Led Zeppelin concerts

Last updated September 23, 2019

From September 1968 until the summer of 1980, English rock band Led Zeppelin were the world's most popular live music attraction, performing hundreds of sold-out concerts around the world.

Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the early 1950s, and developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and later, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, a style which drew heavily from the genres of blues, rhythm and blues, and from country music. Rock music also drew strongly from a number of other genres such as electric blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical and other musical styles. Musically, rock has centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass, drums, and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music usually with a 4/4 time signature using a verse–chorus form, but the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political.

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group consisted of vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. Along with Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, the band's heavy, guitar-driven sound has led them to be cited as one of the originators of heavy metal. Their style drew from a wide variety of influences, including blues, psychedelia and folk music.

History

Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, Led Zeppelin made numerous concert tours of the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe in particular. They performed over 600 concerts,^[1] initially playing small clubs and ballrooms and then, as their popularity increased, larger venues and arenas as well.

A concert tour is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific tour with a particular album or product. Especially in the popular music world, such tours can become large-scale enterprises that last for several months or even years, are seen by hundreds of thousands or millions of people, and bring in millions of dollars in ticket revenues. A performer who embarks on a concert tour is called a touring artist.

A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions contain one or more ballrooms. In other large houses, a large room such as the main drawing room, long gallery, or hall may double as a ballroom, but a good ballroom should have the right type of flooring, such as hardwood flooring or stone flooring. In later times the term ballroom has been used to describe nightclubs where customers dance, the Top Rank Suites in the United Kingdom for example were also often referred to as ballrooms. The phrase "having a ball" has grown to encompass many events where person(s) are having fun, not just dancing.

In the early years of their existence, Led Zeppelin made a concerted effort to establish themselves as a compelling live music act. As was recalled by bass player John Paul Jones:

John Baldwin, better known by his stage name John Paul Jones, is an English musician and record producer who was the bassist and keyboardist in the rock band Led Zeppelin. Prior to forming the band with Jimmy Page in 1968, he was a session musician and arranger. After the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980, Zeppelin disbanded and Jones developed a solo career. He has collaborated with musicians across a variety of genres, including Josh Homme and Dave Grohl with the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures.

[Led] Zeppelin was a live band and that's how we got our reputation. The press hated us in the early days. Our only way of promotion was to play a lot of live shows, especially in the UK. It used to spread by word-of-mouth.^[2]

However, though the band made several early tours of the UK, the majority of Led Zeppelin's live concerts were performed in the United States, which was settled on as the primary foundation for their fame and accomplishment.^[3] In 1969, for example, all but 33 of the band's 139 shows were performed in the U.S., and between the years 1968 and 1971 they made no fewer than nine tours of North America. "It felt like a vacuum and we'd arrived to fill it", guitarist Jimmy Page once told journalist Cameron Crowe. "It was like a tornado, and it went rolling across the country."^[3] After touring almost incessantly during its early years, Led Zeppelin later limited its tour appearances to alternating years: 1973, 1975, 1977 and 1979.^[4]

James Patrick Page is an English musician, songwriter, and record producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin.

Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American director, producer, screenwriter, journalist, author, and actor. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes.

From the early 1970s, the commercial and popular drawing power of Led Zeppelin was such that the band began to embark on major stadium tours which attracted vast crowds, more than they had previously performed to. During their 1973 tour of the United States, they played to 56,800 fans at Tampa Stadium, Florida, breaking the record set by The Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965. Similar crowds were drawn on Led Zeppelin's subsequent U.S. tours, and they continued to break attendance records (on April 30, 1977 they played to 76,229 fans at the Pontiac Silverdome, Michigan, a world record attendance for a solo indoor attraction).^[5] It is for these reasons that Led Zeppelin, as much as any other band or artist in this era, is credited for helping to establish what has come to be known as stadium rock. Many critics attribute the band's rapid rise as much to their tremendous appeal as a live act as they do to the quality of their studio albums.

A stadium is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.

Led Zeppelin's 1973 North American Tour was the ninth concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour was divided into two legs, with performances commencing on 4 May and concluding on 29 July 1973. Rehearsals took place at Old Street Film Studios in London.

Tampa Stadium was a large open-air stadium located in Tampa, Florida. It opened in 1967, was significantly expanded in 1974–75, and was demolished in 1999. The facility is most closely associated with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League, who played there from their establishment in 1976 until 1997. It also hosted two Super Bowls, in 1984 and 1991, as well as the 1984 USFL Championship Game.

