Led Zeppelin 1975-01-24 Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland, OH

Ultraviolence Cleveland, Ohio 24/1/75 155 min. (3CD) SQ: 5-6

Set List: Rock+Roll, Sick Again, Over the Hills+Far Away, In My Time of Dying,
The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, Kashmir, The Wanton Song, No Quarter,
Trampled Underfoot, Moby Dick, How Many More Times (The Hunter) cut
Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog, Communication Breakdown (Lemon Song)

A distant and at times distorted audience recording. The source used for this CD
release is the same well-circulated, below average but listenable source reviewed
by Luis Rey. The vastness of Richfield Coliseum can be felt in this recording, as
the audience gives the band a very warm welcome. The audience noise is at times
overwhelming. However, the audience noise is not very noticeable during most
tracks, and everything is clearly discernible though somewhat distant. As in
most of the early shows of this tour, Plant's voice is very rough and constantly
breaking under the strain. The contrast of mood between "OTHAFA" and "In My Time
of Dying" are striking as always, and Page is extraordinarily fluent in the
former despite his injury. The slide work-out on the latter illustrates that
Page is holding nothing back in this show. Unlike some of the '75 shows, there
is very little that can be considered sluggish or monotonous about this
performance. The entire event is conducted at a very fast pace. After "The
Rain Song" three of the next four tracks are from "Physical Grafitti". As Rey
indicates, "Kashmir" is not as heavy as usual and is played up-tempo. The
"Wanton Song" is a revelation. Despite his condition, Plant's vocals are very
effective here, and the instrumental machinery is devastating. It is hard to
imagine the band would choose to drop this from the set list within the week;
unless Plant felt it was too demanding on his damaged vocal chords. Having
never heard "Trampled Underfoot" before, the audience response to Plant's
introduction of it is very reserved. However, by the end of the song the
crowd is hysterical. "Perhaps you'll remember this" is Plant's intro to
"How Many More Times" and once again the audience is overjoyed. "HMMT"
has to be the all-time audience favorite from the Zep repertoire. This is
probably the most effective of the '75 versions of this song. As usual the
bow solo from "Dazed" is featured within, followed by "The Hunter" before a
return to the coda of "HMMT". "WLL" is little more than an intro to "Black Dog",
and a powerful version of "Communication Breakdown" brings an end to probably
the best pre-NY '75 show; one in which the band seems to really enjoy themselves
before a very receptive audience. Unfortunately, enjoyment of this performance
is limited by the rather poor sound quality.


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