Day 89: 11/11/1971 Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England

11/11/1971 Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England  Newcastle Brown Ale

Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Since I've Been Loving You, Rock and Roll, Stairway to Heaven, That's the Way, Going to California, Tangerine, Dazed and Confused, What is and What Should Never Be, Celebration Day

Plant's powerful wails soar above the crowd during Immigrant Song. Before Black Dog, Plant informs the crowd that "today's the day of the teddy bears' picnic, and to go along with it, our new album came out." There are shouts from the crowd requesting new songs, obviously from those who bought the album earlier that week. Plant rushes through the song, starting verses a beat too early. The setlist has changed, bringing Rock and Roll up (now with a proper title) and moving Dazed and Confused to after the acoustic set. Plant flubs the lyrics a bit during the initial verses of Stairway to Heaven. 

A flurry of shouts from the crowd is answered by a loud screech of feedback before That's the Way. Plant's mention of Newcastle Brown Ale is met with a loud cheer from the crowd before Going to California. Plant gets a bit lazy in the middle of the song, forgetting some lyrics and coming in off beat. Dazed and Confused is introduced as "one from three and a half years ago, every time we have a birthday, we play this." The guitar solo/workout section features the further development of The Crunge theme, now with guitar and squeals of "get funky!" from Plant. Celebration Day is dedicated to New York. There are a few very aggressive requests for Moby Dick coming from the crowd as the recording ends.*

The tape is fairly clear, if a bit muffled and hissy at times.

Click here for an audio sample courtesy of Black Beauty.

*- The versions of Whole Lotta Love and Communication Breakdown on this release are actually from 5/3/1971. These two songs were recorded, but the tapes were M.I.A. when the rest of the show surfaced. A master transfer of Communication Breakdown has surfaced since then, but is not currently in our collection.