10/9/1972 Osaka, Japan (1st gen cassette>video hifi)
Rock and Roll, Black Dog, Over the Hills and Far Away, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I've Been Loving You, Dancing Days, The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love, Stand By Me, Immigrant Song
In the four days since the show in Nagoya, Plant has had time to rest his injured voice, and it shows. He's not quite back to his former glory, but there has definitely been an improvement. Page blazes through the guitar solo during Over the Hills and Far Away. Before Misty Mountain Hop, Plant tells the crowd "this is a track... all about getting busted... but we wouldn't say that if we were in England or America, would we?" Since I've Been Loving You is drunk and bluesy. The Song Remains the Same is introduced as "The Campaign" tonight. Plant's voice finally allows him to do the song some justice. The lead-in to the bow solo during Dazed and Confused features a hauntingly heavy rendition of Down By the River. Page is on fire during the guitar solo/workout section. He solos wildly during the outro.
Plant is in a good mood, joking with the crowd before Stairway to Heaven, which includes a great guitar solo from Page. Before the only appearance of Moby Dick this tour, Plant announces "ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have an added pleasure... John 'Samurai' Bonham!" The drum solo features extensive use of Bonzo's recently acquired tympani. Page plays a great new riff during the Everybody Needs Somebody to Love section in Whole Lotta Love. Plant skips the usual boogie tonight and dives straight into a riotous medley of classics including Something's Got a Hold On Me, Milk Cow Blues, Ray Charles's Leave My Woman Alone, Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Heartbreak Hotel, a fantastic Wear My Ring Around Your Neck, and an excellent Goin' Down Slow. The tape is cut right at the end of the finale. After asking the crowd "you want John Bonham to sing, yes?," Plant leads the band in an amazing rendition of Stand By Me, with Bonzo providing sporadic backing vocals. The show ends with a powerful Immigrant Song. By far the biggest triumph of the band's final visit to Japan. Must Hear.
The tape is fairly clear, if a bit hissy, with Bonzo slightly buried under the rest of the band.
2 comments:
Fucking awesome WLL.
The first three songs are fast paced and played very well. Plant introduces Misty Mountain Hop saying “It's all about getting busted. And we wouldn't say that if we were in England or America, would we?” Since I’ve Been Loving You is excellent. Plant has regained his lost vocal range from previous shows and his able to hit some spot-on notes. He continues some very nice vocals during a fast paced The Song Remains The Same and beautiful The Rain Song.
Dazed And Confused is epic. Page slips in a few bars from his Heartbreaker solo. The interlude right before the bow solo is the longest yet and includes lyrics from Down By The River. This is the foundation that the future San Fransisco section will be based upon. Bonzo and Jones provide nice backing as Page soloes frantically throughout. The best of Japan ’72.
After a strange interaction between Plant and the crowd that involves some sort of Japanese chant, the band plays a very nice Stairway To Heaven. Moby Dick is played for the only time during the current tour. It is fast paced and features the first use of the Tympani.
The Whole Lotta Love medley is excellent and includes rare choices. The band skips the boogie section and dives right into Something’s Got A Hold On me, 3 seconds of (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, then two rarities Milk Cow Blues Boogie & Leave My Woman Alone. An excellent Lawdy Miss Clawdy precedes by far the longest Heartbreak Hotel which features an extended solo. A superb Wear My Ring Around Your Neck is played for the first and last time which is a shame. The riff is mesmerizing. A magical performance and one of the best ever.
As if the concert wasn’t great enough, the first encore is an absolutely amazing 6 minute Stand By Me. Plant does Ben E. King justice and the music is played very well. The mood is very mournful and full of inspiration. What a treat for this audience. In contrast to that, a fast and heavy Immigrant Song closes the show with Page providing an excellent solo.
Every single song is played very well with standouts being Dazed And Confused, Whole Lotta Love and, of course, Stand By Me. It is strange to not the beginning three songs seem rushed. Plant barely bids the audience good evening before Black Dog crashes into gears. Plant again tries to introduce Over The Hills And Far Away before Page starts playing the beginning notes over him. The looseness of the latter half of the show suggests that the band just came to play some great music and seemingly couldn’t wait. The performance and all the rare songs make this an absolute must. Performance: 10/10
The recording is clear and well balanced. The strange vocals in the beginning of Rock And Roll are to blame on the arena acoustics which clear up rapidly during Black Dog. There is portions here and there that can be hard to make out especially right before Stairway To Heaven. Plant starts singing/chanting something which gets the crowd clapping. Overall an excellent sounding show that is hard to complain about. Audio: 8/10
What a show. This sets really makes a stand of how much Led Zeppelin liked playing in Osaka which is a Japanese counterpart to Seattle or Los Angeles. Led Zeppelin always seemed to play out of this world shows in a few choice spots in the United States & Osaka is seemingly their choice spot in Japan. Just look at 10-4-72, 9-28-71 & 9-29-71. Another show that deserves its place in your collection. Overall: 9/10
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