LED ZEPPELIN - YALE BOWL, NEW HAVEN, AUGUST 15TH 1970

Led Zeppelin are now hugely popular. The triumph at Bath plus the continued phenomenal sales and constant chart position of Led Zeppelin II on both sides of the Atlantic bear testament to that. After a short run of warm-up shows across Germany, they were set for their 6th US Tour. Originally scheduled to kick off on August 5th in Cincinnati, the first 9 shows were cancelled due to John Paul Jones' father falling seriously ill. 

Boston was scheduled twice in this period, firstly on August 8th and then the Boston College Eagle Rock Festival set for the 14th. This would have included a line-up featuring current big hitters The Allman Brothers and Big Brother & The Holding Company plus some of the next generation of up and coming hellraisers from the MC5, Amboy Dukes (featuring a young Ted Nugent no less) and The Stalk Forrest Group, an early incarnation of Blue Oyster Cult. Sadly, the rescheduled Boston Show on September 9th had a different and smaller set of opening acts.

But opening acts were passe for Led Zeppelin. They had developed a 2 hour plus show, adding 4 tracks from the sessions of the just completed III to a powerhouse selection of tracks from the first two elpees, including a fledgling acoustic interlude, and their growing onstage improvisations and bombast. Yale Bowl on august 15th was the first performed show of the 19 played.

We have a fragmentary recording, missing the acoustic set, jonesy's Thank You showcase and a chunk of the by now legendary Whole Lotta Love Medley and only has one encore. Still, despite that and the good but not outstanding audio quality, it's a great show. Led Zeppelin are flexing their muscles and blowing away the cobwebs with style, 

Kicking off with the new double shot Immigrant Song/Heartbreaker, they mean business. The expanded live only solo in Immigrant Song is a good excuse to get syncopated and tuned in to each other while the sound gets balanced.jimmy's interplay with Bonzo is already startling and challenging, teasing cross rhythm blasts and bursts of cascading flurries of notes he would later expand onstage in Over The Hills And Far Away. His unaccompanied solo in Heartbreaker is more focused and structured, using his whisper to a thunderstorm dictum. 

Dazed And Confused is wonderful and powerful, and Bonzo is fast becoming the star of the show. Although we're missing most of the restful parts of the show, the latter part's power more than makes up for it. At a manageable and enjoyable length, Moby Dick is a fantastic extravaganza tonight that not only focuses on Bonzo's power and invention but also brings the house down. 

The set closing medley is a maelstrom of both well known and obscure classics, and Led Zeppelin let them flow. After the Boogie Chillun' fanfare sets the tone, they race through Hi-Heel Sneakers, Feel So Good, Bottle Up & Go, Cumberland Gap, Shake Baby Shake, Move On Down The Line, I'm Movin' On, Honey Bee, Lemon Song and Needle Blues (you need a shot) before the inal blow out. Phew! As would become usual, we're now in the midst of hysteria. 

A new encore arrangement is wheeled out for the first time. The welcome return of Communication Breakdown that includes a chunk of Good Times, Bad Times and a very brief (later expanded) JPJones solo spotlight between the two. A great opening night, a barometer of what was to come as Led Zeppelin settled into their largest (attendance wise) US trek to date and grew into their position and status as top of the pile headlining act. Led Zeppelin III is still weeks away but the new material is already very warmly received alongside what are fast becoming old favourites. They know. 

Not as complete or rounded as the shows in 1971 when the material from the fourth elpee is added to the set and their confidence and musicality reach staggering new heights, the 6th US Tour is still a fantastic series of shows and a milestone along the way. 

For a long time the only version on bootleg CD was 'Rare Short Party' on IQ,but there have been numerous CDR upgrades since. They all use the same tape, some have better equipment and ears than others, some thankfully refrain from the awful 'squashing' noise reduction techniques that blight the transfer of so many less than outstanding audio recordings.