BOTM#11 red edition part 2

[tytlane@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

The first song was 'Song Remains The Same'. I didn't really recognize
it at first because this was the LOUDEST THING I'D EVER HEARD IN MY
LIFE!!! Jimmy Page was swaggering back and forth and looked like he'd
had some reds too.  Bonham was dressed in a white t-shirt, blue
uniform pants and spats! JPJ hung close by the drum riser providing
the solid low-end to Jimmy's loosy-goosey guitar strains. This is
evidenced on the tape.

 After the opening number, Jimmy plodded into The Rover/Sick again.
It was now apparent that Jimmy was fuuuuucked up on something. Maybe
just drunk, but definitely inebriated. Robert stalked the stage
pointing accusingly at the crowd from time to time. I couldn't
really tell at wat at the time, but after a while it was obvious the
crowd had surged forward and fights were breaking out all over the
place. Jimmy still plays like he's got Elmer's glue on his fingers
from time to time. John Paul Jones' bass was making my heart vibrate
in my chest and Bonham's drums were crushingly loud. Robert's
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.." was echoing off Freedom Hall's walls sounding
really strange with all the effects. After the song, Robert gave us a
hearty "Good Evening Louisville!". Also he says something else, but
Jimmy is noodling on his guitar and drowns out Robert's words.

The opening notes of 'Nobody's Fault But Mine' rang out with Robert
joining in with the "AHH AHH AHH AHH AH AAHHHHHH.."Robert's voice is
in fair shape so far considering the obvious distractions from the
rowdy Kentuckians which is evidenced by Robert calling out to some
guys pushing and fighting with a stern "COOL IT!!!". This could get
ugly, I thought to myself. The guys quit scrapping for about 5
seconds and went back at again. Some pretty good harp work by Plant
highlights this song. The place was jumping by now!! Shit was flying
everywhere! Frisbees, beach balls, bottles, cigarettes and fucking
firecrackers. Goddam firecrackers! One landed right behind me and
about made me shit myself. Some girl next to us was so drunk she was
flopping around like a seal with his flippers tied. One titty
hangin'out and no shoes.

After the song was over, Plant urges the audience "Can you not push
so much at the front" with some more banter aimed at getting this
crowd calmed down. Jimmy tunes his guitar and begins the slow intro
to 'Since I've Been Lovin' You. Folks, you could see the weed smoke
rise like Hiroshima right then! Even the drunk titty-chick was
starting to mellow out. Or at least starting to stagger in smaller
circles. Robert's voice sounds a little nasal, like maybe he had a
"cocaine cold" that Monday night. Jimmy was playing really loose
again during the leads, with Jones' keyboards sounding ethereal
against Bonham's rock-solid backbeat. My God, this is still so
fucking LOUD!!! The reds were kicking in really good on all 4 of us
by this time and the slit-eyed smiles from Ron, Brian, Jack and me
let us know we were all in our element, even though it was far too
loud to communicate with words. The blue smoke and pastel lighting
made the song a real show-stopper at that point for us. And you can
tell from the tape that the crowd was fully in the moment with the
band by then. "Jimmy Page, guitar!" and Robert then introduces John
Paul Jones on piano for 'No Quarter'.

Another big cloud of weed smoke rises up from the floor of Freedom
Hall and across the stage the dry ice fog flowed while Jimmy's guitar
wah-wah'ed it's way into the brains of 19,000 blissed-out Kentucky
kids. There were still the occasional scuffles on the sides of the
stage. People were still pushing to get closer. Any closer and they'd
have been on the other *side* of the stage, for Chrissake! A lone
spotlight zeroes in on John Paul Jones at this keyboards and Jimmy
gives the theramin a wave (there's a short tape cut right at this
time on the newly-found release). You can hear the firecrackers still
going off down front, even during this mellow moment from JPJ.
Several people around us must have went to the can about this time as
we were actually able to raise our arms over our waists. JPJ and
Bonzo start a neat little shuffle reminiscent of the Charlie Brown
theme for a short time. They were obviously having a good time. Then
back into the main 'NQ' melody. Jimmy eases back into the song with
intensity. He might have stepped backstage for a little "eye-opener"
during Jonesey's solo, as the glue seems to have came off his fingers
a bit. The leads were smoking with hardly a clinker to be heard for
the rest of the song. A little spontaneous interplay between the
drums, piano and guitar highlight this track for a few moments. We
were amazed at the bass pedals for this one. Afterward, we said that
we were sure that the Freedom Hall people had to go around and
retighten the bolts in the beams of the hall. Back into the main
melody again with Robert singing "walking side by side with death".
His voice is still holding up well despite the sheer volume of the
show. Plant's screams of "The dogs of doom are howlin' low" are
paired with Jimmy's wah-wah'ed guitar making a eerie atmosphere for
the final moments of this masterpiece. More "Plantations" follow with
Robert reminding the audience that "we always do the old shit",
segueing into 'Ten Years Gone'.