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Vancouver '71


adam_777

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One of the cool new features of this site is the "timeline", which is great for show specific setlist/photos and even attendee reviews.

The only review posted for Vancouver '71 right now, lists the setlist. As a recording of this show is not in general circulation it was assumed by me to probably be a very similar setlist to other shows on the early part of the '71 NA tour. However the review is pretty confident that this show contained a very unusual setlist, with some songs such as "gallows pole" and "Friends" making very rare appearances. I'm wondering if anyone has any info on this concert, setlist info, or rumors of recordings, So much is talked of the '70 Zep concert and '73 Zep concert in Vancouver, But I never hear much on '71, so I'm interested in any other info that may be available.

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One of the cool new features of this site is the "timeline", which is great for show specific setlist/photos and even attendee reviews.

The only review posted for Vancouver '71 right now, lists the setlist. As a recording of this show is not in general circulation it was assumed by me to probably be a very similar setlist to other shows on the early part of the '71 NA tour. However the review is pretty confident that this show contained a very unusual setlist, with some songs such as "gallows pole" and "Friends" making very rare appearances. I'm wondering if anyone has any info on this concert, setlist info, or rumors of recordings, So much is talked of the '70 Zep concert and '73 Zep concert in Vancouver, But I never hear much on '71, so I'm interested in any other info that may be available.

Gallows Pole was maybe played a few times. There's a chance they could have played it. But the setlist on this site doesn't list either of those songs. Friends was only played in 1971 in Japan.

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Gallows Pole was maybe played a few times. There's a chance they could have played it. But the setlist on this site doesn't list either of those songs. Friends was only played in 1971 in Japan.

Right, I was aware of that, and the setlist doesn't list them, But the review at the bottom is pretty confident they were played, and that songs such as "Moby Dick" were not played. Being the first night of a tour I suppose it is possible, I'm kinda hoping someone who attended that concert might be lurking around here and can shed some insight.

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Right, I was aware of that, and the setlist doesn't list them, But the review at the bottom is pretty confident they were played, and that songs such as "Moby Dick" were not played. Being the first night of a tour I suppose it is possible, I'm kinda hoping someone who attended that concert might be lurking around here and can shed some insight.

I'm the one that posted the set list for the timeline and I can assure all of you that both Gallow's Pole and Friends were played that evening. I'd be happy to answer any questions about that night as my memory is still pretty clear on the subject :)

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I'm the one that posted the set list for the timeline and I can assure all of you that both Gallow's Pole and Friends were played that evening. I'd be happy to answer any questions about that night as my memory is still pretty clear on the subject :)

Great, just the person I was hoping would respond. Being from the Vancouver area I have always been interested in this show, But with the rare setlist It definatly propels my interest, I'd love for a tape of this show to surface, '71 was a really consistant period for Zep.

From what I've read it sounds like a pretty rowdy crowd, at a later concert Robert makes a reference to someone climbing up the stage, and I've heard the doors were basically just thrown open to accomodate all the fans waiting outside, filling to much over capacity. Is all of this true? Have you ever come across concert reviews, pictures of newspaper clippings from the gig? also did you ever attend any of the other Vancouver Zep shows?

Thanks for responding and sharing your memories.

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Great, just the person I was hoping would respond. Being from the Vancouver area I have always been interested in this show, But with the rare setlist It definatly propels my interest, I'd love for a tape of this show to surface, '71 was a really consistant period for Zep.

From what I've read it sounds like a pretty rowdy crowd, at a later concert Robert makes a reference to someone climbing up the stage, and I've heard the doors were basically just thrown open to accomodate all the fans waiting outside, filling to much over capacity. Is all of this true? Have you ever come across concert reviews, pictures of newspaper clippings from the gig? also did you ever attend any of the other Vancouver Zep shows?

Thanks for responding and sharing your memories.

