Led Zeppelin - Koseinenkin Kaikan, Osaka, Japan, 9-29-1971

When I posted the last part of my five-album Led Zeppelin BBC series, that was a complete, but short concert from 1971. I hinted that there was an even better recorded concert of them from later in 1971. Here it is. This is considered one of the best Led Zeppelin bootleg concerts, if not the very best.

Bootlegs of this concert have been around a long time. But in 2018, a new soundboard version of the show emerged. Unfortunately, the soundboard isn't perfect, and it doesn't cover the whole show. So what fans have done is take the soundboard and audience versions and make a matrix version that combines the best of both. There are some parts where the sound declines noticeably, especially in the middle. I'm guessing that's where there's no soundboard portion. But still, as I've mentioned before, there actually aren't that many Zeppelin bootlegs that sound fantastic, so this is still one of the best even with some flaws.

In addition to sound quality, this concert also excels in terms of performance, song selection, and sheer length. Many fans believe that the band peaked as a live unit in 1971. After that,lead singer Robert Plant's voice was still great, but couldn't always reach the high notes, and guitarist Jimmy Page's drug problems started to take a toll. This concert happened not long before the classic album "Led Zeppelin IV" was released, and it includes four songs from that.

 But what's even better is that it includes the only good sounding live version of "Tangerine," and the only live performance, period, of "Friends." At this time, the band had a short acoustic set in the middle of their show. If you listen to the recording, you'll hear Plant complain that when that set came to an end, drummer John Bohnam was still nowhere to be seen. So they played "Tangerine" without him. When that ended, Bohnam finally showed up. But they played another acoustic song, "Friends," anyway, with Bohnam adding some light drumming.

In terms of length, the BBC concert from earlier in 1971 that I mentioned above is slightly over an hour and a half. This concert is slightly over three hours! So it's basically double in length.

If you're a Led Zeppelin fan, but not a super fan of their live shows, I think that the five BBC albums, the Fillmore West 1969 concert, and this one, are the best of their live material for their early years, and probably all the live material from those years that you need. If anyone feels there are other "must have" concert recordings from them, please let us know in the comments. Also, if anyone thinks they have a better recording of this show, especially for the sections that don't sound as good, please let me know so I can update this.

01 talk (Led Zeppelin)
02 Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin)
03 Heartbreaker (Led Zeppelin)
04 talk (Led Zeppelin)
05 Since I've Been Loving You (Led Zeppelin)
06 talk (Led Zeppelin)
07 Black Dog (Led Zeppelin)
08 talk (Led Zeppelin)
09 Dazed and Confused (Led Zeppelin)
10 talk (Led Zeppelin)
11 Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin)
12 talk (Led Zeppelin)
13 Celebration Day (Led Zeppelin)
14 talk (Led Zeppelin)
15 That's the Way (Led Zeppelin)
16 talk (Led Zeppelin)
17 Going to California (Led Zeppelin)
18 talk (Led Zeppelin)
19 Tangerine (Led Zeppelin)
20 talk (Led Zeppelin)
21 Friends (Led Zeppelin)
22 talk [Including 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes' Snippet] (Led Zeppelin)
23 What Is and What Should Never Be (Led Zeppelin)
24 talk (Led Zeppelin)
25 Moby Dick [Instrumental] (Led Zeppelin)
26 talk (Led Zeppelin)
27 Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin)
28 talk (Led Zeppelin)
29 Communication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin)
30 Organ Solo [Instrumental] (Led Zeppelin)
31 Thank You (Led Zeppelin)
32 talk (Led Zeppelin)
33 Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin)

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The cover art photo here actually comes from the very concert in question. It's one of only a couple to emerge from the show. It's rather blurry, but I like it anyway, due to the red / blue contrast, as well as the giant gong, which seems evocative of Japan, where the concert took place. Sadly, it seems Robert Plant is out of the frame.