Egyptian Theme Wanton Song, Bring It On Home, Heartbreaker, Ramble On, Walking Into Clarksdale, No Quarter, Shining In The Light, Going to California, Tangerine, Gallows Pole, Heart In Your Hand, Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, How Many More Times (w/Down By The Seaside), Most High, Whole Lotta Love Encores: Thank You Rock And Roll

Mark Bowman <markbow@ix.netcom.com>

Mark posted this to TBL and to the a.m.l-z newsgroup - it is long but worth reading as I suspect it reflects the opinion of my gig goers.

EXTREMELY TIGHT!!!! Jimmy Page and Robert Plant are really hitting their stride now that they are in the 11th date of the tour so far. Robert was dressed in all black with the large silver buckle on his belt. Jimmy was in his usual black attire, with a long sleeve pullover with his black pants. They looked very relaxed and confident in their approach and it really translated into the music tonight. I was lucky enough to sit 2nd row, dead center for this performance. As had been stated before, this tour has a completely different feel than the 1995 juggernaut, and working within a 4 piece band format really makes a difference. You could tell immediately that the band was primed to cook tonight. Page looked rested, healthy and happy and Plant looked like he had spent extra hours in the gym to get ready for this tour. I was also surprised that Jimmy and Michael Lee's newly shorn haircuts had grown out a little since the publicity shots for WIC.

You wonder what Robert had in mind when he uttered the first of several classic "Plantations" Early in the gig, while introducing a song, he told the crowd, "Welcome to the Twister Cabaret". A little regional weather humor I guess. Robert's voice was well rested and he was hitting ALL the high notes effortlessly. Jimmy used his complement of vintage Les Pauls, surrounded by a stack of vintage VOX and Marshall amps with a bank of 3 of his new Fender Tonemaster heads and cabinets stuck in the middle of the array. He also played a Paul Reed Smith McCarty model with a beautiful maple flame top. I've never seem him play one of those before this tour. As far as the Les Pauls go, he played the majority of the night with old No. 1, his 1958 Les Paul Standard and brought in the other 2 (the 1959 with the bridge pickup cover on), and the duplicate of the 58 that Gibson Custom Shop made for him in the early 90's that is referred to as No. 3. He played effortlessly and with a fluidity that was amazing. He has really hit a high mark with his playing these days.

Wanton Song/Bring It On Home: These two really remind one of the 95 tour and start the show off with a familiar feel

Heartbreak: Page sets the stage of what is to come with this little number. Flawless execution and a crispness of playing that you remind you of some of the work on BBC Sessions. When he gets to the solo, his fingers just fly across the fretboard. Ahh, the glory days of 1969…………

Ramble On: This song is done a little differently that the version that was performed in 1995. I guess it's because Jimmy must do all the fills himself, and there are some dense landscapes that must be traversed with the guitar. This is one song that always seems to take the audience to the next level.

Walking Into Clarksdale: This is my favorite song on the new album. Jimmy pulls out his PRS McCarty and really gets some skanky and lowdown tones while wailing on this number. It goes through 3 different sections of lead tone that seems to take the listener down a different path with each one. This is a moody number that really translates well to the live set. Blistering and smokin, from start to finish……….

No QuarterFrom the keyboard intro, let's all step back 25 years, to 1973 and go on a 20 minute musical landscaping journey. Phil Andrews' intro was very "Jonesey-like" and set the stage for a real workout. Charlie Jones used an upright bass for this number. As you probably have heard, Jimmy takes off on this song and really articulates some beautiful and haunting soloing. It is "Song Remains The Same" in technique and style, and really seems to work. A real high point of the show.

Shining In The Light I am really glad this number got worked into the setlist. Most posts seem to report that the live version of this song was somewhat shaky and tentative. Well, it has worked into the set quite seamlessly now. Another surprise was the pure sound of Jimmy's mellotron that was sampled to recreate the studio version for Phil Andrews keyboard on tage. This song was nothing but tight, tight, tight from start to finish.

Going To California: This was the start of a mini-acoustic set that had lush landscapes and sharp focus intertwined. I could almost still hear the orchestras of 1995 filling in with that rich overlay that truly recreated that song. A classic that never ages.