When I first posted about this show on the forum I made a statement that out of the 23,000 that attended , I could not believe that I was the only one who was a member of this site. :D I've been hoping that a recording would surface for almost 37years now. Maybe something will get shared eventually. To answer your questions, yes the doors were openned to accomodate the huge crowd that was assembled outside ( apparently from Seattle ). Yes, there is an interview with Plant and pics of the show from the Georgia Straight Newspaper dated Aug 20 / 71. The interview was conducted by Rick McGrath who was a staffer at the Straight. Steve A Jones has posted that interview on this site and it should still be here somewhere. If not, go to Rick McGraths webste and you'll see it , front and centre. The crowd that night was rowdy but not violent. As with the Mar.21 / 70 show, there were people getting up on stage and grooving with the band but there was no real trouble. The stage was being ripped up on the floor because people where getting crushed against it. Vancouver used to have two tiered stages in those day's so it was the bottom tier that was being ripped apart. I guess it may sound funny calling that a non violent act but really, there was no fighting etc. The band was so hot that night that the crowd was just really into it. As for seeing the band in Vancouver, 70,71,73, and 75 both shows. 71 was IMHO was better than 70.... and that's saying something

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Ally, that was a fantastic review! It's sometimes difficult for people who only hear the boots to get an idea of what the crowd was like on a particular night. I was at the '71 MSG concert and someone who only heard it on a boot described the crowd as "rude" and "scary" - but it was nothing like that - it was my first concert and I was young and completely straight and sober and I never felt threatened or frightened by the fans. Some fans did get a bit overzealous and did make it onto the stage but there was absolutely no violence - there was more a feeling of excitement about the whole thing. Sometimes you really had to be there to understand what the vibe was like on a particular night. In any case, I really enjoyed reading your review. :)

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Ally, that was a fantastic review! It's sometimes difficult for people who only hear the boots to get an idea of what the crowd was like on a particular night. I was at the '71 MSG concert and someone who only heard it on a boot described the crowd as "rude" and "scary" - but it was nothing like that - it was my first concert and I was young and completely straight and sober and I never felt threatened or frightened by the fans. Some fans did get a bit overzealous and did make it onto the stage but there was absolutely no violence - there was more a feeling of excitement about the whole thing. Sometimes you really had to be there to understand what the vibe was like on a particular night. In any case, I really enjoyed reading your review. :)

Thanks Mad. I too was straight and sober :D I didn't need anything when it came to Zeppelin. Your right about the vibe. you do have to be there to understand. The real story about that night was that it took place about a week after the "Gastown Riot"and trouble was expected to break out at the Zeppelin gig. It did not. The Mayor at the time did however use the need for the doors being openned as an excuse to cancel the June 18 / 72 Zeppelin concert. That and the riot at the Rolling Stones June 3 ended any hope of seeing Zeppelin in Vancouver untill 73

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WOW!....thanks ally.

It didn't suprise me at all that they played some rare tunes that night. and I always wondered about this set list. since they just arrived in North America. playing tunes like Friends Gallows Pole or even Four Sticks could have been possible. thanks for the review and confirming something that always had my interest.

question to you ally: did you by any chance see the noise moniter guy get beat up? I think that had alot to do with the 72 ban as well..

again thanks and great post :D

oh yea, this was my first birthday...I was a whole one years old on this historic night! making a tape release of this show even that much more special.

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Gallows Pole was maybe played a few times. There's a chance they could have played it. But the setlist on this site doesn't list either of those songs. Friends was only played in 1971 in Japan.

how would you really know that 'Friends' was only played in Japan?....are you hording on us? :D:D:D

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how would you really know that 'Friends' was only played in Japan?....are you hording on us? :D:D:D

To be fair to everyone, the set list was different than any of the other shows on that NA tour. Unless you were there, it would be totally understandable that you would think Friends was not played in NA. With the exception of Vancouver, it wasn't. Hopefully we'll come across a recording of this show

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WOW!....thanks ally.

