Led Zeppelin North American Tour Spring 1970

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

North America Spring 1970

Poster for Led Zeppelin's concert at Dallas, used to help promote its Spring 1970 tour of North America
Concert tour by Led Zeppelin
Locations North America
Start date March 21, 1970
End date April 18, 1970
Legs 1
Shows 25 (26 originally scheduled)
Led Zeppelin tour chronology
Europe 1970
 North America Spring 1970
 Iceland, Bath & Germany, Summer 1970

Led Zeppelin's Spring 1970 North American Tour was the fifth concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour commenced on March 21 and concluded on April 18, 1970. It took place a little over a week after the conclusion of their recent European concert tour.

Contents

[edit] Overview

In many respects this tour was a tremendous success for the band, as they grossed a total of over $1,200,000, and broke attendance records at their Canadian concerts in Montreal and Vancouver.[1] The band were also made honorary citizens of the city of Memphis.[1]

However, this stint of concerts also featured many unsavoury crowd control problems, with the shows often descending into violent confrontations between young concert-goers and the police.[2] The tour occurred at a time when civil tension was very high in the United States, with numerous demonstrations taking place against the Vietnam War. Singer Robert Plant's observations of these disturbing events would prompt him to write some reflective lyrics for the song "That's The Way", which was composed just after the completion of this tour at Bron-Yr-Aur, and was later recorded for the band's forthcoming album Led Zeppelin III.[1]

Ad placed by Page for the recovery of his modified Gibson Black Beauty
Ad placed by Page for the recovery of his modified Gibson Black Beauty

This was also the fateful tour during which guitarist Jimmy Page's 1970 Gibson Les Paul "Black Beauty" -- a gift from Keith Richards -- was stolen in an airport in Canada.[3] Despite attempts to recover the guitar involving advertisements being placed in music magazines, it was never returned to its owner.[1][4]

Initially, Stone the Crows were announced as the support act for the tour, but this arrangement was cancelled. During this tour and on all subsequent tours, the band dispensed with using any support bands for their concerts.[1]

The final date of this tour, at Las Vegas, was cancelled as a result of cumulative strain on Plant's voice.[1]

[edit] Tour set list

The fairly typical set list for the tour was:

  1. "We're Gonna Groove" (King, Bethea)
  2. "Dazed and Confused" (Page)
  3. "Heartbreaker" (Bonham, Page, Plant)
  4. "Bring It on Home" (Page, Plant, Dixon)
  5. "White Summer"/"Black Mountain Side" (Page)
  6. "Since I've Been Loving You" (Page, Plant, Jones)
  7. "Organ Solo"/"Thank You" (Page, Plant, Jones)
  8. "What Is and What Should Never Be" (Page, Plant)
  9. "Moby Dick" (Page, Jones, Bonham)
  10. "How Many More Times" (Page, Plant, Jones, Bonham)

Encores:

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour.

[edit] Tour dates

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5307-4, p. 45.
  2. ^ Luis Rey (1997) Led Zeppelin Live: An Illustrated Exploration of Underground Tapes, Ontario: The Hot Wacks Press, p. 84.
  3. ^ Page's Black Beauty. Jimmy Page pictured with his "Black Beauty" Les Paul. Retrieved on 2006-11-25.
  4. ^ Stolen guitar ad. Picture showing ad in Rolling Stone magazine reporting Page's stolen guitar. Retrieved on 2006-11-25.

[edit] Sources

  • Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5307-4.
v • d • e
Led Zeppelin
John Bonham · John Paul Jones · Jimmy Page · Robert Plant
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
Singles
Films
Concerts
Related