Robert Plant: 2002-09-15 Austin, TX (FLAC_SB_1 CD)

Tomorrow is the 13th anniversary of Robert Plant's appearance on the program Austin City Limits in 2002.  I like this recording because of the songs in it and Plant's vocals as well.  He still was sounding like he could have played Led Zeppelin music and it wasn't like the music he puts out today that completely changes the whole song as well as the way he sings it.

I like the song "Darkness, Darkness" and remember when I first heard him playing this one.  This isn't his best version of the song but it still sounds great in this excellent recording.

LINEAGE:
No lineage given > FLAC > me > TLH > WAV (to test for lossiness) > Audacity (to view waveform, embed metadata/track titles & info, and then to re-encode) > FLAC 8 > TLH (to check for SBE's and create and verify new ffp & md5 files) > you

DETAILS:
Artist: Robert Plant
Date: September 15th, 2002
Location: Austin, Texas
Venue: KLRU Studios
Title: Austin City Limits
Label: Bootleg Records KAS 160
Source: SB
Format: FLAC
CD's: 1
Artwork: Yes
Size: 304 MB
Length: 53:15:63

SETLIST:
01. Darkness, Darkness
02. Four Sticks
03. Down To The Sea
04. Morning Dew
05. Going To California
06. Hey, Hey What Can I Do
07. Funny In My Mind (I Believe I'm Fixin' To Die)
08. Song To The Siren
09. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
10. Robert Plant & band interview

LIN K:
(1) 2002-09-15 Austin, TX (SB)

This recording claimed to be a soundboard of the show and it may be.  But I have to wonder if it is a video rip too since most sources of this performance are just that.  I believe I have this performance on DVD myself but I haven't located it if I do.  This show was just a year after my eye surgeries and I was still barely able to see.  I wasn't doing any music trading during this time and for about three years was unable to.  So I may not have this video at all.

The waveform had no audio clipping and the artwork I found for this show indicates this was a boot label's release.  I know this artwork is the exact same source do to the song titles and their naming as well as the extra interview track at the end with Plant and his band members.

There really isn't a lot to say about this show.  I like hearing Plant doing "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" again here.  And while the songs do not sound like Led Zeppelin playing, they are played in the Led Zeppelin style and not completely reorganized to sound like whatever he is making today.

As much as I love Plant's voice, I'm not a big fan of his music in the last few years.  He made it clear he wasn't interested in doing Led Zeppelin style music anymore and even if he were interested in doing it, he doesn't have the capability to do it today.  He waited way too long to go back now.  I don't blame him one bit for doing what he likes and wants to do.  I think he should be doing what makes him happy musically.  It just doesn't make me happy musically so I seldom collect or even check out the music he is doing live nowadays anymore.

There are some of the Middle Eastern influences in this concert musically speaking.  Just like in the 1995/96 and 1998 Page and Pant shows, Robert Plant made sure these North African and Middle Eastern sounds were in the music they played.  The big difference here is there is no Jimmy Page to make the Led Zeppelin songs sound as good as they could.

Plant mentions how he delved into the vinyl era of music and put together some songs he liked and redid them.  He's been doing this for the last 15 years or so on his new releases.  Some are better than others.  But this is a good mix of a few eras of Plant's musical interest.  There is no 1980's era songs in this recording but he does go back to around 1993 and then on up through the current time frame of 2002 as well as put in a few Led Zeppelin tracks.

I sort of consider this 2002 time period to be Plant's jumping off point where he makes his move towards what he's doing nowadays.  He still had a few years of some great new songs and then the 2007 Led Zeppelin final reunion in him.  But at the age he is today, I'm pretty sure he's on the track he'll remain on and the songs will remain the same in what he is doing nowadays.

Robert Plant talks about what I am referring to in the last track interview and about his different styles and the typecasting that goes on with his voice and what people expect and what he wants to do.  And I can understand his interest in changing things up and not singing the same song for 50 years.  But I also know that I like the past, the music more specifically from it, and I am looking at things from my perspective.  I'm sure there are many people who don't even know who Led Zeppelin is (well, not many but a few) from today's generation that like his newer music.  But I also feel if he had never been with Led Zeppelin that he wouldn't be selling albums at all today.  So you can't just shun your past that made you popular and I'm not saying at all that he has.  But he needs to remember that too because there are many more Led Zeppelin fans than modern day Robert Plant and the (inset a newer band rendition name...too many to add) fans.  So be careful when you slam Led Zeppelin music and those days in interviews Robert!  It's still your bread and butter.