It didn't suprise me at all that they played some rare tunes that night. and I always wondered about this set list. since they just arrived in North America. playing tunes like Friends Gallows Pole or even Four Sticks could have been possible. thanks for the review and confirming something that always had my interest.

question to you ally: did you by any chance see the noise moniter guy get beat up? I think that had alot to do with the 72 ban as well..

again thanks and great post :D

oh yea, this was my first birthday...I was a whole one years old on this historic night! making a tape release of this show even that much more special.

No, I didn't see him get beat up What I do remember though was the sea of wine bottles that littered the floor after the show ended :D

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To be fair to everyone, the set list was different than any of the other shows on that NA tour. Unless you were there, it would be totally understandable that you would think Friends was not played in NA. With the exception of Vancouver, it wasn't. Hopefully we'll come across a recording of this show

I was being fair ally.

the problem I had with the comment was saying the word 'knowing'.

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I was being fair ally.

the problem I had with the comment was saying the word 'knowing'.

The funny thing about this concert is that there were a number of people that I know personally that were not there. They had been to Zeppelin gigs many more times than I had but as it was summer, they were sent back to Ontario to work on the tabacco farms. That wasn't uncommon in those day's. Most of us spent summertime working out of town at some point. I also find Rick McGrath's review, a little off in some areas but as I'm one of the only ones that I know was there, It's really all we've got to go by untill someone comes forward and is willing to share the experience with sound bite or two

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The funny thing about this concert is that there were a number of people that I know personally that were not there. They had been to Zeppelin gigs many more times than I had but as it was summer, they were sent back to Ontario to work on the tabacco farms. That wasn't uncommon in those day's. Most of us spent summertime working out of town at some point. I also find Rick McGrath's review, a little off in some areas but as I'm one of the only ones that I know was there, It's really all we've got to go by untill someone comes forward and is willing to share the experience with sound bite or two

Zeppelin always tore down the house in Vancouver. so I just know in my hesrt of hearts that this show had to kick tall tale.....man were you lucky!

the 19th and 20th of March 75 were two of my favorite concerts ever! in fact I would put the 19th as being the best from 75 tour along with Seattle two nights later..... :D

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Zeppelin always tore down the house in Vancouver. so I just know in my hesrt of hearts that this show had to kick tall tale.....man were you lucky!

the 19th and 20th of March 75 were two of my favorite concerts ever! in fact I would put the 19th as being the best from 75 tour along with Seattle two nights later..... :D

Mar 19 was a beauty. They had a point to prove here and they did. No spiked water that night :D On the 20th, I decided unexpectedly, to take that show in from a variety of spots in the Pacific Coliseum. I started on the floor and survived a knife fight that broke out in front of me at about The Song Remains The Same. Fucking pandemonium broke out! I got out of that area ASAP and ventured up to the concourse . As my ears were still ringing from the previous night it didn't really matter what vantage point I had. It turned out to be kinda cool walking around between songs and seeing the band from different areas. They were great but the 19th was the show to see

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It's the only recorded version we know of.

Yeah, it is and as I said earlier , it is totally understandable that anyone would think that it was only played in Japan. What I do remember though was that Page was using an Ovation acoustic. I wasn't familiar with the guitar at the time but it's odd shape got me asking questions after the show.

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FYI, Gallows Pole and Tangerine were played with the Les Paul. Celebration Day, I must admit that I am having trouble actually recalling whether or not that was done with the Les Paul or the Double Neck. On any footage I've seen of the 71 tour he obviously uses the Double Neck but I'm not sure about the Vancouver gig. He used the DN on Stairway but I don't recall him using it on any other song. I do remember thinking before the show started, that I hadn't seen a Double Neck since Paul Revere And The Raiders and I couldn't quite figure out why Jimmy Page would have one :D It really caught my attention while it sat on the stage.

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To answer another question on this subject, No... Moby Dick was not played that evening.

