11/2/1969 Toronto, Ontario Beast of TorontoGood Times Bad Times/Communication Breakdown, I Can't Quit You Baby, Heartbreaker, Dazed and Confused, White Summer/Black Mountain Side, Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, Moby Dick
The tape begins with Plant telling the crowd "it's great to be back in Toronto." It's obvious from the first few bars of Good Times Bad Times/Communication Breakdown that something special is going on. Plant is over the top, shouting repeatedly as the breakdown begins. Page, Jones, and Bonzo couldn't be tighter as Plant sings about his bluebird. His wailing intro to I Can't Quit You Baby sounds effortlessly powerful. Jones's wandering bassline is the perfect groundwork for Page's wild soloing.
Plant jokes with the crowd about the band's intention to play as much of "Led Zeppelin Four" as possible. The intro to Heartbreaker sends a chill down the spine. An excellent a cappella solo has Page breaking the Led Zeppelin II mold and improvising some licks that are pure electricity, causing Plant to declare "amen!" at the conclusion. Dazed and Confused is a dynamic journey, the guitar solo stretches beyond all limits. Plant improvises new lyrics during the final verse. There is a cut in the tape just before Plant introduces another excellent White Summer/Black Mountain Side. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You is back and more powerful than ever. Plant delivers an especially heartfelt performance, including references to Ramble On as Page plays some interesting staccato passages. The tape ends with Moby Dick, which is unfortunately missing a chunk in the middle.
The tape is fairly clear with Bonzo sounding a bit flat.
Click here for an audio sample courtesy of Black Beauty.
1969-11-02 O'Keefe Centre, Toronto, Canada "Listen To My Bluebird" (Image Quality)
ReplyDeleteShow starts off decent, tape is a bit flat and bass heavy, but vocals are mostly clear. Not too much hiss. Intro of Good Times, Bad Times leads into Communication Breakdown. During Communication Breakdown, Plant throws in a bit of "Listen To My Bluebird" ... hence the name of this boot. I Can't Quit You Baby is next, followed by Heartbreaker. Dazed and Confused is up next, and the song just keeps stretching out. Tape must be off a bit, Page sounds a bit out of tune to me. White Summer - Black Mountain Side follows, and then Babe I'm Gonna Leave You. The recording ends with Moby Dick. An all right recording, a bit muddy, had it on in the background while working.