"Final Earl's Court '75" Video Review

["Chris Gust" <gusto929@xxxxxxx>]

Crap!!  I just realized that I sent out my Earl's Court video review in HTML
text, which will probably turn out like shit on the FBO digest.  Here is a
plain text version.  Sorry about that, Bob, and all readers!!

- -----------------------------

I received a few days ago the new version of the May 24, 1975 Earl's Court
video, released by the Japanese Celebration label on a double VHS set and
titled "Final Earl's Court '75". I have viewed it a couple of times and have
a few thoughts on it, if anyone's interested.

The bootleggers claim that a 140-minute NEW source is used and the infamous
Holy Eye "Physical Rocket" DVD version is used to fill the missing gaps. I
can confirm that, yes, a new source is used, which I estimate as being about
135 minutes, out of a total length of 175 minutes.

The tape begins immediately with the opening crashes of "Rock and Roll" (no
introduction) and the Holy Eye version is used for the first two minutes or
so until the new source begins. The new source requires some adjustment with
the video settings on your television to fully enjoy it, as it is dark
(again; I suspect the master is even dark) and the color is way over
saturated. I found that if you tweak your brightness, contrast, and lower
your color settings on your TV, the picture quality becomes (IMO) as good as
the Knebworth video in common circulation today and hugely enjoyable (again,
IMO). I'm not an expert, but it seems to be about 4th gen footage, much
better than the Holy Eye footage overall.

However, the thing that strikes me is the audio quality of the new
footage... BRILLIANT HI-FI STEREO that far exceeds the sound quality of any
bootleg CD version of this show. You can hear every ping and tic on Bonzo's
cymbals in professional quality. If anyone is familiar with Celebration's
"Odysseus" CD set, the sound quality on the new video source is similar to
the sound on "Trampled", "Moby Dick" and the first 5 minutes of D&C.  I
should point out, though, that sometimes the audio slips to "low-fi" quality
during areas with brief tracking problems.

BUT, here's the kicker...whoever was responsible for releasing/selling this
new video source to the bootleggers (purposely?) sabotaged each song by
cutting out 5-10 seconds in the middle of nearly every song (exceptions
being "Tangerine" & TU) . Celebration used the Holy Eye DVD source to
seamlessly patch all of these missing pieces (however the change in sound
quality is very noticeable during these small patches). Also, midway through
Jonsey's piano solo during "No Quarter" to the end of the song (15 minutes)
are missing on this new source, as well as from the beginning of the bow
solo on D&C through the first 5 minutes of STH (25 minutes). Again, the Holy
Eye source was used the fill these huge gaps but the sound quality of D&C
from the original Holy Eye source is very poor and a stark contrast to the
pro sound quality of the new source.

There is some footage presented in the new source, which was missing on the
Holy Eye DVD, including Plant's speech prior to D&C about "The New
 Yardbirds" and "Jimmy Page coming out of the closet" (which sparks a
reaction from JP). Also, we can see Bonzo wander to the microphone at the
foot of the stage (in his blue robe) and make his "Football is a load of
bollocks" comment prior to the encores. He! He!

The video cassettes are nifty clear shells, instead of the usual black, and
come housed in a white double plastic case with professional artwork
featuring the Earl's Court logo and a pictures of the individual band
members tinted white and red on the front cover (I noticed that "Bron-Y-Aur
Stomp" is missing from the song listing on the back cover). It is an
extremely nice set, and one that I'm pleased to own, even though it is
faaaaaaaaar from perfect. The audio quality of the new footage almost makes
it worth the price alone, IMO, and it is nice to watch a single upgraded
source for 75% of the show, instead of a patchwork of different sources of
varying quality from song to song, which the Holy Eye DVD is infamous for.

The set also came with a single individually-numbered audio CD (mine is #
010), containing soundboard tracks from the next night, May 25; TSRTS, RS,
Kashmir, NQ, and Tangerine. TSRTS and RS are new to CD but Celebration used
heavy noise reduction on these tracks and they basically sound like crap.

So there you have it; the first Earl's Court video "upgrade". I'm sure
someone will soon issue a new ultra-deluxe audio CD set with the upgraded
audio source (that the bootleg dealers will probably sell for $250). Now, I
wonder what the next video "upgrade" will contain in the months ahead (and
if I'll be gullible enough to run out and purchase it). :-0

Regards to all,
~Chris G.

P.S. Please note that I do not want to be flooded with B&P requests for
copies of this video at the moment.  I paid my hundred smacks for it and I
want to get my money's worth from any potential trades. At present, the only
thing that I'm looking for is the 170 minute version of the Seattle 7/17/77
video and possibly the upgraded 8mm footage of MSG 6/10/77 (Hello Kevin!).