BTW I'm curious as to whether or not LZ were promoted as an "Evening With Led Zeppelin" in other cities

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My father actually attended this show. His exact account is "I remember vividly when they came onstage". He was really crazy to go there, too. He flew in to Vancouver just to see it. Yes, by the way, I'm pretty sure he said that JP did use the Double-neck for Celebration Day.

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My father actually attended this show. His exact account is "I remember vividly when they came onstage". He was really crazy to go there, too. He flew in to Vancouver just to see it. Yes, by the way, I'm pretty sure he said that JP did use the Double-neck for Celebration Day.

Great to hear someone else was there :D

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sorry not that I am question Ally's recollections here as I firmly believe him on the setlist, But does your dad remember "Friends" and "Gallows Pole" being played, maybe if a second person recalls it more people might be willing to believe it.

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sorry not that I am question Ally's recollections here as I firmly believe him on the setlist, But does your dad remember "Friends" and "Gallows Pole" being played, maybe if a second person recalls it more people might be willing to believe it.

I'm not offended at all adam, I too would like to get some more confirmation :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just stumbled across this interview with Rick McGrath. Never saw it before:

The Story of the Milan Riots

The Led Zeppelin Interview...

Vancouver, August 19, 1971

By Rick McGrath

Rick: It was pretty hot out there. . .

Robert Plant: Yeah, sometimes it gets a bit scary when we see half the stage disappearing...

Jimmy Page: It was a bit rough.

Rick: Let's talk about what you've been doing since you were here last.

Plant: We've been to Italy, Switzerland, Denmark. We did a tour of England, intending to go back to all the old clubs that we played in the beginning. .

Rick: ....around Birmingham...

Plant: All those sorts of places. In some way it was a successful move, in other ways it was a bit of a dead loss, because you'd be playing in places that only hold 250 people.

Rick: Isn't that what the club trip is like in England? A lot of smaller halls and stuff?

Plant: Yeah, that's what it used to be like at the beginning. But there's always something bigger than a club in each town, a hall or something. Not so much a Coliseum, though.

Rick: I heard you had some problems in Milan.

Plant: We went to Milan, and there was a big music festival with people from all countries contributing. They travel around, and we just came for one gig. And we were told that it was a cool thing and even though there was a reputation for bottles being thrown in Rome, we were assured it wouldn't happen to us. Anyway, we started playing in a big cycle arena, and they'd been booing everybody else, and as soon as we walked onstage, I noticed some smoke at the back of the arena. And there's all this smoke and there's firemen behind us and I was going "fire! fire!" in my finest Italian.

Anyway, nobody took any notice of me and we carried on for about a quarter of an hour and the fire had gotten all around us. And I turned around and looked at everybody and Peter (Grant, the manager), his eyes had all gone big and red. And everybody was suddenly coughing. People suddenly appeared with masks and things like that and suddenly there were bombs going off, everywhere. And the whole thing about what I'm doing is that I've been doing it seven years and I'm... what time is it?

Rick: Midnight.

Plant: I am now 23.

Rick: Your birthday? Well, let me be the first to congratulate you (we shake hands).

Plant: And so it's been seven years and suddenly I find we've been tear gassed. So I got an Italian guy to come on and I told him to tell everybody to (Robert purses his lips and blows several times). And everybody's blowing. And everyone was just sitting down and coming around and digging it. And I was getting so I couldn't sing, and the feeling, if you've ever been tear gassed, is that if you move, you've got 15,000 kids who are going to freak out. So you don't move and you become so nauseated. Anyway, it finally broke up and there were kids running everywhere.

There were 250 stormtroopers there, in line, and I forgot to tell you, as we got there, there were wagons all alongside the road, and there were all these guys lined up by the front door. So I jumped out of the car and I was saluting and shouting and checking the uniforms and walking up and down the ranks going (makes faces) and I saw something I've never seen before, because they were completely devoid of anything human. They just looked at me as if to say "Objective number one" or something.

