In St John's Wood the Fab Four were busying themselves doing a photoshoot on the zebra crossing than would become iconic, burnt into all of our minds ever since. As the most celebrated of British bands took their next steps in the studio, the Awesome Foursome were traversing the United States, midway through their 3rd US Tour in a little over 8 months.
On August 8th Led Zeppelin arrived at Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino in Southern California. With up and coming prog rockers and fellow Brits Jethro Tull in tow - Tull had been alternating the opening slot with Vanilla Fudge and local acts on this tour - the word and buzz was spreading. Despite using any gig free days to finish overdubs and mixes of Led Zeppelin II, the set throughout August was exclusively built around the debut elpee with a couple of covers and jams thrown in. They weren't about to preview new tracks when the tried and tested material was there to convert the uninitiated over this hot summer.
The set ran -
Train Kept A-Rollin'/I Can't Quit You, Baby
I Gotta Move Improvisation
Dazed And Confused
White Summer/Black Mountain Side
You Shook Me
How Many More Times/The Hunter/Every Little Thing I Do For You Is Funky/The Lemon Song/Schooldays/
Hail Hail Rock And Roll
The tape runs just under 55 minutes, with 3 or more edits. So Led Zeppelin played an hour or so of blood boiling blues rock to an appreciative and enthusiastic crowd. The sound is sadly very unbalanced, obviously recorded either in front of or next to Jimmy's cranked backline, giving a different slant to the performance. Unlistenable to some, I find it at the worst interesting and at best a refreshing change. Every note, sound, handling noise, nuance and silence is left hanging in the air, the rest of Led Zeppelin roaring or waiting in the background.
The opening duo are powerful and full of intent, Jimmy's wonderfully fluent and at times dissonant cascading scales making you hold your breath as he pauses for just long enough before attacking again and again. As I Can't Quit You Baby climaxes he breaks a string, leading to a pause punctuated by a nervous explanation from Robert as the 3 piece Led Zeppelin launch into a boogie improvisation loosely lyrically based around I Gotta Move, a slower improvisation they used to fill in in similar circumstances in march in Copenhagen. Again, Robert's harmonica blowout adds some much needed harmony to the bristling rhythm section.
Dazed And Confused is suitably edgy and almost violent as the bow sketch wows the crowd who whoop and sign as the frenzied out of control improvisation powers over them. Classic stuff. Jimmy's showcase and the crude sludge of You Shook Me add yet more satisfaction for the obviously converted hordes. But it's the set climax that is the star of the show.
Led Zeppelin initiate their new bretherin as they sting into The Hunter before a funky Lee Dorsey interlude that eventually runs into Chuck Berry via the crude groinal thrust of The Lemon Song The unbalanced and unforgiving tape sound adds a different quality to the performance as they take it home. Great set, carrying on their inevitable and unstoppable march across the US.
Despite the sound quality, there is a 2LP bootleg on the revamped Rubber Dubber bootleg label and several CD's as well. In truth, I love listening to this but only every now and then, because despite the performance the unbalanced sound makes it a great occasional treat but not a staple listen.
Zeppelin's first appearance at Madison Square Garden on 9/19/70 was the best concert I've ever seen .They had reached a point of professionalism while keeping the enthusiasm . Best concert ever !(evening show)
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