LED ZEPPELIN - WHATS YOUR FAVOURITE FESTIVAL APPEARANCE?

'I told Pagey one or two people would be here, but he said he doubted that very much' Robert Plant, Knebworth August 4th 1979 ...

Tuesday 12 July 2016

LED ZEPPELIN - 5 DAYS IN JULY. THE '73 JUGGERNAUT ROLLS ON

The second leg of Led Zeppelins 9th US Tour (9 and a half??) took a while to gain momentum for the band at least. After a stumbling first show in Chicago (Robert was particularly awful), the heat was on. Rather than just look at one gig at a tie when the anniversary came up, here are my thoughts and facts on 5 nights that shaped the rest of the tour and got Led Zeppelin back in shape.
 
JULY 7TH 1973
 
CHICAGO STADIUM, ILLINOIS
 
Second night in the Windy City. The set is pretty much set in stone by this point, encores and improvisations in the pieces the main magic dust sprinkled throughout the performances. The set ran:-
 
Rock And Roll/Celebration Day/Bring It On Home link/Black Dog
Over The Hills And Far Away
Misty Mountain Hop/Since I've Been Loving You
No Quarter
The Song Remains The Same/The Rain Song
Dazed And Confused (includes San Francisco)
Stairway To Heaven
Heartbreaker/Whole Lotta Love (incl Boogie Chillun)
 
Encore time was variable as we'll find out night by night. After the first night problems, this is much better. It's obvious Robert is easing his way into the tour again, but it really helps that the instrumental might of Led Zeppelin is reaching a new peak almost every night. Jimmy's duel with Bonzo in Over The Hills And Far Away (it's almost throwaway to call it a mere solo) is brilliantly devastating, Bonzo underlining and accenting every Page lick and twist. Jimmy is speeding through the songs, so Robert underplays in response, drawing a different feel adding to the contrast and therefore the drama of each performance. Since I've Been Loving You stands out as a mini concert in itself of controlled then abandoned frenzy.


No Quarter continues the mood as Led Zeppelin hit their stride. Even the dodgy Mellotron tuning wobbles are unable to stop the momentum. Dazed And Confused is brutal and heavy, Bonzo obviously relishing the depth charge accents and rapier thrusts of his snare hits. With Jimmy it's like a duel, with Jonesy standing back and hanging on for dear life.

By the end of the set it's chaos, and a really great show. Encore time is a slightly deranged and fragmented Communication Breakdown, Robert trying to preserve some vocal chords for the next shows.

JULY 9TH 1973

CIVIC CENTER, ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA

A day off has given Robert a restbite, not a cure. We only have a fair audience recording of this show, but you can tell he's struggling to get up for it as a very powerful Led Zeppelin demolish the front rows with the opening salvo. No Quarter has a bizarre 1977 style jam in the middle, a chaotic boogie. After the mid section of the show, where you can hear the crowd wildly applauding and cheering every move as the night goes on, we get a Dazed And Confused to remember the Zeppelin movie, in moments like the violin bow episode. He replied that he saw someone totally immersed and into the music, the life, Led Zeppelin. Totally. Listening to (no offence) standard tour gigs outside of the New York/LA big press finale shows, you hear a man so immersed and focused it's frightening.


I firmly believe that the Jimmy Page of 1973 was playing electric guitar at a level untouched by ANYONE in the annals of Rock. The invention, ability and abandonment are astonishing. Untouchable and we should be so grateful that so many of these shows have been captured in one form or another. Dazed And Confused here is masterful, so many ideas and moods. Led Zeppelin were four exceptional talents, but at many points over these shows everyone seems to be hanging onto Jimmy's coat tails, trying to tune in to the imagination he transfers from his mind through his guitar.

Just listen to Heartbreaker here, stops and starts and so many ideas flowing and powering through. We get the Boogie in Whole Lotta Love after a wild Theremin battle, and once again Communication Breakdown is the encore. Jimmy's enthusiasm carries Led Zeppelin to another level again.

JULY 10TH 1973

ARENA, MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN

Back in Wisconsin for the first time in nearly 3 years, altho' Robert forgets this and talks about the '69 West Allis show as their last time here. Another great powerful performance, Robert still relying on the band and their overwhelming power to cover his vocal shortcomings. He's getting better but 3 hours a night with such a level to get close to is too much at the moment.

We only have a C120's worth of this show (tape mismanagement!), missing the final blast off. What we have is good enough, a clear enough audience tape running up until the first cassette runs out during Bonzo's showcase. Either the taper had no more tapes or we've yet to get hold of the rest.


Love the continuing Page-Bonham Over The Hills And Far Away Saga and the ease with which No Quarter unrolls and fills the stadia with a different mood, seeping into all nooks and crannies like the (sometimes working) dry ice pumped around Led Zeppelin's Cuban heels and glittered flared troose...

Dazed And Confused is dynamic again, almost a complete show by itself. Even this truncated recording, taken from way back in a sound deficient hall, can't deny the fact audiences in the US in 1973 were witnessing something really special from Led Zeppelin.

JULY 12th 1973
 
COBO ARENA, DETROIT, MICHIGAN

Robert may have had more obscure soul and blues/R n B influences, and Jimmy too looked ore towards the Delta, but it was always a thrill for Led Zeppelin to come to Detroit. The Motor City. And for Jonesy and Bonzo in particular, bearing in mind they were the finest rhythm section to mesh together the deft harmonies from that scene with the psychedelic crunch of the West Coast and so much more to give Led Zeppelin the perfect, best and most solid musical foundation. James Jamerson and Carol Kaye are the closest you'll find to getting into Jonesy's prodigious musical mind, and listening to so many of the live work with Bonzo, it's amazing how his lyrical and frankly groundbreaking use of counter melody and timing has been so overlooked and undervalued outside of Led Zeppelin.


Anyway, the first night in the Murder Capital (as Ted Nugent would quote) sees a healthier Led Zeppelin keen to stamp their authority on one of their original stamping grounds. Great quality (before we got numbed by all the soundboard recordings) and a great performance. Robert is getting better, less strained and more confident. As the show kicks in it's clear they're having fun and are settling into a top night. Unlike some '75 shows, there's no weight on Dazed And Confused or Stairway To Heaven to light up the show, it just happens.

The set closer is manic and Jimmy and Bonzo are going nuts! Fantastic Theremin battle too, and Detroit salutes Led Zeppelin as they bring the hammer down with an impromptu 'I'm Going Down' before the 'way down inside' sketch. After a powerful Communication Breakdown we get a rare second encore of The Ocean, spoilt by the out of tune crooning bootlegger!

Fantastic return to Detroit. Led Zeppelin are hitting home runs night after night again.

JULY 13TH 1973
 
COBO ARENA, DETROIT, MICHIGAN

Second night, even more expectations. Only the last part of this show exists, on soundboard. Originally we got from Moby Dick on but later Dazed And Confused and Stairway To Heaven were discovered. Yet another stunning performance, the Led Zeppelin machine is fully greased and rolls on effortlessly. Dazed And Confused has some great moments, particularly during the spaced out coda. After a sterling Whole Lotta Love, complete with Boogie, we get the bonus of a (sadly cut) Dancing Days encore.


One day the whole show will surface. Until then, the second night in the Murder Capital is a triumph. Listening to these shows back to back, the next 10 shows are to me a natural progression and evidence of just how incredible Led Zeppelin were on these days in July.
 
 
 

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