Day 207: 3/27/1975 Los Angeles, CA

3/27/1975 Los Angeles, CA  (master>dat)

Rock and Roll, Sick Again, Over the Hills and Far Away, In My Times of Dying, The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, Kashmir, Since I've Been Loving You, No Quarter, Trampled Underfoot, Moby Dick, Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog

The band's third and final night at The Forum begins with an introduction by Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace. Page's fingers are a bit sticky during the guitar solo near the end of Sick Again. Following Over the Hills and Far Away, Plant tells the crowd "it's with a bit of sorrow that we've gotta leave California, even the Continental Riot House wasn't that bad in the end." In My Time of Dying includes hints of You Shook Me near the end. There is a cut in the tape just before the second verse of The Rain Song. 

Kashmir is incredibly powerful. As the song ends, Plant announces "we're changin' the program, hang on" before the third and final appearance of Since I've Been Loving You in 1975. A bit looser than a week earlier in Seattle, the band nonetheless delivers a highly dramatic performance. One wonders why the song was not played more often this tour, perhaps Plant's voice simply couldn't handle the strain. He introduces Jones as "a man with a lot of balls," adding "in fact, three" before No Quarter. The piano solo is introduced by a series of ghostly howls from the theramin. The instrumental section is fantastic. Page delivers an excellent, dynamic guitar solo. Unfortunately there is a cut in the tape just as the piece is coming to a close. The tension reaches its peak during the violently explosive finale. A truly amazing performance, one of the best thus far. As the song ends, Plant announces "John Paul Jones, grand piano and Heineken beer!"

Plant dedicates Trampled Underfoot to "a 1950 Buick Rocket 88 that I rented the other day." Page shreds wildly through the guitar solo. Plant includes a few lines of Gallows Pole following the final verse. A very aggressive performance, one of the best thus far. Dazed and Confused is introduced as "a thing from the very, very beginning... when we were babies in the game." The Woodstock interlude includes lyrics from Love's Old Man. Page's fingers are like razor blades as he slashes and shreds through the guitar solo/workout section. There is a slight cut before the call and response section and another following Mars, the Bringer of War, just as the band is getting into a funky jam. Bonzo forces Page into the return to the main riff, lest he solo on forever. The outro is an epic journey in and of itself. An unbelievable forty-four minute marathon. The longest ever.

Page's fingers get stuck in the strings during the extended guitar solo in Stairway to Heaven. As the band returns to the stage, Plant announces "we'd like to thank California for bein' such good hosts to us while we been here... and if anybody can hear us in England, we're comin' back baby!" Whole Lotta Love features a frantic Licking Stick-Licking Stick interlude prior to the theramin freakout. Bonzo and Jones get into a funky stop-start groove as Plant battles the theramin. Page solos until his fingers are about to fall off during the show-closing Black Dog. A fitting end to the haphazard 1975 North American tour.

The tape is another fantastic Mike Millard recording.