Led Zeppelin - Budokan Tokyo, September 23, 1971
I have most every Led Zeppelin show ever made available — somewhere around 200 shows from December, 1968 in Spokane, Washington to July, 1980 in Berlin. Obviously there are peaks and valleys of recording quality and performance quality. After 1973 or so the band had some sloppy, plodding shows interspersed with some really magical moments. By the mid 70's they had earned their reputation and could lay back and enjoy their success. That same success with a heaping helping of excess added on top served to make the band often appear to be a lumbering dinosaur. Three and a half hour shows with 15 songs on the setlist were marathons of indulgence that could test the patience of even the most dedicated fan. 30 minutes of No Quarter, 30 minutes of Moby Dick, 30 minutes of guitar soloing from Jimmy could rival the Grateful Dead for self indulgent jamming.
Of course, I love all that silly stuff. I never would try to test an audience's patience with my own musical endeavors. Part of it was "the times" but part of it was the four members appearing to work less as a group and more as a vehicle for their individual talents.
Led Zeppelin made their reputation as a live band from their nearly ceaseless schedule from early 1960 to 1972. In 1971 they made their first ventures to Asia and played a series of shows in Japan in the fall of 1971 that were legendary, if not mythically epic.
Hyperbolic words like electric, stunning, blistering, mesmerizing can be strewn about but you just have to hear the show and feel the energy shared between audience and band. All the stars were aligned for this performance. The band had a couple days of rest before the shows started and this show is just bursting with energetic glee from a quartet of men whose oldest member was a mere 27.
Tight and emotional performances are the norm for the whole show and Plant's stage banter is some of his best. Plant probably could have had a career as a standup comic working the Blackpool summer seasons if he wanted. Certainly silly stage patter could be construed as something that could blur the mythic Zeppelin image of the mysterious Viking troubadours laying waste to the hinterlands but the band's performances of the 13 songs are deadly serious.
This show was recorded a couple months prior to Led Zeppelin IV's release but the setlist features Stairway To Heaven, Black Dog and Going To California. Imagine the treat of going to a Led Zeppelin show in 1971 and hearing material you had never heard before. Imagine Stairway to Heaven as something new and not the most overplayed song in all of of rock radio.
However the kicker of this gig is the nearly 40 minute version of Whole Lotta Love that is mostly a medley of rock and blues oldies. The Boogie section of WLL is well represented on Led Zeppelin's 3 legit live offerings but here the band just keeps jumping into new songs led initially by Plant and then pushed into heights of musical delirium by the rest of the band. Many of their own songs as well as the usual oldies parade are represented.
You owe it to yourself to find a copy of this show. Make sure you listen with headphones or on a good system for maximum rock.
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