1969.11.05 Led Zeppelin Memorial Hall, Kansas City Tales From 69

1969.11.05
Led Zeppelin
Memorial Hall, Kansas City
Tales From 69

Here is the link
https://mega.nz/#!BhwyRaoZ!6JynRrQhZRKUGe1SeR5h2Fp1_Yg5DWkb_Jel0I4R38A

Page is playing as excellently as he had been the past few dates. Jones as well is spot on. And Plant is in strong voice. But Bonham ... The story goes that Bonham was so drunk that he couldn't stay awake at this show. I don't know if that's true, but I wouldn't be surprised, as it sure sounds like it. The entire night he seems to frequently disappear from songs, often times crashing in at the wrong time, and playing either too fast or too slow when he does come in. Some "highlights" include his drum outro to I Can't Quit You Baby, his on-again-off-again participation during the return from Page's solo in Heartbreaker, his total absence during the beginning of Dazed And Confused, and his complete butchering of The Hunter portion of How Many More Times, among many other moments of really really bad drumming. Bizarrely, a review of this show in the Kansas City Star doesn't mention anything about Bonham's performance. It does mention, however, that the band did not use their own instruments at this show. Besides not making any sense whatsoever, this doesn't sound like it was entirely correct. A mystery is from which show exactly this recording comes from.


Something's wrong. It's apparent from the moment the tape begins that something isn't quite right. At first it seems to be attributable to the recording quality, perhaps it's that the tape is running a bit slow. But as Good Times Bad Times/Communication Breakdown gets underway, the true culprit is revealed. What happened to Bonzo? His playing is erratic at best, sometimes he seems to disappear completely. By I Can't Quit You Baby it's obvious that Bonzo's odd performance is most likely due to an overzealous consumption of alcohol. He's sloppy, he shouts during the quiet passage in Page's guitar solo, and he fails to play anything during the finale, leaving a very awkward pause in place of his usual thundering showmanship.

Even Page's solos during Heartbreaker sound drunk. After a strange bow solo during Dazed and Confused, Bonzo forgets his cue to come in, leaving Jones and Page to play alone until he remembers. There are no band introductions at the beginning of How Many More Times. Bonzo is still all over the place, barely able to hold the beat. He bangs his gong relentlessly. The Hunter section is a complete mess, though somewhat interesting in its state of disarray. The "got you in the sights..." section is plagued by feedback and Plant's voice failing during the final "gun!" The end of the song falls apart completely. Mercifully, the tape ends there. A true disaster, the low point of '69. Credit must go to Page, Plant, and Jones for keeping it together through the whole show.