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Rating: Some say they were already done, and that they had no more ideas... well, I wouldn't define "Achilles Last Stand" as a song lacking ideas, quite the opposite!
In 1977, Led Zeppelin were far from finished, and this is clear from many factors: for example, their still great creativity (an example already mentioned above), or the enormous desire to perform concerts, to entertain those raving crowds... an example of this? The bootleg I'm about to review!
During the 1977 tour, the one promoting the album "Presence", the Zeppelin crosses the major American cities as usual and stops at the Los Angeles Forum, where they will perform for six nights (June 21-22-23-25-26-27, all Sold Out!). The show in question is from 6/23, and there are notable changes compared to the previous tour, such as the tracklist, which lacks "Dazed And Confused" and "Whole Lotta Love", here performed as an encore at the end; replacing these two tracks are new pieces from "Presence", namely "Nobody's Fault But Mine" and "Achilles Last Stand". Let’s venture into listening!!
We start brilliantly with a lightning-fast version of "The Song Remains The Same", with which Plant warms up his vocal cords that will already be extremely high in the following medley "The Rover/Sick Again", a piece from "Graffiti", noteworthy for John Bonham's excellent performance. We proceed with the first track from "Presence", "Nobody's Fault But Mine", and to be honest, I expected a bit more because it's quite similar to the studio version; the audience starts to warm up when Plant announces "Over the Hills And Far Away", a track performed very rarely on this tour, but here boasts a performance that if not perfect, is very close to it (Plant's high notes reach incredible levels!!). It's time for the Zeppelin's first masterpiece... I'm talking about "No Quarter", greeted with a crazy scream from the audience, who applaud the great keyboard solos of the amazing John Paul Jones that transport the other band members into a long improvisation, reaching 31 minutes! (and we're practically at the start...!!). The first part of the show concludes with a searing rendition of "Since I've Been Loving You", endowed as usual with its distinctive blues vein.
The second part begins with Page's famous acoustic poker, where he indulges extensively while Robert shows off his golden voice: the first track is "Ten Years Gone" lasting more than ten minutes, flowing first into "Battle Of Evermore" and then into "Going To California" excellently accompanied at the rhythmic level by Jones and Bonham. The following set starts with "Black Country Woman", a track here that's quite funky, reminiscent a bit of Trampled; we continue with "Bron Y Aur Stomp", then return to the band's roots with the beautiful medley "White Summer/ Black Mountain Side", and by the way, this is one of the few tours where these two tracks, which are truly thrilling instrumentally, are repeated. We then arrive at the second masterpiece, and I'm referring to "Kashmir", noteworthy because, at least in my version, it's lengthened by a solo from Page that's absent in "Graffiti"; otherwise, it's extraordinary, as always. We conclude the second phase of the show with another track from Graffiti, the funky "Trampled Underfoot".
Then the unexpected happens when Plant introduces the audience to the great drummer of the Who, Keith Moon, and we find ourselves with two of the greatest drummers ever on a single stage. So what could these two possibly play if not "Moby Dick", in this bootleg introduced by "Out On The Tiles": the two drummers start and finish a solo in perfect harmony that goes on for over 25 minutes, an incredible thing! At the end of the track, Moon leaves the stage but announces that he wants to come back to play the encores; and so the entire stage is for Jimmy Page, who launches into an exhausting guitar solo containing "Star Spangled Banner", about ten minutes long. It's time for a break of a few minutes, where the crowd goes wild like never before, but here comes Plant back on stage announcing a new track from "Presence", namely "Achilles Last Stand" endowed with an exceptional and unstoppable performance where Robert reminds us that The Iliad was orally passed down before being transcribed in its original language.
And here comes the moment the whole Forum was waiting for, the song par excellence, the anthem of rock itself but also one of the most beautiful songs ever written: "Stairway To Heaven" is, as usual, very enjoyable, except for the legendary guitar solo spoiled by the (perhaps) excessive presence of keyboards that leaves me a bit disappointed. This disappears when for the second time Plant brings Keith Moon back on stage, for the two encores that are in this case "Whole Lotta Love" and "Rock And Roll", performed as a medley lasting about 7 minutes in total; these are two tracks always well received, but it feels like something's missing here, but maybe it's just a personal impression.
"Thank you, Los Angeles, it was fun. Goodnight!" ...With this sentence Plant closes the concert which lasted a beautiful three hours and a quarter, spent without too many regrets.
In conclusion, it's a fantastic bootleg, worth getting just for the fact that on a single stage there are two of the greatest drummers ever, but above all, to change the mind of all those who consider Led Zeppelin finished after "Graffiti"!!
SEE YOU SOON, BYEEEE!
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