Sunday, January 27, 2008

Day 27: 8/18/1969 (evening) Toronto, Ontario

8/18/1969 (evening) Toronto, Ontario (master>dat)
Train Kept a Rollin', I Can't Quit You Baby, Dazed and Confused, White Summer/Black Mountain Side, You Shook Me, How Many More Times, Communication Breakdown

Page and Plant go wild during an excellent I Can't Quit You Baby. Plant mentions the band getting hassled in San Antonio, Texas. Whistles from the crowd echo Page's string slaps during an epic bow solo in Dazed and Confused. Bonzo is an explosion during the guitar solo. An awe-inspiring 11-minute White Summer/Black Mountain Side is followed by a very heavy You Shook Me. Bonzo mounts an all-out assault, his drums sound like cannon fire. Plant exclaims "oh fuck!" after failing to hit a high note during the extended outro, full of adlibs and soloing.

Plant loses himself in laughter during the band introductions at the beginning of How Many More Times. He introduces Page on "as many chicks as he can find." Bonzo grabs the mic to introduce Plant as "straight from the labour club." Page throws some Over Under Sideways Down licks into the guitar solo. The medley includes bits of Salty Dog and Walter Davis's I Think You Need a Shot during an excellent boogie. Plant relays a strange comedic story about being tied up and grifted during the "got you in the sights..." section. Bonzo delivers a short drum solo during the finale. Several shouted requests are granted with a riotous Communication Breakdown, which features a brief rendition of Lee Dorsey's Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On) following Jones's bass solo. An excellent performance, must hear.

The tape is clear and enjoyable with some distortion from Jones's bass.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jan 27, 2008
1969-08-18, Evening Show, Toronto, Canada "Absolutely Gems" (Sanctuary)
Much better sounding show. Starts out with Train Kept A Rollin' and the I Can't Quit You Baby. Sound is balanced and fairly clean. Dazed and Confused is next, then Page on White Summer. You Shook Me, How Many More Times, and Communication Breakdown finishes out the show. The bass solo in Communication is distorted but overall a good listen, worthy of putting in heavy rotation.

Nou Dadoun said...

I was at this show, it was at the Masonic Temple (known for a little while in 1969 as the Rock Pile) at the corner of Davenport and Yonge Street. It was very hot and many people were wandering in and out and hanging out on the fire escapes. Epic show (Love to get a recording of it!).. N

dragonspirit said...

While it's nice to hear Robert's voice recover as compared to earlier shows in the tour, I don't like his performance that much in this show. Jimmy has a great night. Bonzo has a good night as well. It's a nice, loose show with some great moments.