Live Showcase with Little E
Reviews
Led Zeppelin - Bertha Blues
Led Zeppelin - Best Of Tour 1973
Van Halen - CharloTTomic Punks
Van Halen - CharloTTomic Punks...Remastered
Van Halen - Zero
Van Halen - Zero
1976Studio
Source: Soundboard (Studio)
How Acquired: Torrent listed at Dime
Technically not a live recording, Zero is a ROIO version of Van Halen's mega-popular demo tape from 1976. This recording, known by some as the "Gene Simmons Demos" is a must have for any serious Van Halen junkie. Not only do we get to hear some classic songs from early Van Halen albums, but we get a glimpse at some early versions of songs that would appear much later in their discography.
Before the album Van Halen was even a possibility, there was Zero (see the logic behind the name now?), which as far as quality is concerned could pass for an official release with very little effort. Just throw this puppy on a mixing board with a professional sound engineer and this could be a remastered gem.
Some songs you've heard before:
- "On Fire" - This is the perfect opening track. Full of raw energy.
- "House On Pain" - Debuts here 8 years before it shows up on 1984. The best song on the CD.
- "Runnin' With The Devil" - Awesome rendition. A bit different than the official version; it starts off with the chorus. Played at a quicker tempo too.
- "Somebody Get Me A Doctor" - This may be better than the official release.
While some you have not:
- "Woman In Love" - Great tune. References to losing a girl to another girl show up later in "Women In Love" on Van Halen II
- "She's The Woman" - Structurally this is "Mean Street", just with different lyrics. Terrific.
- "Let's Get Rockin'" and the rest - All good tunes. Some better than others.
Overall, you can tell this is 100% Van Halen, but Roth's voice is a bit more subdued than we'd hear later on. He hasn't quite developed his trademark squeal yet. Eddie is flawless, if not a bit conservative. He is solid, but again, that trademark sound we're used to hearing isn't here. The same goes for Alex. One of the best things about this session is that you can actually hear Michael Anthony. His bass isn't lost in the mix and without him, this band is just a B instead of an A+. Seriously.
NotesSample
House Of Pain (.flac)
Rating (Sound Quality): 9.5
Rating (Performance): 9.5
Overall Rating: 9.5
Van Halen - CharloTTomic Punks...Remastered
2007-09-27Charlotte Bobcats Arena, Charlotte, NC, USA
Source: Audience
How Acquired: Torrent listed at Dime
Well, that didn't take long. Not only has the trading community been blessed with an outstanding recording of this show, brought to us by the recording guru, Steecoe, but we now have the first "remastered" version of this show. Let's reset things a minute so that we all understand just how heavy this is and what it means to the trading community...
First, we have an outstanding...simply outstanding!...quality audience recording from the opening night of this historic tour, released to the trading community within days of the show. Now, we have a "remastered" version of this incredible recording released within days of the initial release! But is this "remastered" version worth the download? In a word...Absolutely!
Some folks may have an issue with some of the "remastering" work that goes on, sometimes very quickly, within the ROIO community. And sometimes those raising the issues have some valid points. However in this case, the "remastering" work does nothing but help bring out the great capture of sound of the original recording.
Remastered by Chuckness and posted on Dime on October 10, this version is now the one to beat. The high end has been brought up, the vocals seem more prevalent, the entire sound is more "in your face." It now sounds more like a soundboard recording than ever before (as if we thought that was possible!). You can be sure that there will be plenty of remastering attempts on this particular show yet to come. It is such a great performance and the original recording is so top notch that it will be hard for all of those engineers out there to keep their hands off of this one.
So thanks to Steecoe and Chuckness for this gem. We can only hope we come across more commmunity members like these two. Great work indeed.
Check out the Notes file below for a complete description of the history of this recording. Also below are the same two tracks that were included in the review of the original recording. Download each of them and compare. Feel free to let us know what you think.
