Led Zeppelin – Double Shot 2 (Eelgrass EGL-20250/51/52)

Double Shot 2
(Eelgrass EGL-20250/51/52)

Capitol Centre, Landover, MD – May 30th, 1977

Disc 1 (69:45):  The Song Remains The Same, The Rover / Sick Again, Nobody’s Fault But Mine, In My Time Of Dying, Since I’ve Been Loving You, No Quarter

Disc 2 (49:12):  Ten Years Gone, The Battle Of Evermore, Going To California, Black Country Woman, Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp, White Summer, Black Mountain Side, Kashmir

Disc 3 (60:54):  Out On The Tiles / Moby Dick, Guitar Solo, Achilles Last Stand, Stairway To Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, Rock And Roll

Led Zeppelin played their fourth and final show in the Capitol Centre in Landover, Maryland on Labor Day, May 30th.  Playing before a sold-out holiday crowd on a Monday night motivated the band to play their best show in the Capitol region and one of the best from the tour.  

For many years a very good audience tape has been in circulation and been pressed on Destroyer III (Tarantura T3CD-8-1/2/3), Running On Pure Heart and Soul (TDOLZ Vol. 25) part of their Maryland Deluxe set, Dragon Slayer (Electric Magic EMC-005A/B/C) part of their Landover set and finally Supreme Destroyers III (EVSD-282/283/284) on Empress Valley where it’s paired with the two Cleveland shows in April.  

Double Shot 2 features an excellent soundboard of the event.  It has some balance problems similar to the May 25th tape in the beginning with the bass very high in the mix, but it soon settles down into a very nicely recorded and enjoyable recording.  There is a big cut in “No Quarter” between 3:00 to 12:26 filled in by the audience tape and a twenty second cut in “White Summer” starting six seconds in.  

Both “The Song Remains The Same,” function every bit as the fanfare it was intended to be, and “Sick Again” are very tight.  “Well good evening. I said good evening!  Well we finally made it. Sorry about the little bit of delay. This is our fourth and final night here so … you know what last night’s in a town are? At least I do.”  Someone ignited a firecracker during the opening song which isn’t audible on this recording but is on the audience tape.  Plant responds, “I think you know we can have a contest all night between what’s the loudest, the band or those sort of things. Can we do without those firecrackers please?”

“Nobody’s Fault But Mine” is plagued by several mistakes caused by unruly audience members.  Plant flubs the harmonica solo when someone fires a bottle rocket at him, lighting his shirt on fire and forcing him to take it off.  Also, Bonzo comes close to derailing the song by coming in too early after the guitar solo.  

“I’ve heard of magic. I don’t really think that was really magical though, do you?” Plant says afterwards.  “Well it got the blood pleasure rising a bit though,” joking about the incident.  “I’ve got undressed before small parties, but never before twenty two thousand people so, I think I better get dressed again.”

(There is one shot in the surviving 8mm film showing a half naked Plant singing onstage).  

“In My Time Of Dying” is a marked improvement with Plant’s pleadings of “Maryland, do you believe me?  That I did somebody some good.”  They end the piece with a reference to “You Shook Me” like all the other performances on this tour.  

Afterwards Plant jokes, “It’s debatable whether I need a fire extinguisher or I need a towel” before calling “Since I’ve Been Loving You” a song “we wrote ourselves … it’s also a blues.”  They give a great performance of their blues as they also do in “No Quarter.”  Jones plays interesting piano melodies in the first part of the piano solo.  Page and Bonham follow with rather comedic little figures before they get into the proper “No Quarter” heavy jam session.  

Jones takes his time getting ready for “Ten Years Gone.”  Plant says he’s drinking wine behind the amplifiers and can’t keep up the pace and even calls him “an old wanker.”  

Plant introduces the acoustic section of the show by speaking about a time when flower in the hair meant something, mentioning Arthur Lee’s band Love’s song “My Love She Comes In Colors,” namedropping the Stones and saying he doesn’t want Led Zeppelin to be remembered for “gunk gunk gunk gunk.”  They play great versions of “The Battle Of Evermore” and “Going To California,” two songs from the fourth album.  Before completing the set Plant sings a bit of the Elvis song “Surrender” as a prelude to “Black Country Woman.”  He dedicates the song to Janine’s mom.  “Wherever you are, mom, you’ve got a wonderful daughter.”  

“Kashmir” again is very tight and Plant comments afterwards “maybe we’ll meet again one day in Kashmir.”  Bonzo’s drum solo is kept thrilling and compact.  Page’s noise solo includes a strange little version of “Feelin’ Groovy” by Simon & Garfunkel.  The violin bow episode sounds quite creepy in this recording, especially as it leads into a great “Achilles Last Stand.”  

“Stairway To Heaven” is one that “tracks down the history of modern day laughter.  When they return for the encores they play the short “Whole Lotta Love” and “Rock And Roll” medley.  Plant wishes the audience a happy holiday as they leave the stage.  

Double Shot 2 highlights one of the most muscular and exciting shows from this visit.  It’s only the third show to be given the DESTROYER appellation and it certainly deserves it.  Eelgrass package the title in a standard quad case with generic photos from the tour.  Overall this is a great title to have in an affordable silver pressed edition.