Led Zeppelin
Destroyer

"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. Welcome to 3 hours of madness".

Robert Plant wasn't wrong at all when he opened the Led Zeppelin concerts with this phrase in 1977, during their eleventh and last (unfortunately; but no one could have imagined it) American tour. The anticipation was enormous: Led Zeppelin had been absent from the scene for two years, and the announcement of their return caused a huge stir. The tour started on April 1, and one thing became clear to everyone right away: Led Zeppelin was still the greatest live band in the world.

And the show on April 27 in Cleveland, captured on this double bootleg (it's 2 CDs), is further confirmation of that. An excellent performance, songs played in a heavy, mysterious, and destructive way, hence the title, "Destroyer". The recording is superb, except for a couple of songs. And, an interesting thing for which I highly recommend you get this bootleg, the repertoire spans 360° across all the Zep albums: it ranges from "White Summer/Black Mountain Side" to "Nobody's Fault But Mine" from the latest album the Zep had released until then, "Presence", from 1976. The bootleg, which more or less reflects the show's setlist, opens, on disc 1, with "The Song Remains The Same". Following that are the aggressive medley "The Rover/Sick Again", a vigorous "Nobody's Fault But Mine", the majestic "In My Time Of Dying" (in which Plant hints together with Page's guitar "You Shook Me"), "Since I've Been Loving You", a fantastic and spectral over 20-minute " No Quarter", and a perfect "Ten Years Gone", which closes the first disc. In my edition (the bootleg has been reissued several times) the recording of "Since I've Been Loving You" is very poor, so much so that the guitar and vocals are barely audible.

The second disc begins with the acoustic set, extended to 4 songs. It starts with Page's lively mandolin introducing "The Battle of Evermore", played in a mystical way that perfectly suits the song. Jones is the second voice, but his nasal tone is entirely inadequate. Then the sweet "Going To California", a cheerful and carefree "Black Country Woman" in a reduced version that flows into the sparkling "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp".

After one set closes, another opens, with Page still the star: the medley "White Summer/Black Mountain Side" that connects to the monumental "Kashmir", performed by everyone, especially by Plant, perfectly. Then the stage is all Page's again, who without the other three gives a long solo including an extensive portion with the violin bow and a mocking rendition of the American national anthem, pulling every imaginable sound out of his Gibson Les Paul. Then it moves to the epic marathon "Achille's Last Stand" in one of its best versions, leading to the show's closure, the song everyone was waiting for: "Stairway To Heaven". Unfortunately, the recording is not the best, and Page's double-neck Gibson can only be heard well during the legendary solo. The execution is good, but a somewhat questionable thing is that after the solo, Page's guitar stops and leaves room for Jones's piano throughout the last part, thus dispersing the pathos and emotion that the song's finale conveys.

Then there are the encores: the always sparkling "Rock And Roll" and the sharp funky "Trampled Under Foot", which closes the last disc. Missing the Led's two warhorses, "Dazed & Confused" (replaced by Page's bow solo) and "Whole Lotta Love" (which used to be performed as an encore, but isn't found on this bootleg). However, one must consider that to perform two new songs like "Achille's Last Stand" and "Nobody's Fault But Mine" (not little songs) some old tracks had to be removed or moved as encores. This might leave you a little surprised at first, but I assure you that in the end, you won't miss the two tracks at all. The grit, anger, determination, and aggressiveness with which all the songs are performed are impressive, considering that there are only four people on stage, one of whom is a singer.

"Destroyer" is a great bootleg of an excellent show and allows you to listen to the power of Led Zeppelin live. It almost seems as if the guys on stage are venting their anger for the strange events happening during that tour, unleashing all the negative energy that those events had brought, despite the enormous success with the audience (everywhere was sold out) and box office returns.

The death of Plant's son, on July 26, which will lead to the abrupt interruption of the tour, will be just the tip of the iceberg of an already announced imminent end, but listening to the bootleg seems still very far, if not impossible.