Monday, June 30, 2008

Day 164: 7/9/1973 St. Paul, MN

7/9/1973 St. Paul, MN (master>dat>cdr - speed corrected)
Rock and Roll, Celebration Day, 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, Stairway to Heaven, Moby Dick, Heartbreaker, Whole Lotta Love, Communication Breakdown

Plant's almost monotone delivery of Rock and Roll is a sign of things to come as his injured voice continues to cause him trouble. Page hints at the opening riff of Dancing Days as Over the Hills and Far Away comes to a close. Bonzo hammers at his drums with incredible intensity during Misty Mountain Hop. Plant has regained control of his voice by Since I've Been Loving You. A few loud firecracker blasts early in the song interrupt an otherwise excellent performance.

No Quarter is introduced as "another thing about the journey that lasts a lifetime." The instrumental section is transformed into an avant garde free-form improvisation. Page plays a bit of the Laurel and Hardy theme song as Plant announces "John Bonham comes to you by courtesy of the makers of Quaaludes" following The Rain Song. The band is absolutely on fire during an outstanding Dazed and Confused. A truly amazing performance from start to finish, one of the best in recent memory. There is a slight cut in the tape during the initial verses of Stairway to Heaven.

Before Moby Dick, Plant announces "yes ladies and gentlemen, tonight... for your entertainment... king of the Quaaludes, John Bonham!" As the song ends, a cut in the tape leaves us at the beginning of the second verse of Heartbreaker. Page shreds through the fast guitar solo as Bonzo and Jones lay down a frantic stop-start rhythm. The band closes the show with a high-energy Communication Breakdown.

The tape is fairly clear, if a bit distant and noisy.

2 comments:

Webmaster said...

Hi. I expected to see a download link for this show but did not. I have heard this concert before but did not save it as I did not have the hard drive space to spare back in the early 2000s. Unfortunately. I was hoping to find it again.

Any chance of uploading the songs one by one to ZippyShare or another fast download service?

FRX said...

Sorry, this site is purely informational. Recordings aren't difficult to track down elsewhere these days.