BOTM#11 A farewell part 4 of 4

[tytlane@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Next up is a short(!) introduction of Bonzo into the 'Over The Top'
solo. I remember the volume was now louder than all night. I didn't
think it could have gotten louder, but it did! The crowd was awed by
Bonham's drum set rolling out to center stage, and stood transfixed
as Bonzo proceeded to wail away at the kit with the ferocity of a
beast and the finesse of a butterfly. Then the tympani section with
the effected phase-shifted unearthly sounds. They come out of the
solo with the 'Moby Dick' riff. "Let's hear it for John Bonham!!!
once, twice, thrice, John Bonham!!!" The solo lasted some 17+
minutes. Not the longest drum solo, but not the shortest, either.

Then one big spotlight shone down from above on Jimmy onstage with
that guitar slung down waaaaaay low, looking cool as shit. He starts
making some heavily effected sounds before heading to the theramin
for a weird trippy journey into light and sound. Cool! He's brought
the bow! He starts sending the notes to the different cabinets and
pointing the bow at 'em.I remember the bow's strings were all busted
up early. I think he had to grab another one. I think you can hear
that on this tape, because it sounds like he's using the *back* of
the bow while he walked back to the back amp line to get another one.
We all thought that laser pyramid was the coolest thing we'd ever
seen (still is among the top ten).

A big gong hit from Bonham sends the band into 'Achilles Last Stand'.
Jimmy gets animated and is all over the stage, still staggering from
time to time. A few botched notes by Page grace this number, but
we're getting Led Zeppelin warts and all. We didn't care, we were
riding the wave. There's a small tape drop out here on this release,
but it's no worse than some of Page's finger-farts. This was probably
my first memory of seeing a crowd "head-banging". The whole place was
*alive* and *electric*!

As the strains of 'Achilles' fades, the crowd swells to Robert saying
something to the effect of "I Think we should dedicate this next one
to the peace and brotherhood of Louisville" and then the familar
first lines of 'Stairway To Heaven' fill the air.

Jones finds himself in fine form with the "recorder" intro, as Plant
gets off to a rocky start. Robert finally gets his voice into gear
and asks us all if "Anybody remembers laughter". I remember all the
chicks were just eyeballing Plant like hungry beasts. Jimmy gets off
some tasty licks with what, in comparison, is not a bad 'Stairway'
performance. The crowd simply goes nuts and Plant bids us all a "Good
Night!". A little time passes with the crowd clapping and stomping
until they come back out with a hearty "Good evening!" Bonzo turns
loose with a full-speed ahead 'Rock and Roll'. Jimmy is super-
animated at this point, duck-walking across the stage back and forth
and strutting like a caged panther. Jonesey and Bonham are *flying*
through this one! All the lights are on and flashing like crazy
during this one making it a showstopper. Literally. The song builds
to a rousing crescendo and is put to rest with little fanfare. Plant
bids us all "Good Night" once again, an this time he means it.

So there you have it. Louisville, 4/25/77. A date that will live with
*me* forever, and one now that I can say I can relive through my
stereo speakers.
It's hard to put into words what coming upon a defining moment in
your life in a recorded media means 30 years after the fact.

Tonight, I've relived that day when everything was going so wrong and
it turned out oh so right. Good times. Never to have again. Friends
that you shared that with, and in my case, one friend I can share
with no more.

That being said, I dedicate this lengthy novel I've written to one of
my best buds Brian who passed away about 8 years ago.

Peace,
JR