Over The Hills and Far Away

July 7, 1973
Chicago, IL US
Chicago Stadium


Rock and Roll,
Celebration Day,
(Bring It On Home intro) Black Dog,
Over the Hills and Far Away,
Misty Mountain Hop,
Since I've Been Loving You,
No Quarter,
The Song Remains the Same,
Rain Song,
Dazed and Confused (incl. San Francisco),
Stairway to Heaven,
Moby Dick,
Heartbreaker,
Whole Lotta Love (incl. Let That Boy Boogie), Communication Breakdown.

Very good sounding tape, with Jimmy up front. The drums are a bit in the background. Plant's voice has recovered a bit from the night before (as it is said). I don't have the SB from the 6th as the combination of a bad voiced Plant and a 1973 SB doesn't sound too tempting. But maybe in the future ?? The sound travels a bit here and there, also with tiny dropouts but nothing too serious. 'Celebration Day' has the band already fired up, shame it is cut. We go straight into the introduction for 'Over The Hills And Far Away'. Jonesy is excused for a minute due to a problem with his braincell(s). Plant's voice starts to crack during the first verse. While 'Celebration Day' sounded on fire, this sounds extremely sluggish. Jimmy saves it all with a lengthy solo and a suddenly improved guitar volume. 'Misty Mountain Hop' has the audience clapping along fine. Robert sounds suddenly fine singing about a subject close to the heart. The overall sound has improved a lot during this part of the tape. Page doesn't get in the break leading to 'Since I've Been Loving You' as Bonham and Jones expected but extends a bit before doing so. Great version with Robert's raw, raspy voice to it's full effect and Jimmy also in great form. Even the keyboards are perfectly audible now. Jonesy's showpiece 'No Quarter' follows. Perfect version 1973 style without the enhancements of 1975/1977. Bonzo adds a bit of tympani here and there during the keyboard solo. Page joins very quickly for the jam. Suddenly it becomes very nice to hear a 1973 concert from an audience recording after all the SBD releases of the past years. Wonderful version of 'No Quarter'. Plant hammers the press who wrote in a review about last night's concert that Bonzo plays the organ. 'The Song Remains The Same' continues in fine form. Some minor tape problems are starting up, maybe due to the volume of this song, because at the start of 'The Rain Song' they're gone. Again, no complaints here, or am I just happy to hear a 1973 U.S.A. audience tape ?? 'Dazed And Confused' is greeted with an enormous cheer. Plant is recovered now and adlibs and screams at will. Together with 1972 these are the best versions of this song. The first fast part is overwhelming, Page is the shining star with lots of fluency and imagination. The intro to 'San Francisco' is beautiful. No hurry as Jimmy is improvising a bit before softly gliding into the bow solo where the audience really screams the roof off. The duel with Plant is extremely good. 'Mars' ends the bow solo and the bubble burst quickly with Bonzo and Jones entering with all power. What follows is an endless improvisation with all kind of rhythm changes till the call and response with Robert starts. This is rather short and the pace is picked up quickly with Bonzo really getting into it. The return to the main theme is a bit shaky, but quickly forgiven. Great, all 29 minutes !! Everybody goes really nuts as 'Stairway To Heaven' starts. The sound is a bit muddier now which suffers the keyboards. There's a small cut just before the fanfare. This is a good version of their most famous song. Jimmy again performs a masterful solo. Robert doesn't sound too bad in the closing end. 'Moby Dick' takes about 29 staggering minutes. At the end there seems a bit of concern that the drum intro to 'Heartbreaker' is the signal to 'Moby Dick' part 2. Jimmy's solo spot is full on with the 'Bouree' included. Via a drum intro this is linked to 'Whole Lotta Love'. Some weird noise is preceding the guitar sound now. Lyrics from 'The Crunge' begin the Theramin solo. The 'Boogie Chillun' section is great but not extended with extra songs. The taper and friends give all kind of comments praising the event, while a girl's whole body is numb, as she says. A real firecracker fest is starting now. 'Communication Breakdown' is the solo encore for this very good show, sound and performance wise.

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[francescaemc2]

Ah, What a breath of fresh air on those hills and far away.

maybe... more that enough.

Bravo Conneyfogle for bringing this to your channel.