Robert Plant, ZEPtember 24, 1971 at The Budokan, Tokyo by Hideyuki Mihashi, originally appearing in Stars & Stripes (link in source, my edit of original).
In trying to nail down whether this was the show on the 23rd or the 24th, I actually found a scan of the original article posted at Led Zeppelin’s site!
Be sure to click to enlarge to read it yourself, but I’ll include a couple of highlights. The author, Sgt. First Class Steve Greene admits to being over 30 and more comfortable with The Mills Brothers, Bing Crosby, and Glenn Miller, and he does a genuinely hilarious job communicating his distress at what transpired.
Robert Plant (he of the golden locks) handled what must be called the singing chores, for lack of a better word. I would call them chores because it was immediately apparent that he was in great pain -- by the anguished look on his face. He is best described as falling somewhere between “Twiggy” and “Tiny Tim”, but it is hard to say exactly where.
The first notes of the evening’s performance pierced the ozone two decibels above a banshee’s wail, and I knew I was in deep trouble.
I took it for 45 minutes before my ears gave out and I lunged desperately for the exit.
As I exited the hall I noticed that the farther away I [moved? scan is unclear here] the better the group sounded. Ten minutes and a 400-yen cab ride later, I never heard them sounding better.
