Previously unseen footage of Led Zeppelin has been unearthed after sitting in a drawer for 45 years. You can watch it below.
The 13-minutes of video was shot on 8mm film during the legendary band’s show at the Falkoner Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark, in July 1979. This was the second date of two warm-up gigs ahead of their final UK dates at Knebworth the following month.
- Read More: Becoming Led Zeppelin review: the definitive origin story for Britain’s most explosive band
As Louder Sound reports, the resurfaced footage was captured by fan Lennart Ström, who revealed the existence of the film last summer.
The video has since been scanned by US company Reel Revival Film and colour-corrected by The Pink Floyd Research Group. It has also been matched with an audio recording from the concert in question.
Speaking to Led Zeppelin News, Ström explained: “We brought the Super 8 camera to test a new film that would work indoors. It was no problem geting the camera in, it was quite small and I think I had it in my trousers on my back. Filming wasn’t that often done in those days. They looked more for audio equipment.”
He continued: “The gig the night before was, according to the papers, a disaster due to the electric failures that the laser had brought. So there were generators standing in the alley we passed before going in. We didn’t understand why they where there, but I remembered from the army that it was was generators. So we were of course concerned about the gig.”
Ström went on to tell the website that he had “kept this film in a drawer all [these] years”, adding: “[I] made a digital copy, not that good as the one you have done, but I cannot find it. [I] showed it to some friends, guitarists who went nuts. And that was the silent version.”
The footage – which was uploaded to the ledzepfilm YouTube channel yesterday (February 18) – features parts of ‘The Song Remains The Same’, ‘Black Dog’, ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’, ‘Over The Hills And Far Away’, ‘Misty Mountain Hop’, ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’, ‘No Quarter’, ‘Hot Dog’, ‘Rain Song’, ‘Stairway To Heaven’, ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and more.
Additionally, there is a clip of a live Jimmy Page guitar solo. Check out the full 13-minute new video above.
A description reads: “I am so excited to release 13 minutes of Super 8 film from one of Led Zeppelin’s best post-1973 shows and their last ever show in Denmark! It was a great day when my friend Mark Donahue from the Heart of Markness podcast found a comment by Lennart Ström saying he filmed this show. The rest is history!
“Special thanks to Mark and Lennart for making this happen, as well as Quazza from Reel Revival Film for the excellent scan and Nuff from @ThePFRG for the stunning colour correction.”
It added: “If you have any unearthed films, photographs, or audio recordings of Led Zeppelin, please contact me at dogsofdoomliberations@gmail.com.”
The footage follows the release of Becoming Led Zeppelin, the first official documentary film about the band. The authorised project includes more unearthed live clips of the group. See the trailer above.
In a four-star review, NME hailed the doc as “the definitive origin story for Britain’s most explosive band”. It read: “For those who never saw Led Zeppelin live, the early concert footage alone is worth coming to see.”
Back in 2022, unearthed footage of a 1970 Led Zep gig in LA was restored and shared online. This came shortly after rare video of the group’s most iconic concerts – held at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1970 – was rediscovered and uploaded to the internet.
In recent news, Jimmy Page has called the reaction to Becoming Led Zeppelin “humbling and inspiring”.
Director Bernard MacMahon said: “The cinematic power of IMAX paired with the film’s authentic sound creates an immersive and transportive viewing experience letting audiences feel like they are there, in the venues with the band.”
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