Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Day 23: 7/21/1969 New York, NY

7/21/1969 New York, NY  Twist
Train Kept a Rollin', I Can't Quit You Baby, Dazed and Confused, You Shook Me, White Summer/Black Mountain Side, How Many More Times, Communication Breakdown

The tape starts just as Train Kept a Rollin' is beginning. Page and Plant are both on fire during I Can't Quit You Baby. Plant's introduction of Dazed and Confused gets a big cheer from the crowd. Page now plays his bow solo unaccompanied, save for the moaned echoes from Plant. Bonzo plays congas during the outro. Plant mentions a delay of Led Zeppelin II's release before You Shook Me. He plays an excellent harmonica solo, but Page's soloing is the real standout. Bonzo turns the song into a thunderous march at the beginning of the last verse. Plant pushes his voice to its limit during the outro.

Plant struggles to be heard over the noise of the crowd while introducing White Summer/Black Mountain Side, which shows off Page's masterful fingerwork. Plant introduces Page "on five gallon hat" at the beginning of How Many More Times. They play a bit of The Woody Woodpecker Song during the first verse. Page's frenzied solo is followed by a call and response version of For What it's Worth with Plant. The "squeeze my lemon..." section prompts squeals of ecstasy from the crowd. Plant's teasing is raunchier and more seductive than ever, culminating in a tongue-in-cheek reference to You Make Me Feel So Young. Bonzo attacks his drums during the finale. The set ends with a ferocious Communication Breakdown, including the ever-present reference to Rosco Gordon's Just a Little Bit during the breakdown. An excellent performance, full of energy.

The tape is a bit noisy, but clear with Page and Plant in front.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Jan 23, 2008
1969-07-21, Central Park, New York City, NY (From Source)
Show starts with Train Kept A Rollin' - tape has some serious issues at the start, heavy warble but then things clear up. Sound is farily decent, a bit tinny but pretty clear. Listened to this during my morning run, and from memory the performance sounded pretty good, I recall someone yelling out for White Summer, and Plant saying 'later'. Plant also talks about LZ II being delayed a bit and coming out 2nd week in August (where the heck did they find the time to record it!). Overall an enjoyable listen.