| Tech Note | This show is the first recorded performance of the band headlining in a large auditorium, with this show having taken place at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California. As far as the gig itself, the show is very good. After a solid performance of the first two songs the band pause for Page to change a string, which prompts the rest of the group to get into another I Gotta Move jam, like they had done in March 14th, 1969 on the radio. But, before they get into it, something seems to happen in front of the stage, which causes Plant to laugh and comment: "How we doin? You must bear with me. IÃm of slight coordination, right? So, if youÃre ready to take it, I can give it." At which moment a girl can be heard near the recorder yelling out in true "summer of 69" hippy spirit: "Get high! ... And get with meeee!" With a nearby audience member responding to her in like manner: "Be free!"
The tape starts with a quick stage announcement before the band jumps into Train Kept a Rollin'. It is immediately apparent that this tape is all Page. It sounds like it was recorded from inside his amplifier. If it weren't for the occasional pauses in his playing, I'd wonder if the rest of the band had even shown up.
Page's ferocious soloing during I Can't Quit You Baby is accentuated by the nasty tone of the recording. We finally get to hear Plant, Jones, and Bonzo as they play an uptempo boogie version of I Gotta Move while Page changes a broken string. Dazed and Confused cuts in during the first verse. The majority of White Summer/Black Mountain Side is missing, the tape is cut just as Page finally gets his guitar in tune. There is a cut during the guitar solo in You Shook Me, coming back for the finale. Page single-handedly invents the concept of shredding during How Many More Times. The medley is growing, tonight featuring The Lemon Song and Chuck Berry's School Days. |
