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| 1970 07 January On This Day Led Zeppelin in Birmingham UK |
- 1967 The Yardbirds - Lowell, MA at Commodore Ballroom
- 1970 Led Zeppelin - Birmingham, UK at Town Hall
- 1973 Led Zeppelin - Oxford, UK at New Theatre
1970Express and Star review of the Birmingham gig
Led Zeppelin and the lovely strangled cat sound
Fans cheered wildly, danced in the aisles and even their seats last night to give Led Zeppelin one of the most fantastic receptions ever witnessed at Birmingham Town Hall.
Zeppelin, the group that conquered the States, was opening its first British tour for many months. It was interesting that the group should have chosen Birmingham to do this and must have been pleasing for the boys to receive such a reception.
The two-and-a-half-hour show featured solely Zeppelin... and some of the best rock music I have ever heard.
The group opened its act with Groove, before going into one of their early numbers, Dazed and Confused featuring brilliant lead guitar work from Jimmy Page, who, with the aid of cello bow, made his guitar sound like a cat being strangled.
All was, by then going great for the group and more of Jimmy Page, by way of a solo with White Sabbath bought more applause.
Other numbers included, Since I've Been Loving You written by the group only a couple of days before the concert and featuring John Paul Jones on organ- a track likely to be on the groups forthcoming album. Led Zeppelin III - and Thank You again with John on organ.
The final touch to the show was added by Robert Plant, gyrating around the stage calling on the audience to “Do Your Thing” and screaming out some really groovy rock.
Then things got going with Moby Dick featuring Dudley's John Bonham with a tremendous ten-minute drum solo. Discarding drumsticks, he added to the magnificence by playing barehanded, and bought the audience to its feet.
There it stayed until the end of the show, Zeppelin playing some of the greatest rock music, including such numbers as Rip It Up, By By Johnny, Come On Everybody, and Somethin' Else.
Two encores and eventually the group came on to close with a really wild version of Bring It On Home leaving the audience ecstatic and the Town Hall shaking to its very foundations after one of the wildest shows ever seen there.
The group performed its two and a half hours without a break, and when it finished, all four looked as though they had given everything they had, although I imagine they would have quite willingly carried on for an extra two and a half hours.
The Birmingham based outfits tour continues tonight in Bristol and if things go as well as last night, perhaps it wont be too long before the group gets the chart success it deserves and has seen in the States.
A nice review, although I'm not so sure about the strangled cat thing. Plus some creative reporting of song titles.
1973
Five days earlier at the Sheffield show Robert Plant was losing his voice. The next two days' shows were cancelled. The bit of rest helped, though, and by Oxford Plant was mostly back though at times he still had to struggle. Page, Bonham, and Jones were better than ever, though, and carried the day.
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♪ Led Zeppelin (Oxford UK at New Theatre, 07 January 1973) 