Led Zeppelin also performed at several music festivals over the years, including the Atlanta International and the Texas International Pop Festivals in 1969, the Bath Festival of Blues in 1969 and the next one in 1970, the "Days on the Green" in Oakland, California in 1977, and the Knebworth Music Festival in 1979.

Characteristics

Led Zeppelin's reputation as a compelling live act is often attributed to the tight understanding and musical chemistry achieved between all four group members, combined with a shared willingness to try new things on-stage, which resulted in dynamic, unpredictable performances. ^[6] As is noted by Led Zeppelin archivists Dave Lewis and Simon Pallett:

Led Zeppelin live was an extraordinary animal. From the very beginning no two performances were alike. Such was the creative spark between the four that the basic structures of their songs were repeatedly reworked, extended and improvised on, making their studio counterparts almost unrecognisable.^[7]

Led Zeppelin have been described as the kind of group that actually rehearsed on stage, experimenting with the reaction of the audiences to new material and letting the pieces mature through the live experience.^[8] Several tracks from their albums were debuted on stage well before their official release on vinyl. Jimmy Page himself has said that most of the band's songs were designed for live performance.^[9]

Every show we did was different. You never knew when you went onstage what you might do by the end of it ... Once a song was recorded, and it went into the set, it began to mutate. The whole improvisational aspect, the riffs coming out of the ether ... it was a magical vehicle collectively soaring into the stratosphere. And as more albums came out, the set got longer and longer.^[10]

In an interview he gave to Uncut magazine in 2005, Page elaborated:

The beauty of playing in the band was that when we went onstage we never actually knew what was going to go on within the framework of the songs. They were constantly changing. New parts would come out on the night. The spontaneity was on the level of ESP, which meant it was always exciting.^[11]

As described by Cameron Crowe, "[Led] Zeppelin live was a direct descendant from Elvis' early shows. Raw, direct, a reminder of when rock was young."^[12]

With such shared enthusiasm for playing a diverse range of musical styles coupled with their emphasis on extended improvisation, Led Zeppelin's concerts frequently extended for several hours. Recalled Jones:

Things got extended a lot to keep ourselves from going mad. Every tour we tried to cut it down, especially in the later years. We'd say we're only going to play an-hour-and-a-half. After a week, it would creep back up to two hours. By the end of the tour it's three hours!^[2]

After their 1977 tour of the U.S. — their last major tour — the band chose to abandon much of the "mystical" image that surrounded them up to that point. Instead members would wear ordinary street clothes during their concerts and the setlist was toned down by excluding long, elaborate solo numbers like Bonham's "Moby Dick" and Page's trademark bowed guitar solo accompanied by a laser show.

Recordings and live concert footage

Many of the band's shows have been preserved as Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings, which continue to be prized by collectors and fans. In addition, footage of Led Zeppelin concerts has been released officially on the band's 1973 concert film The Song Remains the Same , and on the Led Zeppelin DVD (2003). However, unlike other artists of the era such as The Who and The Rolling Stones, comparatively little official concert footage exists of Led Zeppelin. This is largely because of the successful efforts of manager Peter Grant to limit the exposure of the band to television appearances, in order to encourage fans who wanted to see the band to attend Led Zeppelin concerts. Of the few professionally shot concerts the band did, (excluding their July 1973 concert at Madison Square Garden on The Song Remains the Same) six are today available to fans through bootlegs. These concerts include the last two nights of their five-concert run at Earls Court Arena in London in May 1975, their show in Seattle's Kingdome in 1977 and their two shows at Knebworth in August 1979. In addition to these, their Royal Albert Hall performance from January 1970 is available.

Concert tour chronology

September 1968 – Scandinavian Tour 1968
October–December 1968 – UK Tour 1968
December 1968-February 1969 – North American Tour 1968–1969
March–April 1969 – UK and Scandinavian Tour 1969
April–May 1969 – North American Tour Spring 1969
June 1969 – UK Tour Summer 1969
July–August 1969 – North American Tour Summer 1969
October 1969 – European Tour Autumn 1969
October–December 1969 – North American Tour Autumn 1969
January 1970 – UK Tour 1970
February–March 1970 – European Tour 1970
March–April 1970 – North American Tour Spring 1970
June–July 1970 – Tour of Iceland, Bath & Germany 1970
August–September 1970 – North American Tour Summer 1970
March–April 1971 – United Kingdom Tour Spring 1971

