Led Zeppelin - September 23, 1971 - Tokyo (Rock Carnival / Moonchild Records)

Led Zeppelin
September 23, 1971
Budokan
Tokyo

Rock Carnival (Definitive Version) / Moonchild Records

101. Introduction By Goro Itoi
102. Immigrant Song
103. Heartbreaker
104. Since I've Been Loving You
105. Black Dog
106. Dazed And Confused
107. Stairway To Heaven
108. Celebration Day
109. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp / That's The Way

201. Going To California
202. What Is And What Should Never Be
203. Moby Dick
204. Whole Lotta Love
205. Communication Breakdown

This is a copy of the no label released in Osaka several years back, containing the complete tape source that first surfaced in fragment on the Watchtower label. The sound quality is very good to excellent with some distortion present. Some of the gaps in the tape are plugged using alternate tape sources in seamless edits. The sound quality isn’t as bad as previously thought and this is a good title to seek out.

The first show of Led Zeppelin's epic first tour of Japan. The tape begins with a lengthy stage announcement in Japanese, which ends in a very enthusiastic band introduction. Immigrant Song is a sonic assault. While Page changes a broken string, Plant mentions how much the band have been enjoying their stay in Japan and tells the crowd that they want to make this the best time they've ever had before Heartbreaker. Page blazes through an excellent guitar solo.

Dazed and Confused includes one of the earliest hints of what will become The Crunge from Bonzo and Jones during the excellent guitar workout section. Page plays an excellent solo during Stairway to Heaven. Jones is on fire during Celebration Day. The acoustic set begins with a bit of Bron-Y-Aur Stomp before That's the Way. Plant talks about San Francisco in 1967 before a beautiful Going to California. He tells the crowd to "stop all that whistlin' man!" before What is and What Should Never Be.

There are a couple cuts during the theramin freakout in Whole Lotta Love. The second cut leaves us in the medley during Hello Mary Lou. Elvis Presley's A Mess of Blues is followed by an excellent Tobacco Road and the first appearance of Good Times Bad Times since 9/4/1970. The biggest surprise is the inclusion of How Many More Times, its first appearance since 9/19/1970. The medley ends with an excellent You Shook Me. Plant tells some people causing trouble near the stage to cool it before Communication Breakdown. The band stops playing during the guitar solo as Plant shouts "stop that thing, you!" at the offending audience members. The recording ends during the return of the main riff after a short funky interlude. A taste of things to come. Must hear.

Opening night of the first Japanese tour; there aren't too many words to describe this amazing show! Robert's voice is unreal, and the whole band, particularly Jones and Page, are definitely on fire! After blistering Immigrant Song, Jimmy's broken a guitar string and Plant did some observations: "I understand that in Japan not many people speak English. Anyway, every day it's getting better. We'd like to say that so far we've had an incredible time, a wonderful time. We haven't even played a concert yet and we've all really been having a ball. I'm gonna do my best to make this the best time we've ever had, because it seems to be such a difference to America. America doesn't seem to be so good anymore, unfortunately. Maybe it'll get better." Dazed And Confused has some awesome riffing led by Jones and Page, and the entire show, culminating in the exceptional medley, is great! Some crowd members climbed on stage during the Communication Breakdown and Robert Plant had to stop the song for a short while.