Day 117: 10/4/1972 Osaka, Japan

10/4/1972 Osaka, Japan (?)

Rock and Roll, Black Dog, Over the Hills and Far Away, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I've Been Loving You, Dancing Days, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker, Immigrant Song

The tape begins with a brief soundcheck before Rock and Roll crashes into motion. Plant is getting better at controlling his voice, but it's still far from perfect. He's all over the place during Over the Hills and Far Away, trying and failing to find a melody to accommodate his weakened voice. Misty Mountain Hop is introduced as a song "about the problems that come across just a simple walk in the park on a saturday afternoon. The Song Remains the Same fades in during the intro directly after the end of Bron-Y-Aur Stomp. Plant's out-of-tune vocals put a damper on The Rain Song. As the song ends, he announces "John Paul Jones on the mysterious Mellotron."

The intro of Dazed and Confused is punctuated by a violent, screeching outburst of wah-wah from Page. The lead-in to the bow solo features the first appearance of a mellow instrumental that will develop into the San Francisco interlude on the next tour. Page is in his own world during the guitar solo/workout section, soloing wildly in all directions as the rest of the band tries to follow along and anticipate his next move. Whole Lotta Love is introduced as "an old song that we think might go a long way... might take us a long way." The medley includes a riotous Boogie Chillen', Elvis Presley's I Got a Lot O' Living to Do and Let's Have a Party, and You Shook Me, which features an excellent extended blues improvisation. Bonzo is out of control during the finale, firing off machine gun-like snare bursts at every turn. Page is on fire during the solos in Heartbreaker. Bonzo's snare explodes like cannon fire during the fast guitar solo section. The show ends with Immigrant Song, which Bonzo turns into an imperial death march during the guitar solo.

The tape is excellent, perfectly clear and balanced.