Originally Posted by barbeler:
“Led Zeppelin at Knebworth. Jimmy Page was completely out of tune and seemed to be playing different songs to the rest of the band.”
+1 for Jimmy Page. I was at Knebworth too and it wasn't that he was out of tune, he was just dreadful (see 2nd clip below). I also saw Led Zep at Ally Pally in the early 70s and Jimmy was brilliant. It seems his heroin addiction really took over around 75/76 and it permanently destroyed his playing. Even before Bonzo died Jimmy was a spent force as Knebworth shows, and he's never been able to get anywhere near the performance level of the early 70s since.
To illustrate my point, here are 2 clips of the same song, The Song Remains The Same, the first from 1973 (from their US Tour, not long after I saw them at Ally Pally) and the second from 1979 (Knebworth).
1973:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m2FhRv8xF0
Jimmy is brilliant here.. He's got the lot; speed, precision, originality and, above all, musicality. There are so many highlights but, for instance, there's the traditional style lead solo (ie, 2:48 to 2:57) but also a very original and rapid arpeggio solo (3:08 to 3:17).
Compare that with the same song from
Knebworth 79:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtBCUeLr9wg
Very sad. Jimmy is, quite simply, dreadful. All the lead solos have gone and he struggles even to play chords, and when he attempts the arpeggio solo at 2:49 to 2:59 all he can manage is a succession of out of time bum notes, and his laughter suggests he too realises how bad he is. 4:10 to 4:20 is even worse, in fact, embarrassingly bad, as if someone has picked up a guitar for the first time and is just messing around.
Apparently, according to Jimmy, the excessive drug taking and general over indulgence really started on the 73 US tour and he says he remembers very little about it. That would suggest he was not at his best in the 73 clip above, which makes his brilliance even more remarkable.