Customer Reviews

Led Zeppelin: Concert File

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I own several Led Zep books so it was nice to get my hands on this one by Dave Lewis - one of the band's keepers. The good news for Zep-philes is that there is new information. This book makes a good complement to Luis Rey's Zep concert book (now out-of-print I believe). It doesn't try to be academic but rather anecdotal - so that we get a much better picture of the actual live environment that Zep lived in at the time.

It includes reviews from various news sources and on-the-ground accounts of what happened here and there. Would have been nice if the book was a little longer, but it aims to be concise rather than overwritten.

Lewis also tries to be as balanced as he can be. Sure, there's room to disagree on this and that, but this is a good if not essential companion for Zep collectors keen on learning more on the band's live legacy.

I find this book to be very interesting and so full of information, I think of it as an encyclopedia for all that is Zeppelin. It's a great addition to my collection..

This book is written as a series of concert reviews but it is much more. The author describes events leading up to the concerts and, in some cases, explains why certain concerts were more important to the band's development than others.

I find the ability to follow a particular song's progress from introduction to regular part of the band's set one of the most interesting aspects of this book. If you are interested in the evolution of Led Zeppelin's live set, you will likely enjoy this book. If you're looking for a band biography, you'll probably be happier with "Hammer of the Gods" by Stephen Davis or "Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin - Uncensored" by Richard Cole with Richard Trubo more than this book.

As an avid fan of Led Zeppelin, I treasure this book. Dave Lewis has put both tremendous time and effort to create an exhausting encyclopedia of Led Zeppelin concerts throughout their history.

The concerts are broken down chronologically, by tour. Listed are the dates, locations, venues and songlists (in order) with plenty of interesting tidbits of information regarding each show (when available). Lewis offers a synopsis of each tour and details changes in songlists, equipment ... and even attire. My favorite part is the listing of the songs within songs (the changing medleys w/in marathon songs like "Dazed and Confused" and "Whole Lotta Love"). If that isn't enough, there are several informative articles that detail specific topics from the construction of "Stairway to Heaven", John Paul Jones' Mellotron to Zep's touring plane, the "Starship" (it even has a cutaway diagram of the interior).

If you are a serious collector of Led Zeppelin's live music and want a definitive resource, i heavily recommend this book. If you just plain enjoy the band and its music, this book will provide you plenty of entertainment. For serious fans, I'd also recommend Dave Lewis' other Zeppelin books: "Celebration" and "Celebration II" ... nothing I've found encompasses the band, it's music and history like these books.

This is probably the best mainstream Zeppelin concert information book available. It covers details of every concert Zeppelin (and The New Yardbirds) ever played with set lists (where available) as well as details of any significance for a particular concert. Dave Lewis and Simon Pallett also give details of concert recordings (official and unofficial) and comments on their quality. I believe the Luis Rey's book is the Zeppelin concert bible but this book is certainly a very close second and with Rey's book being quite hard to get hold of, this is an excellent substitute. My only gripe, and for which I had to deduct 1 star, is that the current format of the book is quite small, a little bigger than a CD (but much thicker). The pages are glossy and stiff and this makes the book a little difficult to read as the line length used means you have to fully open the book to read it and this gets quite tiring after reading for any length of time. A minor quibble though; overall this book is an excellent addition to any Zeppelin fan's library.

For anyone who has a modest size Zeppelin collection of live recordings this book is a must, It has an incredible breakdown of hundreds of shows including track lists and commentary on the play quality as well as remarks on Robert Plants witty commentary between songs. I found myself going back and listening too many of my bootlegs to see how the author's opinion of concerts compared to mine. It was also nice because it helped straighten out some of the songs from the compellation discs I have, correcting the perpetrators generally incorrect slip-sheet's and liner notes.

Fans today have the distinct ability that people like me did not have in the past where you can go online and download a show to see if you like them. If you are `old school' and still hunt out Led Zeppelin CD's of perhaps illegally recorded concerts and sold without the bands permission, this book is an absolute must have. I still use it as a cross reference for online research. The one and only complaint that could be leveled against this book is its format. I think the original format (size of the book) was better than the updated reprint, but my eyes are not yet bad enough to deduct a star for the fine print.

Even if you are not a collector of rare Led Zeppelin recordings this book will at least be interesting and entertaining if you are a fan of the band.

Good luck and enjoy.

As a collector of live Zeppelin recordings, this book is an indespensible tool and companion to the "archive." Well-written, detailed, and compact, it's a MUST HAVE book for any Zeppelin collector.

This is just a review abour every record Zeppelin did, not more than thay. A lot of facts but no stories.

A lot has been said for this book, so I'll keep this short. This is a must read for any Led Zeppelin fans. Even for those who are not huge fans, I think this book will show them how much of a live band Led Zeppelin was.

I consider myself a bit of a music historian, particularly as it relates to Rock Music of the late sixties and early seventies. I have certainly read everything ever written regarding Led Zeppelin and have some personal experiences with the band in various capacities.

The "Tight But Loose" Files, is an amazing resource for those interested in a detailed, first hand experience, related to the inner workings of the band during their heyday and well after.

This is certainly an excellent read, and is obviously a source for other writers who have published books on the band.