ZEP's 1973 American tour was the culmination of ZEP's live sound, which changed significantly after their 1972 performance in Japan. Originally, the 1973 tour was a turning point in ZEP's live sound source distribution map, in that there were sound board recordings at key points from England at the beginning of the year. For that reason, we are blessed with sound board recordings on the American tour, but our store will release this time at the New Orleans performance on May 14th. This is a familiar sound source to enthusiasts as one of the 73 American soundboard recordings that became popular after the CD era began. It is also one of the valuable sound sources that shows us that the American tour, which until then was thought to be enough with the "Eternal Poetry" soundtrack, had completely different performance styles depending on the period. This is the time when soundboard recordings are concentrated not only in New Orleans but also in the first half of the 1973 American tour. However, at first glance, this period seems to be blessed with sound sources, but at the beginning of the tour, the excavation of sound sources becomes extremely limited. After all, the only sound source that exists immediately after the start of the tour is Tampa (audience recording) on May 5th, which was the second day of the tour. It is no exaggeration to say that the subsequent performance is an air pocket where even the audience has not yet been discovered, let alone the soundboard recording, and in a sense it is shrouded in mystery. However, starting with the Mobile performance on the 13th, soundboard recordings have been circulating as if the floodgates of a dam had opened. Nowadays, there are more soundboard recordings in the first half of the tour. However, the soundboard recordings of the stages in mid-May, including this one in New Orleans, had many of the recordings with poor sound quality, except for the mobile, and I couldn't help but feel that they were a little inferior. . Moreover, it can be said that the sound source of this day was not first released on CD, but was released as a cassette title, which reflected the state of the sound source. Another problem is that the show is not completely recorded. This is a consistent defect in the 1973 sound board recordings, but it was originally not a multi-track recording for a live album, but a PA output sound source, and was recorded for recording purposes or for staff checking. This phenomenon occurred because the sound source was recorded without any intention of recording the live performance in its entirety. Therefore, in recent years, it has become common for items that include this sound source to be released with the missing parts adjusted using audience recording. The audience recording was discovered relatively recently, but it was popular among enthusiasts because it had high sound quality that was among the highest on this tour. Nowadays, items that make full use of two sound sources have become commonplace, but this time we are releasing a version made by Winston Remasters, which is familiar among enthusiasts. After all, this is a really good equalization that alleviates the rough texture of the sound board recording. This also applies to the subsequent Dallas and Fort Worth soundboard recordings, but the sound source from this period is often overlooked due to its roughness. However, the finish of Winston Remasters is spectacular. That rough sound quality has been reborn as much smoother, and the ease of listening has been greatly improved. This is surprising since the original was a sound source with such poor sound quality. The sound board of this day started recording from the middle of the opening “Rock And Roll”, and some missing parts including that have been adjusted with the audience recording of the example. It is undeniable that it feels strange to switch from the sound source with a rich sense of presence that I mentioned earlier to a sound board recording with a weak sense of reality, but the sound board recording that clearly reproduces the details of the performance is in a class of its own. Moreover, the performance of this day is even more so because the atmosphere is completely different from the performance at the end of the tour that can be heard in the later soundtrack. Compared to the second half of the tour in July, the performance on this day is very calm, but it is still different from the heavy groove like the spring European tour. In fact, in ``Celebration Day'' and other scenes, you can even see rare incidents where the always perfect Johnsy almost makes a mistake. However, what you can't miss is Jimmy's playful yet very careful guitar play. The impression was completely different from the play in July, which gained momentum. Songs such as “Since I’ve Been Loving You” have a good impression as he carefully spins out the phrases, and “Dazed And Confused” shows him at his best. As for this day, the scene where he repeats the riff of Cream (Robert Johnson)'s "Crossroads" before heading to the "San Francisco" section has long been famous, but perhaps Jimmy was in Cream mode that day, even in the second half. Their hustle to play the riff of "Cat's Squirrel" is very impressive. However, this is not to say that there are no mistakes; in "Misty Mountain Hop", Plant makes a mistake in the timing when he starts singing, but there are scenes where Bonzo gives him the signal and immediately starts singing, which is the kind of sound that only a band in synch can produce. I could feel the way he was breathing and it gave me goosebumps. Also, towards the end of "Stairway To Heaven", Plant's voice becomes noticeably sharp, but this is not a problem with his condition, but rather a sign of Plant's development as he realized that his voice was weakening and began to change his singing style. It would be accurate to call it a ``looking''. The famous 20-minute "Moby Dick" begins with Plant introducing "Drag Queen Of New Orleans" and Bonzo, but Jimmy's sound is actually unstable in both the intro and outro. There was a scene. Although the sound board recording was packed with the charm unique to the first half of the 1973 American tour, the New Orleans performance seemed a bit difficult due to the sound quality. Please check with your ears the ease of listening to the sound board recording, which has been reborn with the wonderful work of Winston Remasters. Furthermore, for this CD release, we have not only further adjusted the pitch and volume level, but also eliminated the faint chirping noise that remained even though Winston had softened the roughness, making it even easier to listen to. Finished! Live at Municipal Auditorium, New Orleans, LA. USA 14th May 1973 Disc 1 (61:38) 1. Introduction 2. Rock And Roll 3. Celebration Day 4. Black Dog 5. Over The Hills And Far Away 6. Misty Mountain Hop 7. Since I've Been Loving You 8. No Quarter 9. The Song Remains The Same 10. The Rain Song Disc 2 (61:43) 1. Dazed And Confused 2. Stairway To Heaven 3. Moby Dick Disc 3 (29 :05) 1. Heartbreaker 2. Whole Lotta Love 3. Communication Breakdown
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