Ally Pally Hard Rock Daze
Empress Valley EVSD-949 ~ 953 & Bonus CD
Very good audience source
Rip from brand new silvers
All thanks go to ethiessen1 for laying down the shekels to get this beautiful set (and so many others)
Ally Pally The 1st Daze
Alexandra Palace London England,
December 22 1972
101. Rock and Roll
102. Over the Hills and Far Away
103. Black Dog
104. Misty Mountain Hop
105. Since I've Been Loving You
106. Dancing Days
107. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
108. The Song Remains the Same
109. The Rain Song
201. Dazed and Confused
202. Stairway to Heaven
203. Whole Lotta Love
301. Immigrant Song
302. Heartbreaker
303. Mellotron Solo
304. Thank You
Led Zeppelin’s longest tour of England would come in late 1972 with 25 dates spanning a two month period, the
band would feature the same basic set list they had used in Japan the month prior that would also be used for
the following European tour and become the framework for the American jaunt in the coming months. The group
would take a short break mid tour for Christmas, just prior they would play two concerts in London at the
Alexandria Palace, a venue that while very architecturally ornate and beautiful, was rather difficult to properly set
up for musical concerts. Led Zeppelin would struggle with not only sound but also the temperature inside being
somewhat cold. With a somewhat cool and lack luster audiences, the band would nonetheless put is two very
enjoyable performances, collected in the new set from Empress Valley.
Alexandria Palace, London, England – December 22, 1972
Disc 1 (53:11) Announcements, Rock And Roll, Over The Hills And Far Away, Black Dog, Misty Mountain Hop,
Since I’ve Been Loving You, Dancing Days, BronYRStomp,
The Song Remains The Same, The Rain Song
Disc 2 (66:09) Dazed And Confused, Stairway To Heaven, Whole Lotta Love
Disc 3 (21:54) Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Mellotron Solo, Thank You
There are two audience sources for the first night at the “Ally Pally”. The first recording is in the very good
range, it is more distant and while clear and detailed lacks dynamics, a bit flat sounding. This had a few titles on
vinyl as Alexandria Palace 1972 (Gell), Alexandria Palace 22/12/72 (LZ 1972 AOZ7211AAPZ7211B),
and People
Weekly (Toasted TSTD 1910AD).
The second was the source for the brilliant and quite famous vinyl title Riot
House (Jump JMP02AB).
The quality is excellent being taped close to the stage but sadly only features the last
hour of the concert (I had this title for years on green vinyl). This concert would also be the subject of a scant
few titles, Riot House (Wendy WECD 47/48/49) would feature both recordings but kept separate while Flawless
Performance (Image Quality IQ 013/014/015) and Riot Show (Cobra Standards Series 006) would mix the sources
together. For this new release, Empress Valley uses the entire first source and fills a couple small gaps and for
the entire mellotron solo > Thank You. I dug out my old Flawless Performance title to see how this new one
stacks up. Surprisingly I found them both to be similar, the IQ title is amplified a bit more and thus has a bit
more tape hiss where this new EV sounds cleaner with more natural dynamics, a big difference is that the bass
does not muddy it up.
The concert begins with announcements, short and sweet sit down so all can see and the band get into Rock
And Roll. Ah hearing this song as an opener can be a good thing (72/73) or a bit rough (75), thankfully Jimmy is
in perfect shape and his playing is most fluent. The sound clears as they transition into Over The Hills and Far
Away, I have always thought the band was thinking on what to put in this second spot as it is not as dynamic as
Train> I Can’t Quit You or the devastating Immigrant Song> Heartbreaker openers used prior. London gets its
first airing of this most important new song, something that would be a mainstay of the next five years. Jimmy
plays a wonderful guitar solo while the rhythm section bobs along. Robert gives his opening speech about the
prior date in London at Wembley Arena and mentions how cold it is and states “we must Instill the warmth in
our bodies”, Black Dog certainly starts the thaw. The coupling of Misty Mountain Hop into Since I’ve Been
Loving You was started on the Japanese tour the previous October and for me would be perfected as high drama
on the American tour the following year. This combo is no slouch, the audience applauded the guitar solo that
transition the two as Page breaks into Since I’ve Been Loving You’s opening chords.
Dancing Days has a great intro by Robert, “Summer, Inebriation…good times” and I must concur. I first started
listening to this album on the junior year of high school and that was certainly our mantra. I love live versions of
this song and wonder why the band did not keep it in the set for the American tour other than the rare second
night in Detroit encore. The single acoustic number, not a Conway Twitty song but a tune written in the
Mountains of Wales about a blue eyed dog, BronYRStomp.
The hootenanny style of the song gets the audience
clapping, at least some of them perhaps in a way to generate heat. The audience sound a bit impatient and
shouts of Whole Lotta Love and Stairway To Heaven are heard as the group prepares for The Song Remains The
Same and Rain Song, the double neck sounds a bit out of tune during Song giving an even feel to the first half.
The ever evolving Dazed And Confused gets a nice ovation, the song is also in transition into a structure that
will last through 1975 and features the first known inclusion of San Francisco, curiously in his most recent Led
Zeppelin Tape Documentary, Luis Rey traces its origins to the previous weeks performance in Birmingham and
even goes deeper in recognizing the piece as being loosely based upon Neil Young’s Cowgirl In The Sand.
Things finally heat up, Dazed is almost a prelude to a brilliant and well received Stairway To Heaven, and as with
concerts from this era, it is Whole Lotta Love that brings the house down. The string of songs in the Medley
features the band hitting a stride where the music flows and in dizzying pace. Everybody Needs Somebody To
Love and a couple of Elvis classics are split by a cut in the tape from 11:3911:
34 that is filled with source 2. Lets
Have A Party and Heartbreak Hotel give Robert a chance to play King and for Jimmy to really let loose with some
excellent lead playing. I Can’t Quit You has the group returning to its roots, Page plays what he feels brilliantly
while Bonham and Jones play a shuffle as it flows effortlessly into Shape I’m In bringing an end to a typically
well played set ending epic.
The second source is used for a few seconds of crowd noise at the end of the second disc and beginning of the
third. The first encore is a brilliant Immigrant Song > Heartbreaker, the devastating combo is just as effective in
the latter part of the show as the beginning, the audience are quite pleased with Heartbreaker and clap along
joyously, the first source ends at the songs conclusion, the mellotron solo and Thank You are both solely from
the second source. The difference between the two sources is like night and day, I like the labels choice to
present the complete first source and it is nice to have it. Jones’ solo is interesting, at times it sounds quite
whimsical and other time you feel like you are in some English cathedral. The audience seems happy as the
band break into Thank You, Robert gives a beautiful vocal rendition of the track, sounds very much from the
heart. Despite the cool conditions and audience the band plays well for the first night in London.
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