Empress Valley's Bringing Down the House (EVSD-240/241/242) was an unexpected and happy surpise in 2003 as part of their "soundboard revolution". A first generation mediocre audience recording existed and had been released three times in the early to mid-ninties on Whole Lotta Landover (Immigrant IM-044~46), Maryland Deluxe: Thunderous Break (TDOLZ Vol. 23) and
Landover: One Nation Dancing Groove (Electric Magic EMC-003A/B/C). Rumored to be from a closed circuit television broadcast, it was obviously a significant improvement over the audience recording. Empress Valley use the audience tape for two sizable gaps in the tape. In
"No Quarter" between 3:44 to 4:18 and for two minutes in "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" between :45 to 2:45. Beelzebub's Refreshing Mistakes, the latest incarnation of this tape, promises to be more complete with the original soundboard for the two sections.
The soundboard fragment in "No Quarter" is definitely from the same show and is in similar quality to the main tape source used.
It may be from a higher generation but it is musically the same as the audience tape (Jones reiterating the opening organ theme). The "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" fragment is longer, lasting about two minutes and is more problematic. Compared to the audience source for this date, the vocal performance is different as is the timbre of Plant's voice which sounds closer to the 1975 Plant than 1977. Perhaps this is edited from an Earl's Court tape? During the instrumental interlude between the first and second verse a four second long fragment of the song's introduction is spliced in between 1:22-1:26. To make matters worse Plant's vocals in the second verse sound filtered through a wind tunnel making him sound like he swallowed helium.
By the guitar solo the tape becomes more stable. It sounds very strange and gives strong indication that it is a hoax perpetuated either by Beelzebub or the ones who sold him the tape.
For the rest of the three hour show Refreshing Mistakes sounds somewhat richer and heavier than Empress Valley, who emphasize the upper frequencies and a lighter air. Which is more preferable is due to one's taste, but Zeppelin rely upon the weight of the rhythm section to be effective and giving that emphasis is always a plus. "Maryland, good evening! Sorry about the delay but there was a lot of traffic in New York" is Plant's cryptic opening words before "Nobody's Fault But Mine", the first song of the "blues trilogy" played on most dates. "In My Time Of Dying" is devestating with Plant emphasizing every word and quotes "You Shook Me" at the end. "Since I've Been Loving You" is introduced as "something from out of our backyard". "No Quarter" is very short by tour standards clocking in at just over twenty minutes. This show is well known for the minute long rendition of "Dancing Days" and it sounds better in the acoustic arrangement and should have been a regular inclusion in the set.
Page's solo includes the "Star Spangled Banner" leading into the theremin and violin bow solos before seguing into "Achillies Last Stand". The title of this release refers to a comment made by Louis Rey in Led Zeppelin Live. John Bonham comes in WAY too early during the introduction which, Rey claims, gives the song a "refreshing new approach". In reality it throws off the rest of the band but they do recover and deliver a great version of the song. "Stairway To Heaven" is dedicated to all that is good and positive. The medley of "Whole Lotta Love" and "Rock & Roll" is the only encore. The discs come packaged in their individual sleeves which fit into a pocket which can can be locked with a flap inserted into a slit. The cover design is well done and the inside has several unattractive tour photos. Refreshing Mistakes is a release by Beelzebub whose claims to be more complete should be approached with extreme caution.
