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Press Review (1): Zeppelin Soars to New Heights

“It feels great to be back”, a self-assured Robert Plant addressed the Saturday “Day On the Green” sellout crowd at the Oakland Coliseum. “I must personally apologize for the two-year delay.”

The lead singer and resident sex symbol of Led Zeppelin was alluding to a 1975 automobile accident he suffered which prevented the British hard-rock combo from fulfilling extensive tour obligations that year. Their long absence from the Bay Area prompted a sellout within five hours after tickets went on sale earlier this month – a feat not uncommon to any affair involving Led Zeppelin.

The four man congregation which many critics fancy as the embodiment of heavy metal rock, had just finished bludgeoning the packed house of 54,000 with the thunderous power-chording of “Sick Again”, a relatively subdued piece from the 1975 double-album, “Physical Graffiti”. Those in attendance at the Bill Graham-promoted Days on the Green last weekend were treated to vintage Led Zeppelin.

Providing a musical counterpoint to Plant’s shrieking and teasingly androgynous posturing, Jimmy Page’s sledge-hammer guitar style led Zeppelin through many of their classics, including: Nobody’s Fault But Mine, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Ten Years Gone, Battle of Evermore and Trampled Underfoot.

But the musical highlight for many of the sun-drenched crowd that paid $11.50 per ticket came during the extended jams. All the Zeppelin touches were there – Page coaxing eerie sounds out of his axe using an array of electronic devices, and at one point using a violin bow on his strings; John Bonham rifling popgun drum rolls; bassist John Paul Jones looking unperturbed and confident behind the overt sexuality of Plant’s pelvic thrusts. The crowd ate it up. (G. Estrada, Oakland Tribune, July 1977)

Press Review (2) Led Zeppelin's 'Day On The Green'

When Led Zeppelin lead vocalist Robert Plant greeted last week's "Day on the Green" crowd of 115,000, he apologized for his two-year absence from the Bay Area due to conflicts with engagements resulting from an automobile accident.

But as far as the faithful followers were concerned, apologies weren't warranted even if some paid scalpers $75 for seating at the visually limited center field bleachers reserved for this reviewer. Nevertheless, those who couldn't see the four Englishmen, heard them erupt with hard-rock, made popular since the group's 1969 conception.

Within minutes, Plant set the mood well with his dancing and singing. As he shook and shimmied, the long-haired blonde amazed his fans with enthusiasm and magnitism so characteristic of talented lead singers.

But it wasn't all Robert Plant. Lead guitarist Jimmy Page acoustically showed his talents with electrical-distorting devices which spewed notes of "Black Dog" and "Kashmir" out to the spellbound crowd.

However, the magic of Led Zeppelin didn't take hold until they played their all-time hit. "Stairway." Though familiar with other songs, fans as old as 30 showed they remembered that 1972 hit by cheering and dancing to its beat.

Unlike other songs performed during the five hour concert, "Stairway" showed the group's capability of acid-rock mellowness which accounts for the song's popularity.

Then what was thought to be the conclusion of another Day on the Green wasn't, thanks to 15 minutes of applause and shouts of "more, more," which brought the group back on stage for two encore performances of "Whole Lotta Lovin" and "Rock and Roll." (Post / August 1977)