9/14/1971 Berkeley, CA (various LP sources)Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I've Been Loving You, Black Dog, Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, That's the Way, Going to California, Whole Lotta Love
The band is on fire during Immigrant Song. There is a source change near the beginning of Heartbreaker. Bonzo is out of control, firing on all cylinders. Page's excellent a cappella solo includes a bit of The 59th Street Bridge Song near the end. Plant tells the crowd "you shoulda come last night, there were several bowler-hatted beatniks" before Since I've Been Loving You, which is cut slightly during the intro. Page begins the excellent guitar solo with some amazing long, sustained notes. Plant's wails of "don't you remember when you used to cry?" are full of raw emotion. A spine-chilling performance, one of the best thus far.
Plant mentions having trouble with his voice due to a pollution alert before introducing Dazed and Confused as "one from millions and millions of years ago, just when the good thing started checkin' itself out." There is a slight cut during the intro. Bonzo plays some interesting patterns on his hi-hat before the first verse. Page shreds through an extended guitar solo. Plant sings a few lines of Back in the USA during the workout section. An amazing performance, unfortunately cut during the outro. Plant improvises some lyrics about "children of the sun" during the initial verses of Stairway to Heaven, which features an outstanding guitar solo from Page. Going to California is dedicated to "the days when things were nice and simple and everything was far out all the time." Page can be heard providing backing vocals during the chorus in Whole Lotta Love. The theramin freakout includes a bit of Rosco Gordon's Just a Little Bit. The medley features Hello Mary Lou, a funky arrangement of Elvis Presley's My Baby Left Me, A Mess of Blues, You Shook Me, and the return of the lemon squeeze. Unfortunately, the encores are missing from the recording.
The tape is an excellent audience recording sourced from vinyl. A wonderful recording of an amazing performance. Must hear.
The mayhem begins tomorrow...
ReplyDelete"bowler-hatted", not "boiler-hatted"
ReplyDeletegood catch, had it right in my notes.
ReplyDeletethanks for reading!
This is another great show from '71! Plant is slowly getting used to the fact that he can't hit the really high notes anymore, but he and the band sound great here! The version of SIBLY is one of the best, if not the best of all time (rivalling 6/27/72 from How the west was won)
ReplyDeleteI saw this show. It was LOUD. I know it dmaged my hearing. But it was worth it. There was some slop, but sheesh. BCT holds like3,000 people. I still don't know why they played such a small venue.
ReplyDeleteIf you listen closely you can hear Plant hum a drone type intro.
ReplyDeleteAdds a completely new dimension.
Does anyone know if he does this at any other dates?
Hands down my favorite Zeppelin performance. They are firing on all cylinders which means nobody has ever equaled them at this 1971 stage. If you've ever wondered why so many people consider Zep rock's greatest band....listen to this show....with plenty of volume.
ReplyDelete