NotesSamples
Atomic Punk (.flac)
Mean Street (.flac)
Rating (Sound Quality): 9.5
Rating (Performance): 9
Overall Rating: 9
Van Halen - CharloTTomic Punks
2007-09-27Charlotte Bobcats Arena, Charlotte, NC, USA
Source: Audience
How Acquired: Torrent listed at Dime
There is really only one word to describe this recording: Outstanding. Out of the small number of bootlegs to surface (quickly!) from Van Halen's 2007 tour, this is the one to get. Not only is it from the tour's opening night, the quality of this audience recording is one of the best I've ever heard. It is so very close to sounding like a soundboard tape...so, so close. Hell, after hearing this, most casual fans will think they're hearing an official live release. Outstanding quality from the recorder, Steecoe.
So enough about the quality of the recording. Let's talk about how the boys sound! I mean, this is 3/4 of the original Van Halen here! OK, so they have said that this is not a reunion tour, but in fact another full-fledged version of the band. Yeah, yeah...we hear you say that David, but we all know what the attraction is here for the millions of VH fans around the world. This is a Diamond Dave rendition of VH. For all intents and purposes this is a reunion tour.
We could talk for days about the semantics of the tour itself. Let's talk about the performance already!
Simply put...These guys fucking rock.
The performance is not perfect. But it releases so much pent up energy that has accumulated over the last twenty-three years that this show is nothing short of spectacular. David Lee Roth's voice is not what it once was. He doesn't hit the high notes as he did in his youth, but he shouldn't at this point...He's 53 years old for Christ's sake. As expected, his voice has changed. But he has no problems carrying the load during this show. None at all.
Eddie is on fire here. I don't think he had lost anything over the years. I think Diamond Dave may have been right when he said during the press conference that he has never sounded better.
Alex is steady as hell...as usual. His Bonham-like solo is top notch and he proves here that he is one of the greatest drummers who ever lived. Absolutely brilliant electronic enhancements during the solo. Still one of of my idols.
And then there is the new bassist, Wolfgang Van Halen. Honestly, I was looking to be disappointed with him. But I wasn't. His vocals, which I thought would be a sore spot, are pretty darn good here.
From what I understand, this is nearly the complete show. The recorder had some setup issues during the opening song, "You Really Got Me". However, this is the best version you'll likely ever hear of this show, short of an official release. And all of the classics are here: "Runnin' With The Devil", "Unchained", "Atomic Punk", "And The Cradle Will Rock...", "Jump", "Little Guitars" and much more. Over two hours of total Metal bliss. Grab it while you can.
Bottom line: So far, this is the recording to get from this historical tour. Get your Dime account and download this bad boy. An outstanding recording of a veteran band playing full blown, hard driving classic Hard Rock and Metal the way is was meant to be played...With energy and a love for the music.
Van Halen, you are as good as you ever were. Welcome back.
NotesSamples
Atomic Punk (.flac)
Mean Street (.flac)
Rating (Sound Quality): 9 (only because it is Audience!)
Rating (Performance): 9
Overall Rating: 9
Led Zeppelin - Best Of Tour 1973
1973 (Various Dates)Various Venues
Source: Soundboard
How Acquired: Torrent listed at Tapecity
Best Of Tour 1973 is a compilation of various Led Zeppelin live recordings during two of their three tours that took place in 1973. Actually, there are only two tracks in this 2-CD set that are not from their 9th US tour.
For those of you not familiar with Led Zeppelin's live work in 1973, let's just say that it was not their best year. I could go on for quite a while discussing why and how Led Zeppelin, at that time the world's greatest Supergroup, was not at their peak in 1973...but I'll save that for another time. Most people who know anything at all about Led Zeppelin know that they released the motion picture/concert movie, The Song Remains The Same, and that their performances in that film, taken from Madison Square Garden at the end of the 1973 US tour, was lacking, to say the least. It's really a shame that the casual Rock & Roll fan may have allowed this film to taint and dictate their view of how one of the greatest live bands ever sounded on stage during the duration of their career. Simply put, The Song Remains The Same specifically and 1973 in general are not the defining moments for live Led Zeppelin. Not even close.