And suddenly everyone was running. And the kids came running over the stage, and we split and ran down a passage under the cycle arena. And then they tear gassed the passage. So Peter, who can't run very fast, was in trouble. So we found a room and we barricaded ourselves in. Broke into a medical cupboard and had all these fucking weapons and stuff. They were bringing the roadies in unconscious. We had one nurse and some oxygen and we looked out the window into the streets and there was fighting and shooting and cars being smashed and driven into trees and the whole thing was like a war. And it was because we stood up on stage. But that was not the real reason for it all. There were 250 people who just didn't know what the fuck was going on. 15,000 people are jumping in the air trying to escape the fucking tear gas and they don't understand.

And as we drove back to the fucking hotel, round the wrecked cars and round the fights and all that, there were roadside hospitals all the way to the center of Milan. I've never seen anything like that.

And I got up the next morning and got the papers and the driver translated and just told us that the kids had caused a riot and the police had had to move in and do the fucking honours. People lost their sight. I cried for days and days and everything I think about it, or I think of something gentle, I even saw a silly film with Cary Grant in it, and he was going on about what man must do to be man, and I was fucking crying. Because it just fucking hit me and if I'm ever down in America all somebody has to do is say. "Are you a boy or a girl" and I'll fucking dive at him. Because it's an animal reaction. I've already been in a rathole once.

And I know it's not just because we're radicals or rock 'n' rollers. It's because there's nobody understanding. And our side of the fence are going over there and saying "Fuck That", and that side is coming over and saying "Up Yours", and it's the wrong thing, you know. The concerts should be in twice as big a place and everybody should bring their parents. And then we can get it together. What we need is more of a bridge between the two sides... and in Milan? What are you going to do?

Rick: Well, you've finished your new album.

Plant: We finished that, and we did it in our own home. Well, how it went was that we used a mobile truck for our recording unit and we went to an old manor in Surrey. There we put up all the equipment in one room and stuck all the mike leads through a window. Straight into the recording van. So anything that we did just went straight down on tape. Bit by bit it grew up into a great collage of numbers.

Rick: Do you like it?

Plant: (nodding head): Yeah. It was another atmosphere altogether.

Rick: What are your thoughts on Led Zeppelin III? It didn't seem to have it the way a lot of people thought it would.

Plant: I thought it would as well. I was really happy with it, because to me it was just one step in growing up.

Rick: Well, it got some bad press. That's something we should talk about later. But there was an incredible wave of Led Zeppelin mania, or whatever, and you had just finished a very successful tour, and then the album came out and nothing happened.

Plant: Yeah, but to me, personally, that album was certainly a large step after the second one. Because you can't keep turning out the same thing. If you do that, you can't do anything for yourself. We know we can rely on things like Whole Lotta Love and it is quite easy to work within the same framework all the time. But who does that? Just people who haven't got anything going for them in the brains, that's who. And I think the third album was an essential thing, I don't care if it sold any copies at all, because it showed there was a bit more attached to us and it than Shake Your Money-Maker sort of stuff.

Rick: Which leaves you in the bind of wanting to progress, when the audience doesn't want you to.

Plant: I daren't say they don't want you to, but it seems they're not ready to accept, or even give it a fair try because I think if people play the third album and listen to it with the same amount of justification that they gave the second one, they might see what's going on.

Rick: What about rock critics? They seem to be the other extreme. On one hand you have the audience screaming Whole Lotta Love, and on the other a critic saying the opposite.

Plant: Well, a critic who's been a critic in one position for more than six months gets a bit cocky, right? He feels pretty cool. So he suddenly starts making assumptions and statements that aren't his to make, man. You can't condemn something just by.... a critic can't fucking state what he wants to... like if he goes to a concert, like tonight, and he goes away and writes, "Well, I don't know what to say because it wasn't too good at all." For 17,000 people going it was fucking too much, but that one guy could get quite a reputation for decrying it. And unfortunately that seems to be the general system of critics.... to make themselves a name. Instead of just transposing what happens, and saying it was accepted, they suddenly start becoming an entity for themselves, instead of a courier for the people.