May–August 1971 – European Tour 1971
August–September 1971 – North American Tour 1971
September 1971 – Japanese Tour 1971
November–December 1971 – United Kingdom Tour Winter 1971
February 1972 – Australasian Tour 1972
May–June 1972 – North American Tour 1972
October 1972 – Japanese Tour 1972
October 1972-January 1973 – UK Tour 1972/1973
March–April 1973 – European Tour 1973
May–July 1973 – North American Tour 1973
January–March 1975 – North American Tour 1975
May 1975 – Earls Court 1975
April–July 1977 – North American Tour 1977
August 1979 – Two warm-up concerts in Denmark and Knebworth Festival 1979
June–July 1980 – Tour Over Europe 1980

Reunion concerts

Since Led Zeppelin disbanded following the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980, the three surviving members of the band have reunited publicly on-stage on just a few occasions.

On July 13, 1985 at the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia. Tony Thompson and Phil Collins both played drums on all three songs. For the last song, "Stairway to Heaven", Paul Martinez played bass John Paul Jones moved to keyboards. The band was introduced on stage by Phil Collins as "my three friends" (not as Led Zeppelin). Concert programmes did not mention the name Led Zeppelin.
In May 1988, at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert, with Bonham's son, Jason Bonham, on drums.
On January 12, 1995, at Led Zeppelin's induction into the United States Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Their performance included five songs and variously featured vocalist Steven Tyler and guitarists Joe Perry and Neil Young.^[13] Jason Bonham played drums on the first four songs, while Page and Plant drummer Michael Lee played them on the final song, "When The Levee Breaks".
On December 10, 2007, at the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert at The O₂ in London, with Jason Bonham again filling in on drums.^[14]

External links

Sources

Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5307-4.

Related Research Articles

"Black Dog" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, the opening track on their fourth album (1971). The song was released as a single and reached the charts in several countries; however, as was their practice, it was not issued in the United Kingdom. The song was included in Rolling Stone's (US) "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and ranked No. 1 in Q magazine's (UK) "20 Greatest Guitar Tracks".

Tour Over Europe 1980 was the last concert tour by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. The tour ran from 17 June to 7 July 1980. Ten of the tour's shows were performed in cities throughout West Germany, as well as one show each in Brussels, Rotterdam, Vienna, Zürich, and West Berlin.

Led Zeppelin's 1977 North American Tour was the eleventh and final concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour was divided into three legs, with performances commencing on 1 April and concluding on 24 July 1977. The tour was originally intended to finish on 13 August, but was cut short following the death of Robert Plant's son.

Earls Court 1975 were five concerts performed by the English rock band Led Zeppelin at Earls Court Arena in London in May 1975.

Led Zeppelin's 1975 North American Tour was the tenth concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour was divided into two legs, with performances commencing on 18 January and concluding on 27 March 1975. It was preceded with two European warm-up shows, performed at Rotterdam and Brussels respectively.

Led Zeppelin United Kingdom Tour 1972–1973

Led Zeppelin's 1972–1973 United Kingdom Tour was a concert tour of the United Kingdom by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 28 October 1972 and concluded on 30 January 1973.

Led Zeppelin's 1972 North American Tour was the eighth concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour was divided into two legs, with performances commencing on 27 May and concluding on 28 June 1972. It included two warm-up shows in Europe.

Led Zeppelin Japanese Tour 1971 concert tour

Led Zeppelin's 1971 Japanese Tour was the first in Japan by the English rock band. Commenced on 23 September and concluding on 29 September 1971, it was one of the first tours of Japan by a western rock band.

Led Zeppelin North American Tour 1971 concert tour

Led Zeppelin's 1971 North American Tour was the seventh concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour commenced on August 7 and concluded on 17 September 1971. It included two warm-up shows in Montreux, Switzerland.

Led Zeppelin European Tour 1971 concert tour

Led Zeppelin's 1971 European Tour was a concert tour of Europe by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 3 May and concluded on 5 July 1971. It included one concert at Liverpool, England, which was a rescheduled date from their preceding tour of the United Kingdom. It is possible that other unverified dates in Europe were also performed during this period.

Led Zeppelin United Kingdom Tour Spring 1971

Led Zeppelin's Spring 1971 United Kingdom & Ireland Tour was a concert tour of the United Kingdom & Ireland by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 5 March and concluded on 1 April 1971.

Led Zeppelin North American Tour Summer 1970

Led Zeppelin's Summer 1970 North American Tour was the sixth concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 10 August and concluded on 19 September 1970.

