this documentary on the band that is still loved today.
- Reviewed by Verus Ferreira