"Going To California" has a really nice Led Zeppelin sound to it in the way he sings the lyrics.  And so does "Hey, Hey What Can I Do" too.  But my favorite from this performance is "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You".

Just as a side note here, 27 years ago today (1988-09-14), Jimmy Page played in Austin at the Frank Erwin Center.  I believe I uploaded "sean_the_bootleggers" excellent recording of that show here in the past too.

I hope you enjoy the show...
 
Bootradr

SPECIAL NOTICE TO ALL!!!

THESE DOWNLOADS ARE FOR FREE ONLY!  NEVER BUY OR SELL ANY LEGALLY RECORDED BUT ILLEGAL TO SELL SHOWS LIKE THIS ONE.  THIS IS FOR FANS AND FUTURE FANS WHO WANT TO HEAR THE ARTIST'S MUSIC RAW & LIVE BUT NOT OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE OR RELEASED.

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO SUPPORT THE ARTISTS BY BUYING THEIR OFFICIALLY RELEASED MATERIAL TOO.

KEEP IT FREE, KEEP IT AVAILABLE, AND MOST OF ALL; KEEP IT LEGAL!!!

Robert Plant: 1993-09-18 Jacksonville, FL (FLAC_AUD Master_2 CD)

UPDATE:  I was listening to this show in the living room on the home theater system after  uploading it and realized there is a small amount of distortion in parts of the show with heavy bass (like the bass in "29 Palms").  While this show still sounds excellent, I do stand corrected in my earlier statement saying there was no distortion.  Overall, the bass is one of the things that makes this recording so great.  But the clipping of the audio is likely where the slight distortion comes in.

This is likely one of the best sounding Robert Plant audience recordings from th 1993 Fate of Nations LP/CD tour.  Thanks goes to 'Datfly" for taping and sharing the show.

The only thing not as loud and clear as the music is Plant's vocals in the recording.  Plant's vocals can be heard, but they aren't as loud as the superb sounding capture of the instruments and rest of the band.  But it doesn't ruin the show at all.  The sound probably is this way due to where the taper was positioned during the show and it looks like it was probably in front a a speaker stack (see taper's recording location notes below the lineage).

LINEAGE:
(1) Source: Sonic Studios DSM-6P > Denon DTR-80P
(2) DAT Master Transfer: DAT master > PC Optical In > WAV > CoolEdit > Normalize & downsample > CD Wave (to create tracks) > TLH > FLAC 8 & Align on ector boundaries
(3) Additional Lineage:  me > TLH > WAV (to test for lossiness) > Audacity (to view waveform, embed metadata/track titles & info, and then to re-encode) > FLAC 8 > TLH (to double check for SBE's and create and verify new ffp & md5 files) > you

Recording Location: pit next to speaker

DETAILS:
Artist: Robert Plant
Date: September 18th, 1993
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Venue: Civic Center
Title: None
Label: Datfly (taper)
Source: AUD (DAT Master)
Format: FLAC
CD's: 2
Artwork: Yes (fan created/same DAT source but different tracking)
Size: 647 MB
Length: 103:47:70

SETLIST:
CD 1:
101. intro
102. Tall Cool One
103. Ramble On
104. 29 Palms
105. I Believe
106. Thank You
107. If I Were A Carpenter
108. Going To California
109. In The Mood
110. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You

CD 2:
201. Calling To You
202. What Is and What Should Never Be
203. encore break
204. Ship Of Fools
205. Hurting Kind
206. band intro ~ encore break
207. Whole Lotta Love

LINK:
(1) 1993-09-18 Jacksonville, FL (AUD DAT Master)

When looking at the waveform of the audio it is clear that there is some clipping of the audio.  It is not anything my ears pick up and I doubt your ears will either.  It's my guess this happened from either too high of a record level or possibly from EQ'ing.  But I doubt the clipping was from EQ work because "Datfly" is a well known taper and trader/sharer and it is likely he'd have put any EQ work in the lineage.  The clipping is nothing at all to worry about since it doesn't create any distortion in the recording.  "Datfly" did an excellent job of capturing this performance over 20 years ago and it is one of the very best Robert Plant 1993 audience recordings I know of.

