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, What Is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love (medley incl. Let That Boy Boogie, Boppin' the Blues, Lawdy Miss Clawdy, For What It's Worth, Honey Bee, I'm Movin' On, Fortune Teller, That's Alright Mama), Communication Breakdown (medley: incl. Good Times Bad Times), Train Kept a Rollin', Blueberry Hill, Long Tall Sally.
Rare set of encores, including the return of Train Kept a Rollin'. Reports of a planned closed-circuit TV system called "Concert Closeup" with large projection screens.
Press Review: Led Zeppelin Blasting Off
Guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-organist John Paul Jones, drummer John Bonham and lead singer Robert Plant blasted nearly 10,000 people half senseless with music of sheer power, force and emotion. The song lyrics themselves, I am convinced, are virtually immaterial. Even if one can understand them, they are routine in exercises in universal themes.
Seeming to underscore this aspect of their music, or lack of same, is the fact that Plant is a completely uninteresting singer. He can yell and screech, unquestionably, but so can a Mynah bird. His importance to the group is as a visual and audible contributor of ten or more degrees to the fever pitch. If, on the other hand, one were to substitute Quicksilver’s Dino Valenti for Plant, I think Led Zeppelin would threaten both the Who and Rolling Stones.
Whatever, the group is close enough now. Page is one of the two or three most exciting guitarists in pop music, Bonham played the best rock drum solo I can recall hearing – sort of a ‘If Buddy Rich had been a rock band drummer when he was a kid’… and John Paul Jones is an expert bassist and a superb organist.
The shortcomings of the evening were two: one minor and the other less minor. Led Zeppelin ventured into the acoustic field with three numbers – two from their forthcoming Led Zeppelin III on Atlantic – with mediocre success but it was a commotion that Plant at one point muttered, “We pray your indulgence, ladies and gentlemen… Tom Jones is next.”
At the end, a thousand or so rushed the stage area and several people were knocked down. But, that’s understandable. I mean, if they hadn’t they would have nothing to show and tell at the next teenybopper trot.
The group did more than a dozen songs in a two hour and 15 minute set, including Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker, Bring It On Home, Good Times Bad Times and You Shook Me. It was a sensational performance. [-J. Wasserman, SF Chronicle]
Rare set of encores, including the return of Train Kept a Rollin'. Reports of a planned closed-circuit TV system called "Concert Closeup" with large projection screens.
Press Review: Led Zeppelin Blasting Off
Guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-organist John Paul Jones, drummer John Bonham and lead singer Robert Plant blasted nearly 10,000 people half senseless with music of sheer power, force and emotion. The song lyrics themselves, I am convinced, are virtually immaterial. Even if one can understand them, they are routine in exercises in universal themes.
Seeming to underscore this aspect of their music, or lack of same, is the fact that Plant is a completely uninteresting singer. He can yell and screech, unquestionably, but so can a Mynah bird. His importance to the group is as a visual and audible contributor of ten or more degrees to the fever pitch. If, on the other hand, one were to substitute Quicksilver’s Dino Valenti for Plant, I think Led Zeppelin would threaten both the Who and Rolling Stones.
Whatever, the group is close enough now. Page is one of the two or three most exciting guitarists in pop music, Bonham played the best rock drum solo I can recall hearing – sort of a ‘If Buddy Rich had been a rock band drummer when he was a kid’… and John Paul Jones is an expert bassist and a superb organist.
The shortcomings of the evening were two: one minor and the other less minor. Led Zeppelin ventured into the acoustic field with three numbers – two from their forthcoming Led Zeppelin III on Atlantic – with mediocre success but it was a commotion that Plant at one point muttered, “We pray your indulgence, ladies and gentlemen… Tom Jones is next.”
At the end, a thousand or so rushed the stage area and several people were knocked down. But, that’s understandable. I mean, if they hadn’t they would have nothing to show and tell at the next teenybopper trot.
The group did more than a dozen songs in a two hour and 15 minute set, including Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker, Bring It On Home, Good Times Bad Times and You Shook Me. It was a sensational performance. [-J. Wasserman, SF Chronicle]
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, What Is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love (medley incl. Let That Boy Boogie, Boppin' the Blues, Lawdy Miss Clawdy, For What It's Worth, Honey Bee, I'm Movin' On, Fortune Teller, That's Alright Mama), Communication Breakdown (medley: incl. Good Times Bad Times), Train Kept a Rollin', Blueberry Hill, Long Tall Sally.
