Led Zeppelin/IL,USA 1973

Perhaps because the 1973 US tour was a long tour divided into two legs, there are a lot of sound sources, and many shows have been excavated from sound boards to audience recordings. Last week, a new definitive version of “Bon Birth”, a famous performance at the end of the first leg, was released, and it sold out in the blink of an eye. As the popularity of “Bon Birth” shows, there are many great performances. However, there is probably no show on the 1973 US tour that fits the words “hidden great performance and great sound source” so well. That is the Chicago performance held on July 7th, which will be released this time. Speaking of the Chicago Stadium in 1973, the performance on the previous day is famous in every sense. Although there is a good sound board recording left on this day, which marked the start of the second leg, the plant, which is full of a feeling of rest, is in a terrible state. Even the sound board captured the tattered state where there was no voice at all. In that respect, Chicago on the second day was a relatively new audience recording excavated in the 21st century. It is unfortunate that some cuts were made, starting with the end of “Celebration Day”, but the sound quality is quite fine. The first half of the show reflected the PA balance on the day, and the powerful sound image of Page’s guitar stood out. And yet the clarity was also stunning, and although it was a mono recording, it should be ranked high without question as an American audience recording from 1973. In addition, it has the amazing point that the pitch is accurate throughout the entire recording, even though it is a vintage sound source. Considering that audience recordings of 1970s concerts tend to go out of pitch due to aging, it shows how carefully the tapes were stored. Although there are some cuts scattered around, two CD items were made when it appeared nearly 15 years ago, as it was a new sound source from 1973 that recorded the entire show. Unfortunately, however, those items were released with some defects. “UNTOUCHABLE” was equalized as if to reflect the social conditions at the time of its release, and the finish was far from natural. On the other hand, although “In The Windy City II” did not have excessive equalization, the mysterious editing of cutting out the happenings from “Misty Mountain Hop” to “Since I’ve Been Loving You”, which will be mentioned later, was regrettable. Perhaps it was because there were only such insufficient items, but the release of the items from the second day of 73 Chicago was discontinued, and this excellent sound source and great performance was completely overlooked. It can be said that this is an unusual situation among the ZEP live sound sources where the release of past sound sources has been repeated so many times. In other words, the show itself was overlooked without the definitive version being released. The second day of 73 Chicago is not only surprisingly good in sound quality, but also has a wonderful performance above all else… except for Plant. As for him, he is also in a bad mood on this day. It is painful to see him singing the key down from “Rock And Roll”. The sound quality is so good that you can hear Plant’s back and forth shouting throughout the show. It was still better than the previous day, when he was in the worst condition, but it is true that it foreshadowed his later condition in Boston. On the stage in 1973, various recordings from shows before the US proved that when he was in this condition, Page and Bonzo were in a better mood than usual. That jinx was reproduced here as well, and it was clear from the opening that Page was playing in a good mood. In “Rock And Roll”, there was a different kind of bargaining with Bonzo than usual, which made me shiver. Contrary to the two’s motivated tone, there was a carefree scene where Johnsy started tuning his bass before starting “Over The Hills And Far Away”, which stopped the flow of the show. However, even at the end of this song, Page plays a phrase with more notes than usual, and he is still in good form. However, when moving from “Misty Mountain Hop” to “Since I’ve Been Loving You”, Paige, despite the other two breaking the performance, instead of starting to play his own solo, played the “Misty Mountain ~” riff alone and was left behind, which was a very unusual and hilarious happening. This was a scene where the word “excessive momentum” fits perfectly. This is one of the highlights of the first half, and it would be a shame to cut it out. And the best performance of the day was “Dazed And Confused”. The golden pattern of 73 Europe, where Paige and Bonzo try to cover the unwell plant, was strongly revived. From the intro, Bonzo was messing around a lot, which was rare for the United States in 1973, and from there, he and Paige’s spectacular interplay unfolds until the “San Francisco” section. The first half alone leaves a strong impression on the listener, but after the bowing part, the two of them engage in a thrilling battle that is reminiscent of 1973 Europe. In particular, the scene where Page matches Bonzo’s repeated passage and the two of them overlap is so intense that it gives you goosebumps. Let’s say that this is the best “Dazed And~” on the second leg of the 1973 US tour. It’s also thrilling when Page plays a “The Rover”-like phrase for just a moment at the end of “Whole Lotta Love” at the end of the show. This unknown day on the 1973 US tour, when he and Bonzo showed off their outstanding skills, will be released for the first time in a long time, and as an undisputed definitive edition. Anyway, I want you to listen to the spectacular performance of “Dazed And Confused” on this day. Live at Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL. USA 7th July 1973 Disc 1 (27:28) 1. Introduction 2. Rock and Roll 3. Celebration Day 4. Over the Hills and Far Away 5. Misty Mountain Hope 6. Since I’ve Been Loving You Disc 2 (55:54) 1. No Quarter 2. The Song Remains the Same 3. The Rain Song 4. Dazed and Confused Disc 3 (72 :41) 1. Stairway to Heaven 2. Moby Dick 3. Heartbreaker 4. Whole Lotta Love 5. Communication Breakdown