Led Zeppelin concerts

Formed in 1968, English rock group Led Zeppelin quickly became one of the world's top live acts and remained so until their breakup in 1980 following the death of drummer John Bonham. From September 1968 inclusive to the summer of 1980, they were one of the world's quintessentially renown live music attractions, performing hundreds of concerts around the world.

Overview

Initially filling out the remaining dates previously booked for The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin went on to make countless concert tours of the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe in particular, during the late 1960s and 1970s. They performed over 700 concerts, originally performing in diminutive nightclubs and ballrooms and then, as their reputation accrued, larger auditoriums and arenas as well. By far the greatest number of Led Zeppelin's live concerts were performed in the United States, which was organised as the prime goal for their acclaim and accomplishment. In 1969, for instance, all but thirty-three of the band's 139 appearances were performed in the United States, and between the years 1968 and 1971 they effected no fewer than nine treks of North America. "It felt like a vacuum and we'd arrived to fill it," guitarist Jimmy Page once recounted to music journalist Cameron Crowe. "It was like a tornado, and it went rolling across the country."

From the beginning of the 1970s, the popular and monetary drawing power of Led Zeppelin was such that the band began to undertake major stadium tours which attracted even larger audiences than they had previously. In the course of their 1973 tour of the United States, they performed to 56,800 devotees at Tampa Stadium, Florida, surpassing the previous record set at Shea Stadium in 1965. Comparative full houses were generated on Led Zeppelin's ensuing US tours, and they continued to exceed audience attendance records (on 30 April 1977 they performed to 76,229 ticket holders at the Pontiac Silverdome, Michigan, a world record attendance for a solo indoor attraction). These exceptional statistics established Led Zeppelin, as much as any other band or artist in this decade, to be broadly acknowledged for initiating what has come be known as stadium rock. Observers attribute the band's swift ascent to popularity as much to their immense affinity as a live unit as they do to the quality of their studio material. Led Zeppelin also performed at numerous music festivals during their career, including the Atlanta International and the Texas International Pop Festivals in 1969, the Bath Festival in 1970, the "Days on the Green" in Oakland, California in 1977, and the Knebworth Music Festival in 1979. Similarly, manager Peter Grant also selectively turned down many festival appearances including Woodstock, on the belief that the band's set would be too short and their identity diluted on large bills.

Live environment

Led Zeppelin's preeminence as a daunting live act is often ascribed to the tight empathy and musical chemistry attained between all four group members, infused with a shared willingness to experiment on-stage, which resulted in dynamic, unpredictable performances.

As explained by Led Zeppelin chroniclers Dave Lewis and Simon Pallett:

“

Led Zeppelin live was an extraordinary experience. 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.

”

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.

Many songs from their albums were débuted on stage well before their official release on vinyl. Page has stated himself that most of the band's songs were designed for live performance.

“

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.

”

In an interview conducted with Uncut magazine in 2005, Page recounted:

“

The beauty of playing in the band was that when we went onstage we never actually know 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.

”

Led Zeppelin concerts could exceed than four hours, with expanded, live versions and medleys of their song repertoire often incorporating elements of blues, Stax and Motown-influenced soul music and funk. The quartet also loved American rock and roll, being inspired by the exuberant styles of Chuck Berry and Little Richard. Led Zeppelin would additionally perform rockabilly songs originally made famous by Elvis Presley and Eddie Cochran. As noted by Cameron Crowe:

“

[Led] Zeppelin live was a direct descendant from Elvis' early shows. Raw, direct, a reminder of when rock was young.

”

Documentation

Most of the band's shows have been preserved as unauthorised Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings, which continue to be prized by fans and collectors. In addition, footage of Led Zeppelin concerts has been released officially on the band's 1976 concert film The Song Remains the Same, and on the Led Zeppelin DVD (2003).

However, unlike other artists of the era, 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, because of the poor sound quality of the medium and in order to encourage fans who wanted to see the band to attend Led Zeppelin concerts.

Concert tour chronology

Led Zeppelin tours
Tour	Date span
First European	7 September	14 September	1968
UK dates	4 October	20 December	1968
First American	26 December	28 February	1968/69
UK dates	1 March	13 March	1969
Second European	14 March	17 March	1969
UK dates	19 March	17 April	1969
Second American	18 April	1 June	1969
First UK	13 June	29 June	1969
Third American	5 July	31 August	1969
Holland, Paris and London	3 October	12 October	1969
Fourth American	17 October	8 November	1969
Second UK	7 January	17 February	1970
Third European	23 February	12 March	1970
Fifth American	21 March	19 April	1970
Iceland and UK dates	21 June	29 June	1970
Germany dates	16 July	19 July	1970
Sixth American	5 August	19 September	1970
Third UK and Ireland	5 March	1 April	1971
European dates	3 May	8 August	1971
Seventh American	19 August	17 September	1971
First Japanese	23 September	29 September	1971
Fourth UK	11 November	21 December	1971
Australasian	16 February	29 February	1972
European dates	26 May	29 May	1972
Eighth American	6 June	28 June	1972
Second Japanese	2 October	10 October	1972
Montreux dates	28 October	29 October	1972
Fifth UK	30 November	30 January	1972/73
Fourth European	2 March	2 April	1973
Ninth American	4 May	29 July	1973
European dates	11 January	12 January	1975
Tenth American	18 January	27 March	1975
Earls Court dates	17 May	25 May	1975
Eleventh American	1 April	26 July	1977
Danish dates	23 July	24 July	1979
Knebworth Festival	4 August	11 August	1979
Fifth European	17 June	7 July	1980

Reunion appearances

Since Led Zeppelin's hiatus following the death of drummer John Bonham in September 1980, the three surviving members of the band have reunited on-stage on just a few occasions. On 13 July 1985, the three performed at the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, for a brief set featuring drummers Tony Thompson and Phil Collins. They reunited again in May 1988, for Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert, with Bonham's son, Jason Bonham, on drums, and then on 12 January 1995, for Led Zeppelin's induction into the United States Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For this latter event, the members played a short set with Aerosmith's vocalist, Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry, along with Neil Young and Michael Bell.

The surviving members of Led Zeppelin reunited for the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at The O₂ in London on 10 December 2007, with Bonham again occupying the drum stool. While Robert Plant made his position regarding a subsequent reunion tour known to the Daily Mail stating that he could be in favour of more one-off shows in the foreseable future: "It wouldn't be such a bad idea to play together from time to time".

Led Zeppelin appearances
Event	Date
Live Aid	13 July	1985
Atlantic Records 40th	14 May	1988
Jason Bonham's wedding reception	28 April	1990
Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame	12 January	1995
Ahmet Ertegün tribute	10 December	2007