Tangerine: This song has been played far too infrequently. A lovely tune that displays a wistfulness of a time and love long gone. Jimmy played the Ovation Double Neck acoustic on this one. The guitar solo has been interestingly recreated on mandolin by Phil Andrews, and adds a certain freshness to the sonic landscape.

Gallows Pole: This version is a little closer to the original, now that there is no Hurdy Gurdy (or HG player, for that matter) to "flavor the tune". This song still cooks, without a doubt. The "In Olden Days" speech must have been left in Eastern Europe, because he has yet to intro the song that way in the States to this point.

Heart In Your Hand: I looked to see if this would be the "Great Bathroom Break". I've read where this is the number that people seem to get restless and get up to take a break. This song seemed to cook even though is it very down tempo and very "Doors-ian" in its construction. And, yes, people for the most part stayed right in their chairs for this tune.

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You: The song starts out like the live 95 version, but simply takes off in different directions, once it gets going. The soloing is fast and urgent and is spread out a lot longer than the 95 version. The dynamics of the song are widely variant and builds constantly throughout the tune until it melts into the best "Stairway Tease" that I've heard yet.

How Many More Times: Jimmy whips out No.3, a beautiful Les Paul with an incredible flamed maple top that sounds as impressive as it looks. He works the wah pedal to perfection to recreate those tones that first surfaced in 1969. After a while of playing and soloing, he pulls out the bow and totally recreates those bow tones that seem to populate this killer song. He gave the bow such a workout, that the bridge pickup on Number 3 was totally covered in white bow rosin. The solo was outstanding, VINTAGE PAGE!!!! They managed to stuff a slow version of Down By The Seaside into the song, but it was overshadowed by the musical virtuosity of HMMT.

Most High: Robert's intro to this song was "Better Hang On To Your Trousers!!!". When the Moroccan drum loops started, you knew this was going to be good. Jimmy's playing was on the mark, rhythmic and insistent. Great live version.

Whole Lotta Love: As has been stated before, this is an abbreviated version that closely mirrors the Live Aid version. He was playing the Burgundy Red Birdseye Maple Les Paul Classic that he used in the Page/Puffy appearance on SNL. The theramin got a workout on this one. Robert switched from using this vocalization during Kashmir, ("What I need, What I want…) to WLL. And finally, Jimmy's outtro at the end of the song is nothing short of sizzling.

Encores: Thank You A slower, more sizzling type of variation to this song. It seems to be played in almost a blues shuffle of sorts. This is definitely a different variation to the song TY that was performed in 1995. Also, the cowboy hat made another appearance tonight during the encore. "Ol' Texas Jimmy" seems to really get a kick out of wearing it. And let me tell you, that is one CHEESY cowboy hat.

Rock and Roll: Robert introduced this last song as a "A folk song, that's quiet, slow, moody and esoteric. Yeah, sure Robert! For the next 5 minutes, that stage did not stop moving with Robert hitting all of his notes, and Jimmy pulling out all of his moves, the duck walk, the goose step and the split jump, making one feel as if this man was strutting across that stage again in 1975. A perfect end to a perfect night.

What an experience!!!! They still get my vote as best band on the planet---

From Craig Beuchaw <cbeuchaw@aix1.ucok.edu>

Great show - the Myriad was almost full, probably 13,000 loud-as-hell Oklahomans! Plant even said before they left the stage that we were "the loudest crowd in the united states, maybe the world!" He really got a response from that! Plant referred a couple of times to it being a Friday night, although it was Thursday. I guess tours do that to you! Plant did mention that he "did not know which day it was, which month it was, but he did know the year, and he couldn't remember the last time the two of them had been here (it was 1977 at the same arena).He introduced Rock and Roll as "a folk song, kind of moody, esoteric". They all were in a great mood, smiling, joking, having a good time, pretty loose. Their rythym section really holds it down. Having never seen Bonham and Jones, these guys more than do the job in my opinion. So, no surprises as far as the set list, even Down by the Seaside didn't surprise, as it'd been played before on this tour, but a real solid 2 hour set. Made me yearn for the days of when they used to play 3+ hours! The fashion report: Plant had on black pants, black short sleeve shirt. Page had on the usual black outfit. My first record I ever bought was Song Remains the Same when I was 9 years old, and never thinking I'd ever get a chance to see these guys, this was a real mindblower for me. To hear an arena sing along with Ramble On was unreal! Thinking about Dallas in the fall...