Led Zep's Celebration Day: My Verdict

[Andre Marc]

I have the 24/48 Celebration Day download.

My verdict:

The performance is high energy. Excellent interplay between the three surviving members
and hats off to Jason Bonham.

The recording: Not very good. Very reverby, and rather thin sounding. Too cavernous. I am disappointed.

I was expecting more since I have had soundboard recordings of the rehearsals for several years now
and they sound better

As a side note, I bought a few of the Robert Plant 24/48 soundboards from his South American tour last month
from livedownloads.com, and they sound much, much better.

 

[rbbert]

Did you notice that most of the unofficial rehearsal recordings cut out a distorted part of Dazed and Confused which is on the official release (at around the 5 min mark)

 

[Andre Marc]

Did you notice that most of the unofficial rehearsal recordings cut out a distorted part of Dazed and Confused which is on the official release (at around the 5 min mark)

No, I will have to go back and compare.

To be honest I doubt CB will be cued up too many more times. It is a decent document of a one off event.

I am waiting for the video to hit Palladia.

 

[rockitman]

My verdict:

The performance is high energy. Excellent interplay between the three surviving members
and hats off to Jason Bonham.

The recording: Not very good. Very reverby, and rather thin sounding. Too cavernous. I am disappointed.

I was expecting more since I have had soundboard recordings of the rehearsals for several years now
and they sound better

As a side note, I bought a few of the Robert Plant 24/48 soundboards from his South American tour last month
from livedownloads.com, and they sound much, much better.

This is the consistent live sound mix that is evident in my recordings of the Page and Plant tours of 1995 and 1996. Blame the sound engineer's preference.

 

[Bill Hart]

This is the consistent live sound mix that is evident in my recordings of the Page and Plant tours of 1995 and 1996. Blame the sound engineer's preference.

This was the 02 show, right? If so, I was there. The sound wasn't bad, but it's a pretty huge venue, like going to an indoor stadium. What impressed was how tight they were, and how good the performances were; it was a joy to see them playing together and sound good (as I had mentioned to Christian, I had seen them at a couple of awards shows over the years, and they sounded terrible, including at the R&R Hall of Fame event when it was obvious that JPJones had been shunted aside).
Jason Bonham is a great drummer. He's on one of the earlier Joe Bonamassa albums, and really makes the record.
The crowd energy was also fabulous. Everybody was really, really pleased to be there. We flew over just to take in the show and spent some time hanging in London for a few days, saw some friends, had some great meals (London has become a serious food town in the last decade or so), and had a memorable trip.

 

[Andre Marc]

This is the consistent live sound mix that is evident in my recordings of the Page and Plant tours of 1995 and 1996. Blame the sound engineer's preference.

Don't know if I agree there. I saw them on that tour and in 98 and it sounded fabulous.

I also have about a dozen soundboard and FM recordings from that tour...they are much more immediate.

 

[Andre Marc]

This was the 02 show, right? If so, I was there. The sound wasn't bad, but it's a pretty huge venue, like going to an indoor stadium. What impressed was how tight they were, and how good the performances were; it was a joy to see them playing together and sound good (as I had mentioned to Christian, I had seen them at a couple of awards shows over the years, and they sounded terrible, including at the R&R Hall of Fame event when it was obvious that JPJones had been shunted aside).
Jason Bonham is a great drummer. He's on one of the earlier Joe Bonamassa albums, and really makes the record.
The crowd energy was also fabulous. Everybody was really, really pleased to be there. We flew over just to take in the show and spent some time hanging in London for a few days, saw some friends, had some great meals (London has become a serious food town in the last decade or so), and had a memorable trip.

I totally believe you. Some events you just have to be there. And from what I understand the 02 is pretty cavernous, so maybe
difficult to record.

As a recorded product, the event is sub par, strictly on a technical level. I think watching the performance in multichannel might be the ticket.

 

[rbbert]

Although the recorded sound is better than on any other LZ live releases (at least those available in digital form; don't know for sure about the Song Remains the Same LP versions)

 

[edorr]

I totally believe you. Some events you just have to be there. And from what I understand the 02 is pretty cavernous, so maybe
difficult to record.

As a recorded product, the event is sub par, strictly on a technical level. I think watching the performance in multichannel might be the ticket.

I just played the MCH Blu Ray yesterday, it it is a very decent recording. It is not the last word in transparency and clarity, but the drums come through very well and the mix is quite well balanced. It was good enough for me to focus exclusively on the artistic content and not worry about sample rates.

I have a George Michel recording from the O2 which sounds better, so I don't think the venue is the limiting factor for SQ. I just don't think they set up the event with the intent of releasing a very good sounding recording.

For the record, one of my favourite Page / Plant recordings is "No Quarter", recorded with the Hossam Ramzy ensemble in Marrakesh. Again, recorded well enough no to distract from the artistic content.

 

[Andre Marc]

Although the recorded sound is better than on any other LZ live releases (at least those available in digital form; don't know for sure about the Song Remains the Same LP versions)

That is questionable. The only other official releases I can remember are The Song Remains the Same, How The West Was Won, and BBC.

I definitely have boots that sound better.

 

[Andre Marc]

I just played the MCH Blu Ray yesterday, it it is a very decent recording. It is not the last word in transparency and clarity, but the drums come through very well and the mix is quite well balanced. It was good enough for me to focus exclusively on the artistic content and not worry about sample rates.

I have a George Michel recording from the O2 which sounds better, so I don't think the venue is the limiting factor for SQ. I just don't think they set up the event with the intent of releasing a very good sounding recording.

For the record, one of my favourite Page / Plant recordings is "No Quarter", recorded with the Hossam Ramzy ensemble in Marrakesh. Again, recorded well enough no to distract from the artistic content.

I can see the MC mix being interesting.

No Quarter is downright excellent and daring.

 

[edorr]

I can see the MC mix being interesting.

No Quarter is downright excellent and daring.

There is this moment somewhere halfway in "Four Sticks" when the Ramzy's rhythm section comes in which is sheer musical delight. Also proof you don't need the high rez Blu Ray formats for excellent surround sound.