And just as a new society is growing and moving, we've got to eliminate all this old crap, and we've got to be fair with each other. Because if we get all these blasé attitudes at an early stage where we're still trying to prove to a lot of people that it's a wholesome, positive thing and they keep tearing away inside it, well, it'll be ruined before it's even gotten halfway. Because that attitude doesn't stop just at music, but it goes everywhere. And that attitude of somebody in a position to influence somebody else is open to somebody with no talent but a pen and a job. And it worries me, really, because I don't just see it for us, I see it for people who I really fucking admire. They've given something and are working really hard. And people are digging it and going out and getting some satisfaction from it. But that guy, well, he's on another one altogether, isn't he?

Rick: I'd have to agree, even though I've been accused of the same thing on a few occasions.

Plant: Well, you've only got to be fair.

Rick: Right, the way I look at it is that a critic is no good unless he's honest with himself. And if he has constructive things to say. That's part of criticism. It should help more than hinder.

Plant: Yes, but things like Rolling Stone get out of hand. Even in England people buy it because it's been around for such a long time. It gets to be a habit. And what they read is something else, man. Because it's always down, down, down. Why don't they stop all that and start being nice? Is that such a hard thing to do?

Rick: Yeah, but they're in it for the bucks and controversy always sells more than good news.

Plant: Yeah, but we're in it for a buck as well, to an extent. But we go out there and there's no bad ones. People could throw a fucking bottle and it would still be cool because they're there and the thing incites them to do that. So you just ride along with it.

Rick: They ripped the doors off the front of this place tonight.

Plant: They've been eating good breakfast cereals or else they've captured energy in long hair. I wonder if any of them were in your Gastown thing. We heard about it, but see, when you're in our position, mate, you're in so many fucking places in such a short time and everybody's going look at this, and people keep coming up and saying what do you think about them saying this and what do you think about them saying that? Half the time you miss it or you just don't even know it's there. Because if you get affected by these things, well, you just go on stage shivering, more or less.

Rick: I've noticed the stage act has changed since you were here last. It seems to be getting back to a hard rock and blues thing.

Plant: Well, it ain't wanting to change, it's just how it goes. Tomorrow is another day. It's like with albums. People say "Do you follow in the same pattern as before?" And you talking about the third album. The third album, to me, was a disappointment in the way it was accepted because it wasn't given enough of a chance. After Heartbreaker and Bring It On Home. And thunder, which was what it was. So we say try this for size and I thought when we were doing it that I was able to get inside myself a little more and give a little more on the album. I thought the whole thing felt like that. I was pleased with it, and I'd play it now without hesitation and dig it. And you can't always do that to an album that you've played a million times. But I really thought it stood up and then everybody was saying, well, noo, and they'd leave it and then come back in a couple of weeks time and say, well, we can see... but nevertheless, we think it's best. But that's what people say because the simple, heavy thunder is much easier to assimilate, much easier to react to in every way. But you can't just do that, otherwise you become stagnant and you're not really doing anything, you're just pleasing everybody else.

And the whole thing about the whole music scene now is that we didn't follow Sam the Sham, we didn't follow all those people. We came over here and nobody knew who we were and we weren't following anything. We weren't saying "It's Gary Puckett for us," and come over here... do you know what I mean? And it's just by playing what we had to do, with all the bollocks that we got, that people said fair enough. And anything we can do new on an album I think is a good move.

Rick: What direction is your new material taking?

Plant: It really varies, Because having that place in the country... it's that old cliché about a place in the country... but it was really great. The mikes coming in through the windows and a fire going in the hearth and people coming in with cups of tea and cakes and people tripping over leads, and the whole thing is utter chaos. Bonzo's drums are in the hall, in the entrance hall, with one mike hanging from the ceiling. And things like that. And everyone's going... and we set up anther set of drums and I was playing drums... and it was a good feeling, and we did it as easy as pie. So this album's got a lot of feeling to it.

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