Was this a false start by Bonzo?

Jules, he might have been trying to settle the nerves with a bit of silliness. It wasn't even within cooee of the usual arrangement.

The only way I can imagine a player of his calibre being so far off is if he'd engaged in copious amounts of nerve reduction activities before the concert... which I guess is possible.
 
It wasn't even within cooee of the usual arrangement.

That version of the song is a great example of just how much they changed over the years. I guess their willingness to play their own material differently each night, over a ten year period, lead to a natural evolution of that track. The two versions of Whole Lotta Love from that Zepp DVD, from Albert Hall in '70 and then Knebworth nearly 10 years later, couldn't be more different. Quite common really. Check more recent versions of things like Brown Sugar or It's Only Rock 'n Roll by the Stones etc.....a far cry from what they started out as.

As for the "nerve reduction".....well, he was doing that up until and including the day he died. Not only possible, but I'd go one further and say more or less expected.
 
Probably hammered on vodka. While Page was smacked up. And had hardly played together for ages by Knebworth.

I love early Zep but by this time they were in a bad place with all the substance abuse, violence etc that had gone on.
 
I'd use the word nervous. They were as nervous as they'd ever been....all of 'em.

Remember it was their first major gig for two years. Their "comeback" if you will. They weren't sure how they'd be received or if the fans would still think them relevant. They hadn't been sighted on any real scale since the US tour of '77 that was abandonded when Plant's son died.

Knebworth ended up being a triumph for them.....but at the beginning of that first number, they really didn't know how it would go down. It's little wonder you can see it in his face.

Every chance it was a mistake. First time on stage together in a couple of years.....no doubt they might have been a little rusty, regardless of prior rehearsals. But then again, knowing how they changed stuff up, there's also every chance he was just mixing it up a bit too.

Don't forget the massive size of the audience at that concert! That's enough to make even the most seasoned professional a bit nervous.
 
This was not a mistake on Bonzo's part. However, I do believe that Page had no idea it was going to happen.

Bonham came in right where he wanted to. He was revving the bands engine before he let out the clutch on the Christmas tree double green lights.
 
What I love about live DVDs or CDs are seeing how differently the band plays any given song versus how they recorded it. I love live stuff. I like to hear that kind of stuff.

When we invite our friends over for dinner, we almost always retire to the den to watch a live concert DVD. My friend (a great singer) and I love to see the bands perform things different than the original song. The wives want to hear it exactly as it was recorded. This must be a Venus vs. Mars deal..... :)
 
I'm curious why he stopped and didn't just keep playing.
 
I could be wrong but doesn't he repeat the lick at 1:20?
I was thinking that maybe it was an inside thing but also to telagraph the meter as it is different than what I have heard before. Great sound on the video.

Thanks
 
A Bonzo's starts are never false, nor are they early. He starts precisely when he means to.
 
A Bonzo...lol

It's fun to conjecture about this stuff.

It could have been....He hadn't played live for so long with these guys, maybe he needed to "rev the engine" before driving away lol. Maybe he wanted a little attention too.

Testosterone combined with adrenalin of that magnitude must be hard to contain. Maybe he was saying, "I'm gonna kick you in the ass tonight" Low T? I don't think so lol.

After playing/hearing that song so many times, he preferred to hear the added part, the natural evolution of a song, and more importantly, how the musicians feel for the song matures over time.

If it really was a mis-step, he covered it so good, that I can't tell.
 
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