Legend has it Led Zeppelin had recorded a number of concerts from late 1972 to early 1973 in anticipation of a live album. The band made a stop in Southampton, and after a lackluster first night amped it up for their second show, with was recorded for local radio. So think of Inner City Blues captured in the Old Refectory on 1/22/73 as a could have been, a contender for what was eventually released as The Song Remains The Same, and one of the best sounding bootlegs I’ve ever heard. The song selection is superb, the improvisational takes are inspired, and everyone is in fifth gear, these songs so completely embedded in their DNA. Even the flubs make it inspired, and this is one where the immersion is large and firmly in place.

Where do you even begin to talk about this performance? Or this band, for that matter. I love a lot of bands from the 70s, and I know this site has been leaning very heavy on the prog side, but make no mistake: Led Zeppelin are one of the all-timer bands for me, above Deep Purple and even Black Sabbath. I spoke about my “performance art” singing and playing air guitar with a flagpole in front of the mirror to Iron Maiden’s Live After Death? The other album I did that with was Led Zeppelin II, stolen from my dad’s record collection and never returned.

So yeah, I love Led Zeppelin, and this performance, taken a few months before the band released Houses Of The Holy is rapturous to my ears. I love how they open “Black Dog” with the opening bars of “Out On The Tiles” – it fits perfectly, and Robert Plant’s voice is fantastic, raw and alive full of personality even when he hits an off note. It’s been said Jimmy Page is a much better acoustic player than an electric one, often getting really sloppy on stage. I would argue he gets more loose and slippery in live performances, but on tracks like the blues drenched “Since I’ve Been Loving You” and later on “Heartbreaker” he’s positively on fire. Plus the monster “Whole Lotta Love” medley shows his facility with the various rock and roll forms: he can go from blazing blues and hard rock to boogie woogie and Chuck Berry rocking’ on a dime. John Paul Jones is very prominent in the mix, and he’s another like Tony Banks who should be put in higher esteem with the legends of their respective instruments. He gets a fun and fine organ solo that leads into a nine-minute rendition of “Thank You” that is glorious.

And then there’s John Bonham. A looming giant with hands that can shatter the cast of the earth or touch the grass so lightly they barely move. Listening to this full show there’s no question he’s the power that drives the band forward – without him nothing would work like it does. When he has to pound the shit out of everything like on opener “Rock and Roll” and the closing blast of “Communication Breakdown” he’s a monster, but when he gets to play around and have fun he truly shines – there’s a lot of Houses here, from a blistering “The Song Remains The Same” to the more dynamic and varied “Dancing Days” and “The Rain Song”.

Any gripes I have are super minor: I get that the near half hour cut of “Dazed and Confused” was a staple of their live shows at the time, but it’s the only song where Page’s noodling feels over-indulgent, and that includes the bow work. Cut 10 minutes and throw another song in and this could have been perfect. As it is Inner City Blues is one of my favorite documents of Led Zeppelin in their natural element, and as far as availability goes it’s readily accessible for anyone wanting a bit of a deeper dive into one of the best rock bands to ever do it.