includes: Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Dazed and Confused, Bring It On Home, That's Way, Bron-Yr-Aur, Since I've Been Loving You, Organ solo / Thank You, What Is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love (medley), Communication Breakdown.
Press Review: So Led Zeppelin know all the heavy tricks a freak psychedelic rock group has to know. Jimmy Page & Co. wowed the audience at Detroit’s Olympia with their expertise in the heavy idiom: Page in particular has a way of turning down his volume to a whisper, (but only for a moment at a time), that puts the crowd right on the edge of their seats. (P. Cain, Rock 10/70)
includes: Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Dazed and Confused, Bring It On Home, That's Way, Bron-Yr-Aur, Since I've Been Loving You, Organ solo / Thank You, What Is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love (medley),
Press Review: Zeppelin’s Fine Musicians Make An Ordinary Group
The Led Zeppelin concert at Olympia Friday may not have been the largest gathering of the summer, but it certainly was the most enthusiastic. The show was the standard half-hour late starting, and Olympia’s ushers didn’t become concerned about who was sitting in whose seat until mid-way through the third number, but eventually things settled down to music.
Although Zeppelin is made of some of the most outstanding artists in rock today, the ensemble work of the group is not that great; individually the players are unsurpassed.
Jimmy page, guitar, has to be up there with Clapton and Townshend. Consummate musician, building up the audience more and more each chorus and then suddenly dropping off to simple quiet little lines which bring people to the edge of their chairs. The electronic effects he gets are always interesting, and sometime exciting. He’s the first guitarist I’ve seen use a violin bow, but that effect can still use quite a bit of work.
Working out an organ and bass was John Paul Jones, who is just as impressive as his name. Great bacchanalian organ counter melodies and huge chords. His bass work was equally fine.
The major disappointments of the evening were the two acoustical numbers. On the first one, Jones played mandolin and Page played guitar with Robert Plant on vocal. Jones’ mandolin solo was impossible to hear and even if it could be heard, Page’s chords couldn’t be. The next tune was all Page, and in the volume battle with the Olympia fans (electric) Page was the loser and bounced a mike over to show his displeasure. But then they turned the amps on again and things went fine from there on out.
Highlight of the evening was a mammoth solo by John Bonham. The most impressive thing about his work is its cleanliness. His figures aren’t just a muddle of sound like so many drummers, but very distinct, crisp, audible musical parts. Starting with a three-note pattern, and stretching and expanding it until it’s full-blown and time to start another pattern. He also does some of the finest hard drumming since Joe Morello first dropped his sticks.
The most together thing of the evening was the set closing blues medley (there was such a screaming, shouting, standing ovation they had to do an encore). Many times the lyrics were as blue as the music, but this seemed to suit the audience fine. For those who couldn’t make it, Zeppelin has a new album coming out next week to tide you over until their next visit. [-Harry Taylor / Detroit News]
Press Review: So Led Zeppelin know all the heavy tricks a freak psychedelic rock group has to know. Jimmy Page & Co. wowed the audience at Detroit’s Olympia with their expertise in the heavy idiom: Page in particular has a way of turning down his volume to a whisper, (but only for a moment at a time), that puts the crowd right on the edge of their seats. (P. Cain, Rock 10/70)
May 24, 2009 8:02pm Dr. H
The show started a couple of hours late. Not surprisingly (if you know Detroiters) the mood was getting surly. Then, Zeppelin opened their set with a song we had never heard before--"The Immigrant Song." I still remember how Robert's wail went like a jolt of electricity through the crowd in the old barn (Olympia Stadium). Everyone snapped out of their sullen funk and really got into it.
There were two problems with this concert--the venue and the crowd. I was in the far end of the stadium and the sound mix was lousy, with Jimmy's guitar poorly heard. I jumped to the conclusion that Zep was just a great studio band. How wrong I was! When the Led Zeppelin DVD was released, I was blown away by how great they were in concert. In that footage, you can hear Zeppelin as they deserve to be heard, not handicapped by an acoustically inferior arena.
The second problem on Aug. 28, 1970, was that the Detroit crowd (half of them stoned) were so hyped up--so deliriously craving Zeppelin's high-energy, pulse-quickening power music that they were rude and noisy when the boys tried to play a couple of the acoustic tunes on their third album. Jimmy, in great frustration, finally stomped off the stage partway through a song. I wasn't sure they'd ever return to Detroit, but they did. On behalf of my fellow Motown denizens, I am sorry that you didn't receive better treatment that night, Jimmy.
Oh, one final point. "Thank you" was the number that the band played for its encore that night. It ended with Bonzo tossing his drumsticks high in the air for a couple of lucky fans to grab as souvenirs of having seen rock's greatest band.
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excellent concert as usual a
November 15, 2011 8:18pm
excellent concert as usual a little rowdy but it was Detroit
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April 29, 2009 3:26pm Ron
This concert was terrible! They just went through the motions. They attempted to play an acoustic set and were drowned out by the ceiling fans. As a young man at the time with huge expectations and a big Jimmy Page fan I was very disapointed.
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Eyewitness - August 28, 1970
December 23, 2012 5:30pm DynamiteFromSaginaw
My friend Vindog and I attended this show at Olympia. We were enrolled at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and were waiting for Fall classes to start. We made the drive to Detroit so we could hang out downtown and attend the show.
We bought our tickets the day of the show at Hudsons. After scoring the tickets and taking in the latest Russ Meyer film at the Michigan, we drove to the Olympia for the show. Our seats were in an upper level behind the stage. This made for good viewing of the drum kit, but little else. As soon as the music started we left our seats and headed for the main floor and the stage. Nobody stopped us and we approached the stage from the right. There was a stoner curled up inside the front of a PA speaker cabinet - not a good idea. We stood in the aisle and took it all in. The Zep had the big full sound that you would expect.
The audience was rowdy (anyone from Detroit will understand) and did not quiet down to appreciate an acoustic number that Page played while sitting. He knocked a mic stand over at the end of the number to express his displeasure. Page was bearded and wearing a wide brimmed fishing hat. Guess he was tired of the glitzy aspects of the entertainment business at that point. Plant was bare-chested, maybe wearing a vest and had the full big hair thing going on. The band rocked. As the band was leaving the stage a few females attached themselves to Plant. LZ III was released a few weeks later. That disc rarely left my turntable.
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Robert Plant was annoyed by
May 8, 2011 7:18pm Steve
Robert Plant was annoyed by the noise from the giant fan in the stadium roof.
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My intro to R&R
December 23, 2013 6:40pm Rick
I was only eleven when Bill & Betty H asked my mom & pops if it was OK to take me to a concert. I took Donna N (neighborhood girl). The music I was listening to at that time was CKLW (pop station) and this was not CKLW. I was also listening to some of my older sisters 8 track tapes (without permission, of course) These included: Deep Purple, Credence, Traffic and others I can't remember. Nothing prepared me for the raw, live sound Zep put into my head that night & I will always be profoundly gratefull to my chaperones for the evening I can't forget.
By the way, absolutely no other bands that night...hey, I was eleven & likely the only one in the barn who wasn't stoned.