Public Hall - August 26, 1970

Submitted by srapallo on
August 26, 1970
Cleveland
OH
United States
us
Setlist

includes: Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Dazed and Confused, Bring It On Home, That's Way, Bron-Yr-Aur, Since I've Been Loving You, Organ solo / Thank You, Whole Lotta Love (medley), Moby Dick.

Note

A family emergency forced John Paul Jones to return to England directly after the show, and the gig's start time was changed to 5:30pm.

Local musician Deborah Smith played bass for the encore: "I was asked to sit in with Led Zeppelin that night by Roger Abramson, a promoter with Belkin Brothers, who saw me in the audience and knew of my musical ability, and knew that the fans in the audience had come to the concert with the reasonable expectation of hearing live electric Led Zeppelin, as opposed to an acoustic set, necessitated by the hasty exit of John Paul Jones for the trip back to England for his father's funeral service." - (D. Smith Sept. 2014)

Cleveland Telegram review: Led Zeppelin concert wows Cleveland crowd

If people left the Led Zeppelin concert Wednesday with any feeling short of musical ecstasy, they must have gone to be heard and not to hear. Zeppelin burned their tunes into the half-filled Public Auditorium for nearly two hours while everyone dazedly moved only with the pulse coming from the stage.

They started the concert with the tunes from their first two albums that everyone has heard many times, but no one seemed to care. They just listened and worked it out in their heads. Where the early Zeppelin used noise, Jimmy Page picked and bowed his guitar as only he could, changing the noise of his old days into music that wouldn't quit. All the time lead vocalist Robert Plant wailed and moved as music was blasted to him.

The surprise of the night came as Plant, Page, and bass player John Paul Jones moved out in front with their acoustic strings. With Page on the guitar, Jones on the mandolin, and Plant on the microphone, they started in on the audience with Led Zeppelin III, their yet unreleased album. They displayed an honesty only music could as they dedicated this song to a friend that had just been killed in a motorcycle accident.

They finished the regular part of their concert with Jones and a far-out organ on a little known Zeppelin tune called "Thank You," then hit with "Whole Lotta Love." When they left the stage, the crowd clammered for more, not letting up until there was music once more. Zeppelin returned with John Bonham featured on drums. As the rest of the group left the stage, Bonham did everything possible to make his drums talk, plus a few things that weren't in the book.

When the remaining group members returned to the stage, Jones had split to England for family reasons and Plant said that was it, but as the audience pressed to the stage, they agreed to continue.

As they got set to do more, Page popped a string. To fill the gap Plant started to play his harp while Bonham started in on the tabla drums. When Page fixed his guitar, he joined in on the jam. They were then joined by a girl in a Belkin Production tee shirt (Webmaster note: Deborah Smith) who played bass to finish the night.

This time they left for good, leaving Led Zeppelin burned into everyone's mind, something you don't hear every day. (-Cleveland Telegram, 8-1970)

Notes

A family emergency forced John Paul Jones to return to England directly after the show, and the gig's start time was changed to 5:30pm.

Local musician Deborah Smith played bass for the encore: "I was asked to sit in with Led Zeppelin that night by Roger Abramson, a promoter with Belkin Brothers, who saw me in the audience and knew of my musical ability, and knew that the fans in the audience had come to the concert with the reasonable expectation of hearing live electric Led Zeppelin, as opposed to an acoustic set, necessitated by the hasty exit of John Paul Jones for the trip back to England for his father's funeral service." - (D. Smith Sept. 2014)

Cleveland Telegram review: Led Zeppelin concert wows Cleveland crowd

If people left the Led Zeppelin concert Wednesday with any feeling short of musical ecstasy, they must have gone to be heard and not to hear. Zeppelin burned their tunes into the half-filled Public Auditorium for nearly two hours while everyone dazedly moved only with the pulse coming from the stage.

They started the concert with the tunes from their first two albums that everyone has heard many times, but no one seemed to care. They just listened and worked it out in their heads. Where the early Zeppelin used noise, Jimmy Page picked and bowed his guitar as only he could, changing the noise of his old days into music that wouldn't quit. All the time lead vocalist Robert Plant wailed and moved as music was blasted to him.

The surprise of the night came as Plant, Page, and bass player John Paul Jones moved out in front with their acoustic strings. With Page on the guitar, Jones on the mandolin, and Plant on the microphone, they started in on the audience with Led Zeppelin III, their yet unreleased album. They displayed an honesty only music could as they dedicated this song to a friend that had just been killed in a motorcycle accident.

They finished the regular part of their concert with Jones and a far-out organ on a little known Zeppelin tune called "Thank You," then hit with "Whole Lotta Love." When they left the stage, the crowd clammered for more, not letting up until there was music once more. Zeppelin returned with John Bonham featured on drums. As the rest of the group left the stage, Bonham did everything possible to make his drums talk, plus a few things that weren't in the book.

When the remaining group members returned to the stage, Jones had split to England for family reasons and Plant said that was it, but as the audience pressed to the stage, they agreed to continue.

As they got set to do more, Page popped a string. To fill the gap Plant started to play his harp while Bonham started in on the tabla drums. When Page fixed his guitar, he joined in on the jam. They were then joined by a girl in a Belkin Production tee shirt (Webmaster note: Deborah Smith) who played bass to finish the night.

This time they left for good, leaving Led Zeppelin burned into everyone's mind, something you don't hear every day. (-Cleveland Telegram, 8-1970)

Setlists

includes: Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Dazed and Confused, Bring It On Home, That's Way, Bron-Yr-Aur, Since I've Been Loving You, Organ solo / Thank You, Whole Lotta Love (medley), Moby Dick.

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Average: 4.3 (35 votes)

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