Led Zeppelin: The Concert File

by Dave Lewis, Simon Pallett

At their peak, Led Zeppelin's gigantic rock shows outsold every other band on the planet, and this celebratory guide features every detail of their remarkable career. Originally published in 1977, this is much more than a reference book. Led Zeppelin were the quintessential live rock act, setting the blueprint for rock and metal that has barely changed since. This book unfolds the Zeppelin saga from their beginnings on the London club scene, through the ballrooms of America and on to the record-breaking tours, private jets and legends of debauchery. This long-awaited update includes An accurate guide to exactly when and where the quartet played Reviews, recollections and on-stage comments that add fresh perspective to the legends and myths Masses of rare ticket stubs, flyers, posters and photos Full details of all major TV and radio appearances Extensive bootleg and visual film references Solo appendices bringing the whole story right up to date.

Genres: Music

374 pages, Paperback

First published November 17, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base. For the Welsh writer, please see Dave Lewis.

Reviews

[Dachokie · Rating 5 out of 5]

an excellent resource, July 28, 2008

As an avid fan of Led Zeppelin, I treasure this book. Dave Lewis has put both tremendous time and effort to create an exhausting encyclopedia of Led Zeppelin concerts throughout their history.

The concerts are broken down chronologically, by tour. Listed are the dates, locations, venues and songlists (in order) with plenty of interesting tidbits of information regarding each show (when available). Lewis offers a synopsis of each tour and details changes in songlists, equipment ... and even attire. My favorite part is the listing of the songs within songs (the changing medleys w/in marathon songs like "Dazed and Confused" and "Whole Lotta Love"). If that isn't enough, there are several informative articles that detail specific topics from the construction of "Stairway to Heaven", John Paul Jones' Mellotron to Zep's touring plane, the "Starship" (it even has a cutaway diagram of the interior).

If you are a serious collector of Led Zeppelin's live music and want a definitive resource, i heavily recommend this book. If you just plain enjoy the band and its music, this book will provide you plenty of entertainment. For serious fans, I'd also recommend Dave Lewis' other Zeppelin books: "Celebration" and "Celebration II" ... nothing I've found encompasses the band, it's music and history like these books.

[Aileen Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an extremely informative book, the kind of thing that a fan interested in detailed Led Zeppelin trivia should enjoy poring over. Unfortunately, the whole book is littered with spelling and grammatical mistakes, which can get kind of annoying for an author who has just recently been editing a book! And for a real fan, some of the critical opinions of the group as quoted in the book range from annoying, ridiculous, and hurtful. But the multitude of pictures are a real bonus!

[Roy]

Dave Lewis is the man to read on Zeppelin , having seen the band , and having his excellent ' tight but loose ' mag and website . This is a complete concert diary from beginning to end . This version , small format replaces the original larger format book from the nineties