Led Zeppelin/MN, USA 1975 & more

Speaking of the early part of Led Zeppelin’s 1975 U.S. tour, the Chicago performance may have a strong impression, but the actual opening day of the tour was March 18th at Bloomington’s Met Center. . The first day of the tour, which took place at a now-defunct Minneapolis arena, the sound source was not discovered for a long time, and it remained a night wrapped in a veil. It was last year that the sound source of the first day of such a phantom tour was finally hinted at. Suddenly, a PA-out soundboard capturing fragments of “The Wanton Song” appeared on YouTube. It was something that mania all over the world was fascinated by. After that, only a glimpse of the PA output soundboard of several songs was released, including “When The Levee Breaks”, which was another highlight of the early part of the tour. Since it was a day when even audience recording had not been discovered until now, the situation like “Bloomington’s SBD is hidden” was shocking, but it is also true that it became a situation that irritated mania. After all, if it captures the stage before Robert Plant gets sick with a cold, and also includes extremely rare repertoire only at the beginning of the tour, it is natural that you will want to listen to the whole story. However, there is no sign that the situation will progress regarding the release of SBD, and in fact, since the beginning of this year, the surprisingly rich early ZEP live sound source has continued to be discovered, which is like a dream, and the impact of last year’s SBD release has disappeared in the blink of an eye. I can’t help but feel that it has faded. 75 Bloomington was nothing but frustration for enthusiasts, but a shocking helping hand was reached. Audience recording from the same day suddenly appeared on the internet as soon as this month started. This gave us a new shock as no records had been confirmed from the audience seats until now. The team that unearthed this amazing sound source is “The Dogs of Doom”, whose discovery at the 1969 Atlanta Pop Festival is still fresh in our minds. These guys are really reassuring because they discover the sound sources that enthusiasts want to hear. If you think about it, it was a time when it was at the peak of its popularity in America, and concerts were held in arenas packed with people. It is strange that the audience recording was not discovered for such a long time. If it was the first day of such a historic American tour, the maniacs would have listened gratefully even if it was a sound that could be heard from the other side of the wall. However, it is also worth noting that the quality of this audience recording is surprisingly easy to listen to. Although the sound image has a sense of distance, it is really easy to hear thanks to the unusually quiet surroundings. However, it is not that the venue is dull, and when the opening “Rock And Roll” starts, it gets excited normally. Despite this, the fact that the surroundings were quiet throughout the show could be said to have been a miraculous environment from a recording perspective. On the other hand, there are some parts where the sound cracks when the performance becomes more intense, but even this is not at a level that makes listening to it stressful. It seems that the deep sound image and moist natural sound quality of the monaural recording combine for a unique listening experience. In the first place, the freshness of the sound source itself is amazing, and it is hard to believe that it has been dormant for 45 years. And as for the performance content, this is already a series of highlights. Jimmy had already injured his finger at this point, but because of that, when it came to the solos of “Rock And Roll” and “Over the Hills and Far Away”, phrases seemed to get stuck everywhere. It would have been better in 1980 (bitter smile), but it’s impossible for things to be like this in 1975, and it makes me reaffirm that they were really struggling. That’s why “When The Levee Breaks” was introduced, which allows Tommy Bolin to play through the bottleneck without putting strain on his fingers, and now the third take live version of the same song has been discovered. Compared to Brussels, where it was performed for the first time live and as a warm-up in 1975, the performance was stretched out, but on the other hand, Jimmy’s slide phrase became “run out of material” at the 6-minute mark, and it became too long. It will be. Therefore, at the next live performance in Chicago, towards the latter half of the performance, I think Bonzo tried to keep his drumming sharp. To begin with, the song itself is monotonous, and when you compare it to the album version, which uses effects to create it, the impression is that the performance seems to fall into a sluggish performance, no different from the opening day in Brussels or Chicago. However, what is noteworthy is the fact that unlike the first day in Chicago, Plant did not catch a cold. Now, three live versions of “When The Levee Breaks” have been heard, but the performance itself was won on the first day in Chicago, and Plant’s vocals are the overwhelming victory this time. For example, in “The Wanton Song”, the fact that Plant doesn’t have a cold is even more noticeable. Until now, the only day in 75 years that I was able to sing this song properly was in Brussels, but that day was a warm-up, so here I can rely on Plant to sing in an even more full-throttle tone. I realized that this song would have stood out on stage only if Plant could sing it. At the same time, although it was an audience recording, it was finally possible to listen to two rare Bloomington songs in their entirety. Also, just like in Brussels, it is really interesting that due to Jimmy’s finger problem, there was no exchange of improvisation at all even though it was a ZEP live in 1975, and this is also a fact that became clear only because the whole picture of the live was revealed. “No Quarter”, which shows a barely improvised development, sounds more like 1973 than 1975. It is a development and performance time that seems to be an illusion, and although Jimmy is playing the solo hard even in the new song “Trampled Under Foot” at that time, the development is still much shorter than the later version. Ironically, the performance did not escalate due to Jimmy’s injury, so to speak, it was also a record that captured the foundational state of the song. Naturally, “Dazed And Confused” was not picked up, and even the alternative “How Many More Times” was not introduced at this point. As a result, the biggest improvisation corner ended up being “Moby Dick.” What’s more, the drumming heard here is said to be one of the rarest developments in “Moby Dick” history. After 14 minutes, Bonzo started playing the ending pattern, but surprisingly, no one appeared on stage and he hurriedly returned to the drum solo, making for a frustrating turn of events. It was as if someone from the wings of the stage had instructed them to “keep going a little longer,” and in the end, at the 16th minute mark, the show turned once again to the ending, making for a rare and hilarious “Moby Dick.” Unfortunately, it is incomplete as “In My Time Of Dying”, which was played after the same song, and the final part of the live performance have not been recorded, but I hope you can understand that it is still a sound source full of things to listen to. The second disc contains the SBD snippet previewed in the second YouTube release. As you know, these are in a very fragmented state, so they are more of a talking point than a bonus, but we are trying our best to cover them. Even if a full-length SBD version appears in the future, it is a PA out recording that sacrifices the sense of realism, so this document from the audience seats will not lose its value in combination with the easy-to-listen sound quality. You can finally hear the stage performance from the first day of the 1975 American tour! Met Center, Bloomington, MN, USA 18th January 1975 Disc 1 (54:14) 1. Intro 2. Rock And Roll 3. Sick Again 4. Over The Hills And Far Away 5. When The Levee Breaks 6. The Song Remains The Same 7. The Rain Song 8. Kashmir 9. The Wanton Song Disc 2 (54:35) 1. No Quarter 2. Trampled Under Foot 3. Moby Dick 4. Stairway To Heaven Bonus Tracks SOUNDBOARD RECORDING 5. When the Levee Breaks 6 . The Song Remains the Same 7. The Wanton Song 8. Black Dog