Day 181: 1/25/1975 Indianapolis, IN

1/25/1975 Indianapolis, IN  Condition Breakdown

Rock and Roll, Sick Again, Over the Hills and Far Away, The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, Kashmir, The Wanton Song, No Quarter, Trampled Underfoot, Moby Dick, How Many More Times, Stairway to Heaven, Black Dog

Someone near the taper can be heard saying "this is gonna be so good" just before Rock and Roll crashes into motion. Plant has completely lost his voice. Unable to sing a single note, he literally growls his way through the opening numbers. A cut during The Song Remains the Same leaves us at the end of the first verse of The Rain Song. The song is plagued by feedback problems. Following Kashmir, Plant tells the crowd "we're havin' a little bit of trouble here with the monitor system... I think there's some crushed window pane stuck in the speaker." He improvises an entirely new melody during the final performance of The Wanton Song to accommodate his painfully weak voice.

Jones is introduced as "the man in constant darkness" before No Quarter. A few slight cuts detract from an otherwise fantastic instrumental section. Unfortunately, Page's guitar solo is cut near the end. Little more than the intro and outro of Moby Dick survives. How Many More Times is introduced as "a very, very, very, very old one." Unfortunately, a cut in the tape during the lead-in to the bow solo leaves us at the final "gun!", skipping the majority of the song. Page's intro to Stairway to Heaven is missing from the tape. His fingers get a bit sticky during the guitar solo. As the band returns to the stage, Plant tells the crowd "we're gonna try and go out with a bit of style." Page shreds through an extended guitar solo during the show-closing Black Dog.

The tape is fairly clear, if a bit distant and hissy.

Click here for audio samples courtesy of Black Beauty.