Led Zeppelin - September 29, 1971 - Osaka (Kutabare Moonchild / Moonchild)

Led Zeppelin
September 29, 1971
Festival Hall

Osaka, Japan

Kutabare Moonchild / Moonchild Records

101. Audience Cheer / Tune Up
102. Immigrant Song
103. Heartbreaker
104. Since I've Been Loving You
105. Black Dog
106. Dazed And Confused

201. Stairway To Heaven
202. Celebration Day
203. That's The Way
204. Going To California
205. Tangerine
206. Friends
207. What Is And What Should Never Be
208. Moby Dick

301. Whole Lotta Love
302. Communication Breakdown
303. Organ Solo
304. Thank You

305. Rock and Roll

Empress Valley started releasing snippets of the famous 929 concert earlier this year in fabulous soundboard quality, these tantalizing tidbits forever laid waste to the assumption that the tapes were of poor quality and the master tapes wiped clean. After the pre release torrent of the Seattle March 21, 1975 soundboard last year, EV decided that they had to have some control of future releases of such important material. In February 2018 the label released Immigrant Song as a single, followed by Stairway To Heaven and Friends a few months later and needless to say Zeppelin message boards everywhere were buzzing with the possibility. Finally on September 29 of this year to coincide with Led Zeppelin’s 50th anniversary, EV presented the release everyone was waiting for, September 29, 1971 from the true soundboard source. “Oh-Show”, “Geisha”, and “How The East Was Won” were three different packages with three different price levels, the higher the price the more extras you get. This release did not come at a good time, I could not justify even the lowest price level based upon what was offered.

Led Zeppelin’s first visit to Japan in the fall of 1971 continues to intrigue and inspire the fan and collector of the unofficial output, and for good reason. Led Zeppelin’s performances from this period are staggering, and their ones in Japan are legendary. It is interesting to look at how many recordings have surfaced over the years for these five concerts, and the vast number of bootlegs that have been produced from these shows. Other than the first night in Japan, perhaps no other concert has been the subject of so many releases than the fifth and final night in the city of Osaka, and for good reason. There are several audience recordings that exist ranging from average to very good as well as an incomplete soundboard recording, the band’s performance is sublime, one of the best played where they play a laid back relaxed yet intense concert that has made it a fan favorite since the early days of vinyl.

There have been too numerous to list releases of this material in one form or another individually on vinyl and compact disc, then various labels started using the main soundboard source and filling their numerous gaps with audience recordings in a way to present the complete concert. Titles such as 9291971 (Tarantura TCD-71 RSR-209), Fatally Wanderer 929 (Wendy 30,31,32), Fatally Wanderer Definitive Version (Wendy 71,72,73), Regalia 929 (Wendy 200,201,202), Live In Japan (Empress Valley EVSD 776-781), You Were There In Spirits (Empress Valley EVSD 291,292,293) and 929 (No Label) all feature some sort of variation on this theme.

Perhaps the best of the amalgamation of sources is not from one of the premier labels, but the work of a fan, a fan whose name is well regarding in the trading community for his work on a multitude of famous Zeppelin recordings who goes under the moniker Winston Remasters. He premiered his work on this famous concert, dubbed Arigatou Osaka, in 2015 and like his others, was made available to masses free of charge via various Internet sites. Then Kutabare Moonchild (Fuck You Moonchild) , Title that Moonchild record left as is to relase this little gem...lol (Would love to see Winston's face...)

There have been a few previous soundboard recordings from 1971, Hampton, Orlando, and the Toronto fragment and to me they sound great but lack true fidelity. This my friends, sounds incredible. This recording is a perfect balance of instruments and vocals, if anything the audience is low in the mix. The drums and bass sound incredible, if you are like me and are used to the old soundboard, hang on as this is what we dreamed the real tapes would sound like. There is just a small amount of hiss as one would expect but all in all this is not only THE best soundboard from 1971, it rivals the best from 75 and 77. The sound is fully three dimensional and has wonderful dynamics, turn this up loud and get ready for a hell of a ride.

What can be said about this concert that many before have not already said? Simply a wonderful performance, one that most never tire of and in my book a top ten. This new recording captures two thirds of this legendary performance, I have the TDOLZ 929 and many editions of the soundboard recording, to me this is like looking at something totally familiar from a new angle and really enjoyed hearing it from this perspective. Dazed is stunning in this recording and Robert’s comments prior to That’s The Way make more sense as you can hear constant clamber by the audience for Jimmy and based on Robert’s comment, he is keeping his distance and it also eludes to Peach’s position, obviously very close to the stage. While I have a stack of titles to review, I start this CD and am content to listen, all the while the others begin to collect dust, such is the nature of this concert.

As great as Immigrant Song and Heartbreaker are, Since I’ve Been Loving You is jaw dropping in its intensity, so clear and powerful it is simply a moving experience just listening, lights down low, eyes closed just taking it all in. Three minutes into Dazed and Confused and my floor is vibrating from the bass frequencies yet I will not turn it down, the journey is just beginning and while I have heard this hundreds of times, it is completely new. The bow solo is exquisite, Plant’s moans haunting and one imagines scaling a cliff at dark to see the Hermit. Jones and Bonham start the drive and Page enters ala Hendrix with some tasty flashes of Wah and just rips into the fast section without abandon, I cannot describe the rhythm section, you need to hear, and feel it. Pennies From Heaven is so clear and I find myself waiting for the audience patch, and after its gone I feel that the interlude was more effective and moving than I ever assumed.

What is most interesting is the sound of Stairway To Heaven when compared to the rest, while it is certainly 929, it has as different timbre as well as a slightly different mix, Robert’s vocals are extremely clear as is John Paul Jones’ Fender Rhodes and is very interesting to hear in such clarity…wait ‘til Bonzo enters, if your stereo is at the level mine it, hold on. Friends, to have this rarity in such a clear recording is such a treat…Eelgrass certainly could have done a better job with the transitions of these two songs, there are loud digital pops at the track cues. For What Is And What Should Never Be we are back to the original sound quality, one wonders if they had multiple tape machines running to overlap the tape flips so no music is lost. Moby Dick is not complete and clocks in at 10:33, the beginning is very muscular, just prior to the coda, the sound is not as clear.

The encores are a treat, especially the great Communication Breakdown, very loose playing by the same yet cohesively entertaining as Page free forms it. A superb Rock And Roll was the final encore of the evening, a superb straight forward version, loving the “oooh yeah…oooh yeahs” from Plant and the band sounds so relaxed after the marathon three hour performance. Another loud digital pop leads us into the bonus track Black Dog from the previous evening September 28, at the same venue. This was let out in 2016 as sort of a teaser that was never really followed up on. First thing you hear is the use of noise reduction or compression as the slight metallic sound is instantly heard. The sound of this track is rather harsh after listening to the previous recordings being so nice and warm. Nonetheless the sound is perfectly balanced and an excellent recording that sounds like the levels were jacked up a bit. Brilliant version of Black Dog, Pagey’s playing is confident and very fluent and one wonders is there is more of this recording coming in the future. Most interesting is that we get the full crowd noise between Black Dog, Plant’s introduction and Jonsey’s first couple of bass notes to Dazed And Confused.

The packaging is simple, a jewel case with inserts adorned with pictures from the event, the front cover is rather cheap looking and certainly not worthy of such a recording as found inside. Unbelievable that we have this material, this concert has long been a fan favorite, and to have the soundboard and the Mr. Peach recording all in one year is too much. A stunning performance and certainly one of the most important recordings to surface in quite some time…you need this!