Led Zeppelin Tour of Iceland, Bath and Germany, Summer 1970

Led Zeppelin's Summer 1970 tour of Iceland, Bath and Germany was a concert tour by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 22 June and concluded on 19 July 1970.

Led Zeppelin United Kingdom Tour 1970 concert tour

Led Zeppelin's 1970 United Kingdom Tour was a concert tour of the United Kingdom by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 7 January and concluded on 17 February 1970.

Led Zeppelin North American Tour Autumn 1969

Led Zeppelin's Autumn 1969 North American Tour was the fourth concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 17 October and concluded on 8 November 1969.

Led Zeppelin United Kingdom Tour Summer 1969

Led Zeppelin's Summer 1969 United Kingdom Tour was a concert tour of the United Kingdom by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 8 June and concluded on 29 June 1969. It included a single show in Paris, France, performed for French television. This was the band's final ever television appearance, portions of which were later released on the Led Zeppelin DVD.

Led Zeppelin's 1968/1969 tour of North America was the first concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 26 December 1968 and concluded on 16 February 1969. It was important for the band, as their popularity grew substantially because of the concerts and helped them reach significant commercial success in the US, which translated to sales elsewhere.

Led Zeppelin's 1968 tour of the United Kingdom was the first concert tour of the United Kingdom by the English rock band. It commenced on 4 October and concluded on 20 December 1968.

Knebworth Festival 1979 album by Led Zeppelin

The Knebworth Festival 1979 consisted of two concerts performed by the English rock band Led Zeppelin and other artists at Knebworth House, Hertfordshire, England, in August 1979.

References

↑ Led Zeppelin > Tour Dates
1 2 Sam Rapallo, In Conversation with John Paul Jones Archived 2010-03-24 at the Wayback Machine , October 1997.
1 2 Gilmore, Mikal (August 10, 2006). "The Long Shadow of Led Zeppelin". Rolling Stone (1006). Retrieved 2007-12-09.
↑ "Led Zeppelin Biography". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
↑ Dave Lewis (2003). Tight But Loose Files:Celebration II. p. 49.
↑ Biography of Led Zeppelin at Atlantic Records Archived 2008-12-01 at the Wayback Machine .
↑ Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press, introduction.
↑ Luis Rey (1997) Led Zeppelin Live: An Illustrated Exploration of Underground Tapes, Ontario: The Hot Wacks Press, p. 136.
↑ Interview with Jimmy Page, Guitar World magazine, 1993
↑ Liner notes by Cameron Crowe for The Song Remains the Same , reissued version, 2007.
↑ Nigel Williamson, "Forget the Myths", Uncut , May 2005, p. 70.
↑ Liner notes by Cameron Crowe for The Complete Studio Recordings
↑ Greene, Andy (6 September 2012). "Flashback: Led Zeppelin Jams with Neil Young". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 6 July 2014.
↑ "Led Zeppelin confirm reunion gig". BBC. 2007-09-12. Retrieved 2007-09-12.

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[1] Led Zeppelin > Tour Dates

[Rapallo-2] 1 2 Sam Rapallo, In Conversation with John Paul Jones Archived 2010-03-24 at the Wayback Machine , October 1997.

[RS2006-3] 1 2 Gilmore, Mikal (August 10, 2006). "The Long Shadow of Led Zeppelin". Rolling Stone (1006). Retrieved 2007-12-09.

[RSbio-4] "Led Zeppelin Biography". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2009-09-09.

[Tight_But_Loose_Files-5] Dave Lewis (2003). Tight But Loose Files:Celebration II. p. 49.

[atlantic-6] Biography of Led Zeppelin at Atlantic Records Archived 2008-12-01 at the Wayback Machine .

[7] Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press, introduction.

[rey-8] Luis Rey (1997) Led Zeppelin Live: An Illustrated Exploration of Underground Tapes, Ontario: The Hot Wacks Press, p. 136.

[page93-9] Interview with Jimmy Page, Guitar World magazine, 1993

[crowe-10] Liner notes by Cameron Crowe for The Song Remains the Same , reissued version, 2007.

[williamson-11] Nigel Williamson, "Forget the Myths", Uncut , May 2005, p. 70.

[complete-12] Liner notes by Cameron Crowe for The Complete Studio Recordings

[Greene-13] Greene, Andy (6 September 2012). "Flashback: Led Zeppelin Jams with Neil Young". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 6 July 2014.

[reunion-14] "Led Zeppelin confirm reunion gig". BBC. 2007-09-12. Retrieved 2007-09-12.