Re: The crap that isn't FBO... (SZC)

[Trent Thornton <blisstrent@xxxxxxxxx>]

> yeah, that useless FBO.

Well, speaking as a contributor to many of FBO's problems in the distant past, 
I can say that this is an awesome list full of awesome folks with unbelievably 
awesome taste in favorite bands.  If I were to see someone bad mouth the list 
elsewhere on the ol' intarweb, I'd speak up to defend our honor.

I would add to Nech's remarks that I can't think of any too many other sources 
where something like the TimD series freely shares overlooked gems with the 
fans on such a selfless basis.  Plus, it sounds to me like Bob works the crap 
out of himself keeping this list up and running without too much in the way of 
thanks or appreciation.  He's great, the mods are great, what's not to like 
about FBO?

I wish I could throw in a boot review to make this post a little more worth 
reading but I haven't listened to anything new lately.  Instead, I'll just say 
that whatever problems were going on backstage, the 1977 tour doesn't get tons 
love in my observation.  A smattering of SB releases last year seems to have 
balanced some of the criticism a little bit but every now and then you get 
someone whining about the extended solos and whatnot.

That's always been a strange complaint to me since Zep did it better than most, 
which is saying something since obscenely long solos were a big part of what 
rock music was all about during that period.  I'm no huge fan of them myself 
but I won't begrudge Zep for it as they'd earned the right years earlier.  
Separate from all that, I'd peg the '77 tour as being mostly better (on 
average) in a performance sense than the preceding '75 US tour, wrought as it 
was with illnesses, injuries and Plant's voice being shot more often than not.

Those things happened less frequently when the '77 tour kicked off.  Given the 
level of performance the band achieved coupled with the totally absurd ticket 
sales, Peter Grant was right to wonder just how much bigger this sucker could 
possibly have gotten.

A retreat a la 1980's Euro tour was likely inevitable at some point, but it's 
tantalizing to think what might've been achieved with a 1978 Euro tour with 
perhaps more selections from Presence.  The sad reality is that Presence is as 
overlooked as it is because the band never really promoted it on the road.  If 
they'd had a chance to open things up a little bit more, I think history would 
have a different outlook on all things Presence... and, indeed, all things 1977.

- Trent