I believe this is one of my favorite Robert Plant solo tours also.  With a great mix of great songs, it really is a well rounded show.  I've liked the song "29 Palms" since I first heard it when it was new.  I feel the same same way about a lot of the Fate of Nations songs like "I Believe" and "If I Were A Carpenter".  That LP/CD release had a bunch of great songs on it and Robert Plant did them justice when he performed them live.

I hope you enjoy the show...

Bootradr

SPECIAL NOTICE TO ALL!!

THESE DOWNLOADS ARE FOR FREE ONLY!  NEVER BUY OR SELL ANY LEGALLY RECORDED BUT ILLEGAL TO SELL SHOWS LIKE THIS ONE.  THIS IS FOR FANS AND FUTURE FANS WHO WANT TO HEAR THE ARTIST'S MUSIC RAW & LIVE BUT NOT OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE OR RELEASED.

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO SUPPORT THE ARTISTS BY BUYING THEIR OFFICIALLY RELEASED MATERIAL TOO.

KEEP IT FREE, KEEP IT AVAILABLE, AND MOST OF ALL; KEEP IT LEGAL!!!

Robert Plant: 1993-10-28 Dallas, TX (FLAC_AUD Master_2 CD)

Here's another one coming up on its 21st Anniversary in a few days.  This is really a superb recording that has to be lowered a little to an excellent recording only because the crowd is a little chatty at times.  This is a KRW_Co. transfer of a Smores DAT master recording of the Plant 1993 Dallas Concert.  It is a very enjoyable recording and one from the Dallas Convention Center (indoors) as opposed to the old Coca Cola Starplex (outdoors) where most concerts were held (and still are...different name today) in those days and it was a little more difficult to get superb recordings from.

LINEAGE:
Casio DA-R100 DAT with Sonic Studios DSM6 microphones > DAT master (48 kHz) > DAT clone > Sony PCM R-300 DAT > Fiber Optic > Creative Soundblaster X-FI HD MODEL #SB1240 > WAV 48/16 > Magix Audio Cleaning Lab (for track marks and tape change edits) > WAV 48/16 > TLH (to endcode as FLAC 8) > me > TLH > WAV (to test for lossiness and align on sector boundaries on 44/16 copy) > Audacity (to view waveform, embed metadata/track titles & info, and then encode a 44/16 copy and re-encode a 48/16 copy) > FLAC 6 > TLH (to double check for SBE's and create and verify ffp & md5 files) > you

DETAILS:
Artist: Robert Plant
Date: October 28th, 1993
Location: Dallas, Texas
Venue: Dallas Convention Center
Title: None
Label: Smores & KRW_Co.
Source: AUD (DAT Master)
Format: FLAC
CD's: 2
Artwork: No
Size: 702 MB
Length: 115:46:075

SETLIST:
CD 1: 
101. intro
102. Tall Cool One
103. Ramble On
104. 29 Palms
105. I Believe
106. Thank You
107. If I Were A Carpenter
108. Going To California
109. Promise Land
110. In The Mood (medley)

CD 2:
201. Calling To You
202. What Is And Waht Should Never Be
203. Ship Of Fools
204. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
205. Hurting Kind (I've Got My Eyes On You)
206. Whole Lotta Love

BAND:
Robert Plant (vocals)
Michael Lee (drums)
Francis Dunnery  (guitars)
Kevin Scott MacMichael  (guitar)
Phil Johnston (keyboards & mandolin)
Charlie Jones (bass)

LINK:
(1) 1993-10-28 Dallas Master DAT

Smores recordings are from a taper that seems to have recorded tons of shows over the years.  At some point he seems to have lived in Dallas.  This is the case at least in the 1980's and 1990's I'd guess due to how many shows from these two eras in Dallas that have surfaced and were recorded by Smores.  Lately, KRW has been assisting as have other people in getting the ubcirculated Smores recordings out.  Smores' tapes seem to be getting transferred by a few people digitizing them and then sharing them on Dime putting them into circulation.  So all thanks for this recording goes to "Smores".  And a special thanks goes to KRW for assisting with so many of the transfers including this one.

I never got to see Robert Plant on this tour.  I can't recall the reason why, but I didn't.  I sure wish I had though.  The setlist to this show,with some of Plants newer songs like "29 Palms", "I Believe", then other songs from his early solo career like "In The Mood" as well as Zeppelin era tracks like "What Is And What Should Never Be" and others, made for a well rounded setlist.  And the sound captured in the show is really excellent.  It's just too bad the Dallas crowds (from my own recording experiences too) are so chatty so many times!

I hope you enjoy the show...

