I was there in Wichita. I had also seen them the year before with Beck lead and Page on bass. The drummer did pass out during the second number. A local drummer replaced him. Jimmy stood beside him and pointed with his guitar at what to play on the drums. I thought the drummer was from the local group, California Connection, but that's only a vague memory now. This show was seminal moment for me, meaning that I was musically never the same.

I grew up in the vicinity of Wichita, KS. When I heard on the radio that the Yardbirds were going to be at the Cotillion Ballroom in Wichita in 1966, I got a group of my friends together for a road trip. I was 17 and the Cotillion served 3.2% beer, which required you to be 18. Draft cards were easy to get from older brothers, so off we went. Since I had For Your Love and the Rave Up albums, I knew what the group looked like. The first act was pretty good. Don’t remember who. Might have been a local band. In Wichita there were a plethora of quality rock bands. Imagine my confusion when the band came out and I didn’t recognize the bass player. Where’s Samwell-Smith? Oh well, I forgot about that immediately as the band literally launched into Shape of Things. My group of friends had debated on many occasions if the sounds from Beck’s guitar were “real” or from studio tricks. That debated was soon settled. They played for about 45 minutes, took a break and did another shorter set. First time I saw a guitar played with teeth! I was absolutely blown away. And that bass player who bounced around the stage in his long coat with lots of buttons. Who’s he?? So when I heard the next year (1967) that they were again going to be at the Cotillion, I had another road trip, except this time I was 18 so no need to have a fake ID. The opening act was a group that I did not know. They were good but I came to see Jeff Beck! Again, imagine my disappointment when the Yardbirds came out on stage and no Jeff Beck and Chris was on bass and the bassist from 1966 was playing lead! I thought “ripped off”! And again, that was quickly dispelled (mostly) when they started to play. McCarty had stumbled up on stage and then passed out (drunk I think) at the end of the second or third number. There was, of course, a stoppage. Relf asked the crowd if there was anyone that could play the drums. After about 20 minutes, the band came back on stage with a local drummer. As I remember it, he played for a local bar band called “The California Connection.” What was memorable about the rest of the show, other than Page’s playing, was that Jimmy stood near the drummer and would point the guitar at which cymbals and drums to hit and when during the songs. One set of about an hour. Although I was a little let down, I had to find out about this Page guy as he was phenomenal on guitar (like Beck) and figuratively played the drums at the same time.