Glasgow 1972 2nd Night (No Label)
Green’s Playhouse, Glasgow, Scotland – December 4, 1972
Disc 1 (55:24) Introduction, Rock And Roll, Over The Hills And Far Away, Black Dog, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Dancing Days, Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp, The Song Remains The Same, The Rain Song
Disc 2 (67:25) MC, Dazed And Confused, Stairway To Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker
In late December 2020 a second source for Led Zeppelin’s second night in Glasgow December 4, 1972 concert appeared on a well known tracker, again the Dogs of Doom were associated with its surfacing. The two concerts in Glasgow were early in the U.K. 1972/73 Winter Tour and found the band beginning to hit their stride after a somewhat sluggish pair of dates in Newcastle. Recordings for both Glasgow concerts circulate, the second concert is the better of the two, the audience are in a great mood and their spirits bring out the best in Led Zeppelin. The first source has been around for years as a good sounding tape that was a bit distant and overloaded yet is a listenable and enjoyable source. This recording was issued previously as Stuck On You (The Diagrams Of Led Zeppelin TDOLZ-030) and packaged together with the previous evening on From U.K. With Love (Tarantura TCD-199/200) and Pop Gets Tied Up-Glasgow 1972 (Empress Valley Supreme Disc EVSD-1100/01/02/03/04). There are reviews for both the TDOLZ and EVSD titles on Collectors Music Reviews for your reading pleasure.
This release comes from what I believe to be a Dadgad remaster of the second source. Known for his fine mastering skills, and considerable work that needed to be done to provide the best and most complete version of this concert. First off the second new source is less complete than source 1, there are numerous cuts in every song, these cuts are filled with the first source and some areas of tape deterioration have been reinforced with source 1 as well. The mastering of the sources is excellent and while you do detect some of them, it really provides a seamless and enjoyable listening experience. The second source is just a minimal improvement over the first, both are equally as distant and the second source suffers from tape overload and is just a little cleaner with slightly better frequencies. The amalgamation of the tapes is in perfect compliment of each other and to my ears, this is the best way to listen to this concert. There is one other release of this newly released second source with gaps filled with source 1, Glasgow A Go-go (Wendy WECD 391/392) and based upon the evaluation on the Bootledz web site, suffers from heavy handed mastering.
The packaging is typical for No Label, inserts with both color and black and white live shots of Zeppelin from the tour. The pictures show a superstar band in the United States playing rather small, in comparison, venues in their home land, devastating audiences with their live prowess. Pics on the CDs, numbered sticker, all that Jazz! Certainly not a title for the casual listener but the seasoned Zeppelin fan will enjoy this.