It's safe to say that a majority of Led Zeppelin's available 1973 performances sound pretty similar and a bit too much like the movie soundtrack. This is not a good thing as, at least in my opinion, most of these performances lack some of the excitement and attitude that the band exhibited during previous tours and especially later on throughout 1975 and 1977. However, the one great thing about the 1973 tours, especially the US tour, is that there are a lot of soundboard recordings available. So we do get to hear some pretty good sound, even though some of the performances are somewhat lackluster.
With all of that being said, there are a few nice performances on Best Of Tour 1973, which features a total of seventeen tracks (representing an entire setlist), over eight different dates and venues.
Most notable are the three tracks from Mobile, Alabama: "No Quarter" is, as usual, superb, while "The Song Remains The Same" and "The Rain Song" may be some of Led Zeppelin's best work during the '73 US tour, thanks in large part to Bonzo. The two tracks from Oxford, England, "Dancing Days" and "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp", are also good performances, although the sound quality from this venue is not as good as the rest of the songs in the compilation.
The songs from Forth Worth, Texas, including "Rock And Roll" and "Black Dog" are really just average performances and of the variety that we've heard from other shows during the US tour. There's really nothing special here, other than the fact that we get to hear Plant insult the crowd, which is really quite funny (the full show unveils yet a few more insults from Plant). The same average performances can be seen in the Seattle, Washington tunes as well.
Disc two includes tracks from Buffalo and New York City, New York, as well as New Orleans and Chicago. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that Plant's voice during the Chicago show, represented by "Heartbreaker" and "Whole Lotta Love", is completely shot. I'm really surprised they didn't call the show off and refund money to those in attendance. Seriously. But we do get to see Zeppelin at their not-so-good-at-all, a state in which every great band has gone through as some point in their career, and Robert Plant's determination to give the people what they came for.
Overall, Best Of Tour 1973 is an interesting compilation. If you are looking for a complete CD set of the best of live Led Zeppelin, whether from 1973 or otherwise, this is not the CD to pick up. However, if you only want an overview of what 1973 was all about for Zeppelin, this is not a bad compilation to have in the library. Indeed, we get it all here: Good, average, not so great, and downright ugly.
NotesSamples
No Quarter (.flac)
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp (.flac)
Rating (Sound Quality): 8 - 9.5
Rating (Performance): 5 - 8
Overall Rating: 7.75
Led Zeppelin - Bertha Blues
1975-02-16
Missouri Arena, St. Louis, MO, USA
Source: Soundboard
How Acquired: Torrent listed at
Tapecity
Let me get this out of the way. A high percentage of discussion here will relate to my favorite rock band, Led Zeppelin. Not only did my love for collecting live recordings come out of my love for Led Zeppelin, but it also came out of the fact that there is a plethora of Led Zeppelin live recordings out there. Collecting live Led Zeppelin is addicting. There's plenty of shows to collect and it never gets boring. And thanks to the efforts of fans themselves to make some of the classic recordings sound better than ever, we often get to hear "that same old show" by LZ in a different light every few months or so.
Bertha Blues is an outstanding recording. Led Zeppelin's performance here, which was a mere eight days prior to the release of the epic Physical Graffiti, is absolutely top notch and the sound quality here is as good, if not better, than some officially released live recordings I've heard from other bands. I have a soft spot in my heart for the 1975 shows and this has got to be one of the best recordings from 1975 in existence. The remaster work here is quite impressive. It sounds 100% professional. Too bad the band didn't have an opportunity to release this recording for some sort of movie soundtrack instead of the 1973 NYC shows found on The Song Remains The Same. The performace of the band here is so much better. One can easily tell that Plant's voice is still showing the effects of him coming down with the flu during this tour, which is the reason this St. Louis show was originally postponed. But his voice continually gets better throughout the show. This is one make-up show I wouldn't have minded waiting for in order to attend.
Why is this named Bertha Blues? The "Bertha Remasters" are a mainstay with collectors of The Grateful Dead live performances. Yes, you heard me right... we have The Grateful Dead and their fans to thank for this one! Check out the Notes for a complete history of this recording.
NotesSample
Kashmir (.flac)
Rating (Sound Quality): 10
Rating (Performance): 8.5
Overall Rating: 9.25