Led Zeppelin, ‘Tuscon, AZ (Reel Archives)’ [No Label]
Sound quality – the actual tape is a tad overloaded, but don’t let that cause you to skip over it. This is the last night of the legendary 72 tour, prior to this release the only copies I had were fan remasters Cover art – Simple comes in a triple case with sticker
Drone – slight tape warble Immigrnt Song – first blast from the song fades in and out. One wonders how loud the concert actually was? The drums sound like they PING everytime Bonzo hits them. Its not as heavy handed as the “mastering” of older out of print bootlegs, but its there. Don’t let that dissuade you from checking this release out.
Heart Breaker – straight and to the point Black Dog – Plant dedicates this to “Terry Hansen” no nonsense performance here. Plant talks about the 1970 concert where he collapsed before they go into “Over The Hills and Far Away” a track from the upcoming “LZ V” album. He hits high notes but his voice does “squeak” during one bar of the song.
Page/Bonham/Jones are locked in during the solo. Since I’ve Been Loving You is introduced as “something a little softer” right before the song you hear someone yell: “Welcome To Tuscon!” Page takes off here Stairway – is clear as day because the crowd werent screaming like banshees, Page once again delivers here. The crowd loved the song, as they saved their appreciation at the song’s end. Bron – Yr – Stomp – Plant says they are at the end of their “tether”. “We’ve been on tour for 21 days and we’ve only had 4 days off!” Plant says they plan to get “really silly” when this tour ends, and also announces that the 5th album will be called “Burn That Candle” This is where the band finishes warming up and proceeds to melt faces with the first showcase of the night Dazed and Confused –
Highlight #1 – They could really do no wrong with this song in 1972. Love the Walters Walk teases during some of the jams WIAWSNB – I never understood why this song was played after D&C, another strong performance Dancing Days – Plant goes on about having a good time in the US and the band just play the song with no frills.
Moby Dick – Luis Rey once described a 1975 version of the drum solo as a “typewriter” solo. This is the reason why I skipped the drum solo no matter how many bootlegs I came across TBH my all time fave version of the drum solo is from the movie, and I dont mean the remaster. Im talking about the original I listened to the solo all the way through…….no typewriter solo here folks!
Whole Lotta Love – There is some tape warble here, mildly distracting but not that bad. If Im hearing things let me know please. Highlights of the medley include “Stuck on You” and “Millionaire Blues/Going Down Slow” No matter what Page does Bonham is right there adding nice fills and accents. Jones comes in with a nice piano solo as well. Then “Shape Im In” is the capper.
Plant says: “Keep Smiling” as the band ends the set Encore time: “Arizona’s Smiling” you can hear Bonzo sing “….when you’re smiling!” right before “Rock and Roll.” One final blast to send the crowd home happy. Don’t sleep on this release. Sound – Good To Very Good Performance – Very Good
Review by Unklejimbo
