Day 220: 4/23/1977 Atlanta, GA

4/23/1977 Atlanta, GA  (2nd gen)

The Song Remains the Same, Sick Again, Nobody's Fault But Mine, In My Time of Dying, Since I've Been Loving You, No Quarter, Ten Years Gone, The Battle of Evermore, Going to California, Black Country Woman, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, White Summer/Black Mountain Side, Kashmir, Over the Top, Achilles Last Stand, Stairway to Heaven, Rock and Roll, Trampled Underfoot

The tape begins with a brief soundcheck before The Song Remains the Same explodes out of the gate. Bonzo is absolutely on fire, pummeling the crowd with his relentless sonic assault. Page blazes through an excellent guitar solo during Nobody's Fault But Mine. In My Time of Dying is cut just before the end of the song. Since I've Been Loving You is dramatic and powerful. Plant complains that it's raining on the stage before introducing No Quarter as featuring "the umbrella of John Paul Jones." The instrumental section is absolutely fantastic. Jones's piano solo is followed by an excellent boogie workout. Page delivers a phenomenal guitar solo. Unfortunately, there is a slight cut in the tape as the piece comes to a close. An outstanding performance.

Plant tells the crowd "it's best to always be in love with everybody, but this is about the first time you ever knew it would happen to you" before Ten Years Gone. Page fumbles through an out of tune guitar solo. The Battle of Evermore is introduced as "probably what happened about seven hundred years ago this evening on the Welsh borders." As Going to California comes to a close, someone can be heard asking the taper "hey man, you wanna get you a hit off of this, man?" to which he responds "oh, no thanks."

Plant introduces Bonzo as "one of the greatest drummers that England's ever has and ever will have" before Over the Top. Someone near the taper can be heard telling his inebriated friend that he'll regret it for the rest of his life if he doesn't stand up and watch the drum solo. Page again plays a bit of The Star-Spangled Banner à la Hendrix at Woodstock during the experimental guitar solo prior to Achilles Last Stand. Plant dedicates Stairway to Heaven to "warm atmospheres, which everybody needs." As the band returns to the stage to close the show with Trampled Underfoot, Plant announces "in two years of absence from concerts, you begin to forget what it's all about, but I think we remembered."

The tape is a bit muffled and overloaded.