Led Zeppelin : The Rockpile, Toronto 02/02/69

WHEN I FEEL YOU 

NEAR ME,

 LITTLE GIRL

I KNOW YOU ARE
MY ONE DESIRE

NOTES : 

A packed house of 1,200 fans

 awaits Zeppelin's first 

Toronto appearance, 

where they would perform

 two sets.

 Music writer

 Ritchie Yorke is the M.C.

Support Act: 

TeeGarden & Van Winkle, Mary Lou Horner

 Led Zeppelin: 

Fast Becoming Cream of the Crop

Of all the memorable things 

which happened during

 Toronto’s two

 heavy shows last night

 Led Zeppelin 

at the Rock Pile 

and the Turtles

 and Iron Butterfly 

at Massey Hall

 one visual image 

easily stood out.

It was the sight of 

Led Zeppelin’s

 hero-worshipped

 lead guitarist,

 Jimmy Page

  resplendent in

 avocado velvet suit, 

bent over as if 

in agony to the audience, 

his fingers working like

 a touch typist’s, 

his foot thumping like a

 kangaroo’s tail,

 the sounds as clear 

and as piercing as a

 bedside phone

 in the stillness

 of 3 a.m.

Above all else 

and there were

 highlights aplenty,

 it was Page’s night. 

He arrived in Toronto, 

without a record 

on the market 

but with a reputation

 that long ago 

preceded him.

Several critics,

 myself included, 

had suggested 

Led Zeppelin

 just might be the next 

so-called super-group,

 the likes of Cream

 and Hendrix. 

Advance airplay

 and reviews 

of the debut

 Led Zeppelin album

 (to be issued on Atlantic shortly)

 brought over 1,200 people

 to the Rock Pile.

 They expected a lot, 

and few were disappointed.

 Considering the group 

was only formed

 a few months back, 

it’s remarkably tight

 and together.

Led Zeppelin

 is not Cream,

 nor will it fill

 the spot left behind 

by Cream. 

Nobody will.

 But the Zeppelin outfit

 has a thing going

 of its own 

and there’s little doubt 

that thing is going 

to be very successful.

Page came off 

as the finest 

group guitarist

 to emerge since Clapton. 

Already, 

he is way above 

Jeff Beck, 

Mike Bloomfield 

and Elvin Bishop. 

His spotlighted work, 

including riffs 

with the violin bow, 

was executed expertly, 

without pomp 

or pretension.

Singer Plant

 is from the

 English blues school 

hard, angry,

defiant, gutsy. 

He could

 well develop

 into tone

 of the big name

 group singers 

of the year.

TRACKLIST

(First Set)

Introduction

The Train Kept A Rollin'

I Can't Quit You Baby

Dazed And Confused

You Shook Me

Killing Floor

How Many More Times

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