June 28, 1970
Second Bath Festival of Blues & Progressive Music
Royal Bath & West Showground
Shepton Mallet
England
BATH FESTIVAL (4CD) EMPRESS VALLEY / EVSD-540/541/542/543
New Source
101. Immigrant Song
102. Heartbreaker
103. Dazed and Confused
104. Bring It On Home
105. Since I've Been Loving You
106. Organ Solo
107. Thank You
108. The Boy Next Door
109. What Is and What Should Never Be
201. Moby Dick
202. How Many More Times
203. Whole Lotta Love
204. Communication Breakdown
205. Rock Medley
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Old Source
301. Immigrant Song
302. Heartbreaker
303. Dazed and Confused
304. Bring It On Home
305. Since I've Been Loving You
306. Organ Solo
307. Thank You
308. The Boy Next Door
309. What Is and What Should Never Be
401. Moby Dick
402. How Many More Times
403. Whole Lotta Love
404. Communication Breakdown
405. Rock Medley
The most legendary gig by Zeppelin ever certainly lives up to that, even in the average recording. Robert's voice is just amazing in its range and scope, and the band are blistering ... Jones is on fire, Jimmy is incendiary and Bonham is thunderous. The band just played a perfect gig! There are a few previews: Immigrant Song, which was written six days before has a completely different vocal arrangement, That's The Way (under it's working title and introduced as "something a little different"), and a great jam at the end, and Since I've Been Loving You is played for the first time in the UK. Moby Dick is exceptional and the How Many More Times and Rock Medley are immensely powerful. Plant speaking to the audience prior to the final encores: "We've been playing America a lot recently and we really through that coming back here we might have a dodgy time. There's a lot of things going wrong in America at the moment, that are getting a bit sticky. It's really nice to come to an open-air festival where there are no bad things happening and everything's turned out beautiful."
The first appearance of Immigrant Song. Still in its early stages (Plant sings different lyrics with a slightly different melody and structure), the overall pounding intensity remains intact. Page shreds through the solos in Heartbreaker, Plant's voice echoing over the thunderous attack. Dazed and Confused is an epic workout. Bring it on Home features some excellent harmonica work from Plant. Since I've Been Loving You is epic, Page's playing is soulful and Plant's wails are spine-chilling.
After a source change, singing birds can be heard as Page tunes his guitar. The original source returns for an excellent dynamic performance of Thank You. Page's frenzied soloing soars above Bonzo's thunderous pounding. The definition of light and shade. Our first glimpse of the acoustic side of Led Zeppelin comes in the form of an early version of That's the Way, introduced here as "Boy Next Door". Page's tone is dirty and raw during a ferocious What is and What Should Never Be. Bonzo's drums sound like relentless machine gun fire during a frenzied Moby Dick.
Plant tells everyone in the crowd to smile before the band launches into an explosive How Many More Times. Plant sings a few lines of Down By the River during the Bolero section. His voice echoes out over the crowd as he starts his boogie intro. The band joins in for slow and heavy renditions of Muddy Waters's Honey Bee and Long Distance Call. The pace picks up for Boogie Chillen' and Sweet Home Chicago. After Plant's lemon squeezing, he gets the band into excellent renditions of Elvis Presley's I Need Your Love Tonight and That's All Right. Page is in top form, playing anything Plant can throw at him. The return to the main riff is crushing, the finale a devastating explosion of energy. It's amazing the crowd survived.
After the one-two punch of Whole Lotta Love and Communication Breakdown, the band returns to the stage one last time to satisfy the crowd's demands for more. Long Tall Sally frames a raucous medley including Johnny B. Goode, That's All Right, and other classics from the annals of rock history. A riotous end to one of the most legendary Led Zeppelin concerts ever recorded. Definitely a must hear.
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