Bootradr

SPECIAL NOTICE TO ALL!!

THESE DOWNLOADS ARE FOR FREE ONLY!  NEVER BUY OR SELL ANY LEGALLY RECORDED BUT ILLEGAL TO SELL SHOWS LIKE THIS ONE.  THIS IS FOR FANS AND FUTURE FANS WHO WANT TO HEAR THE ARTIST'S MUSIC RAW & LIVE BUT NOT OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE OR RELEASED.

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO SUPPORT THE ARTISTS BY BUYING THEIR OFFICIALLY RELEASED MATERIAL TOO.

KEEP IT FREE, KEEP IT AVAILABLE, AND MOST OF ALL; KEEP IT LEGAL!!!

Robert Plant: 1985-09-08 London, England + Bonus Material (FLAC_SB_2 CD)

Here's an excellent sounding Plant show from a period of when I really wasn't listening to his music in the day.  It's a little different today and is has more of a nostalgic flashback effect today.  This 1985 tour showcased music from Plant's Shaken "N" Stirred LP released in 1985.  It was a little too "modern" and "dance like" musically for my taste at the time.  Oh yea!  I still own a cassette tape of it somewhere from those days and likely a CD too from later resell bins.  But they were not listened to a lot and are practically brand new too.

As I was listening to this 2 CD show yesterday, as I was trying get it uploaded on its 29th anniversary but failed to, I have to say that it was enjoyable and entertaining.  And it even had some rockin' guitar in it too.  Plant sounds great vocally.  It's definitely not Led Zeppelin and it really isn't very Robert Plant either.  And that makes it pretty unique musically because he didn't stick with singing this kind of music for long either.

LINEAGE:
Wardour silver CD's > EAC (Secure Mode/Read Offset Corrected) > WAV > xACT FLAC Level 8 (Tested) EAC logs included  > me > WAV (to test for lossiness) > Audacity (to embed metadata/song info into tracks and re-encode as FLAC) > FLAC 6 > TLH (to check for any SBE's and to create new md5 & ffp files) > you

DETAILS:
Artist: Robert Plant
Date: September 8th, 1985
Location: Birmingham, England
Venue: NEC
Source: SB
Format: FLAC
CD's: 2
Artwork: Yes (full artwork in download)
Label: Wardour
Title: Mood For A Melody
Size: 704 MB

SETLIST:
CD 1:
101. In The Mood
102. Pledge Pin
103. Pink And Black
104. Little By Little
105. Burning Down One Side
106. Too Loud
107. Thru With The Two Step

CD 2:
201. Messin' With The Mekon
202. band member introductions
203. Slow Dancer
204. Rockin' At Midnight (OFFICIALLY RELEASED/NOT ADDED TO UPLOAD)
205. Young Boy Blues

Bonus Tracks: (from 1983:12-07 Ipswitch, UK @ Gaumont Show)
206. Burning Down One Side
207. Big Log
208. All Your Love
209. Stranger Here...Than Over There

LINK:
(1) 1985-09-08 Birmingham, UK (SB)
 
As I was looking at the waveform yesterday, I noticed there is some audio clipping especially on CD 2.  I'm not sure it will even be noticeable to most people's hearing and the show still sounds excellent.  I tried making a copy using Audacity's Compressor effect but it didn't really help and it didn't sound right to me.  So I left it as is.  Had I not mentioned it here, chances are nobody would have ever even known this unless they looked at the waveform.

I have to admit that I did enjoy hearing this show yesterday.  Again, partially based on the nostalgic effect I'm sure :-)  But it was a great listen and it's a great recording to grab if for nothing other than making a collection more complete for this point and time in 'the history of Led Zeppelin' (and its members).

I hope you enjoy the concert...

Bootradr

SPECIAL NOTICE TO ALL!!

  THESE DOWNLOADS ARE FOR FREE ONLY!  NEVER BUY OR SELL ANY LEGALLY RECORDED BUT ILLEGAL TO SELL SHOWS LIKE THIS ONE.  THIS IS FOR FANS AND FUTURE FANS WHO WANT TO HEAR THE ARTIST'S MUSIC RAW & LIVE BUT NOT OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE OR RELEASED.

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO SUPPORT THE ARTISTS BY BUYING THEIR OFFICIALLY RELEASED MATERIAL TOO.

KEEP IT FREE, KEEP IT AVAILABLE, AND MOST OF ALL; KEEP IT LEGAL!!!