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Led Zeppelin North American Tour 1968–1969

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Led Zeppelin's 1968/1969 tour of North America was the first concert tour of the United States and Canada 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.

North America 1968/1969
Tour by Led Zeppelin
Poster for Led Zeppelin's concerts at the Fillmore West, used to help promote its 1968/1969 tour of North America
Location
  • United States
  • Canada
Associated albumLed Zeppelin
Start date26 December 1968
End date16 February 1969
No. of shows31 (39 scheduled)
Led Zeppelin concert chronology

Overview

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The genesis of this tour was the cancellation of a concert tour by the Jeff Beck Group, which happened to be managed out of the same office occupied by Led Zeppelin's manager Peter Grant. Grant contacted the promoters and convinced them to take on Led Zeppelin instead.[1]

To help publicise the band in America before the tour, Grant sent white label advance copies of the band's debut album to key FM radio stations. The album itself was issued on 13 January, almost mid-way through the tour. According to tour manager Richard Cole, the tour was underwritten by Grant, guitarist Jimmy Page, and bass player John Paul Jones, while singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham were paid a salary.[2]

For this stint of concerts, Led Zeppelin initially played as the support act for bands such as Vanilla Fudge and Iron Butterfly (both of which were also contracted to Atlantic Records) and Country Joe & the Fish. However, as the tour progressed, it became apparent that Led Zeppelin was easily outshining the headline acts.[3][4] Guitarist Jimmy Page noticed that by the time the group reached San Francisco, other groups were not turning up, and Led Zeppelin were then headliners.[5]

Bassist John Paul Jones believed the reason their concerts were popular was because they played tightly and quickly without many delays, saying "we would just go on and go 'bang bang bang' with three driven songs with solos", which other groups did not do.[6]

In one famous concert, Led Zeppelin's final of four nights performed at the Boston Tea Party, the band played for more than four hours with only one album worth of material. They played the same set twice, and then played an improvised set with covers from other groups such as the Who[citation needed], Rolling Stones[citation needed] and the Beatles. Grant was delighted with the group's performance, and the band then realised then that they would be a very successful rock band.[7]

It was during this tour that Led Zeppelin's drummer, John Bonham, developed a close friendship with the drummer of Vanilla Fudge, Carmine Appice.[7] [8] The average fee charged by Led Zeppelin for a concert during this tour was around $1,500. It has been stated that for one show they performed for a mere $320.[3] Figures like these would soon be dwarfed by the six-figure sums routinely demanded, and received, by Led Zeppelin on subsequent tours as their popularity skyrocketed. Peter Grant recalled that "The Yardbirds had been getting $2,500 a night but people like Bill Graham had faith in us and so did the kids who saw it."[3] Grant, who was unable to attend the tour with the group, also stated:

I couldn't go with them, but it was a fantastic 12 date tour, and they said "Great, if that's what we've gotta do, we'll go and do it" ... Three of the group had never been to America before and didn't know what to expect. They did a week with the Vanilla Fudge. My instructions were for them to go over there and blast them out. Make each performance something everybody remembered. They really did that.[8]

Tour set list

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Although there was some variation, a fairly typical set list for the tour was:

  1. "Train Kept A-Rollin'" (Bradshaw, Kay, Mann)
  2. "I Can't Quit You Baby" (Dixon)
  3. "As Long As I Have You" (Mimms)
  4. "Dazed and Confused" (Page)
  5. "You Shook Me" (Dixon, Lenoir)
  6. "White Summer"/"Black Mountain Side" (Page)
  7. "Pat's Delight" (Bonham)
  8. "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (Bredon, Page, Plant)
  9. "How Many More Times" (Bonham, Jones, Page)
  10. "Killing Floor" (Burnett)
  11. "For Your Love" (Gouldman)
  12. "Communication Breakdown" (Bonham, John Paul Jones, Page)

Tour dates

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List of North American Tour 1968–1969 concerts
Date City Country Venue Opening Act(s) Attendance
26 December 1968 Denver United States Denver Auditorium Arena N/A
27 December 1968 Seattle Seattle Center Arena
28 December 1968 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum 3,708 / 15,038
29 December 1968 Portland United States Portland Civic Auditorium N/A
30 December 1968 Spokane John F. Kennedy Memorial Pavilion
1 January 1969 (cancelled) Salem Salem Armory Auditorium
2 January 1969 West Hollywood Whisky a Go Go
3 January 1969
4 January 1969
5 January 1969
9 January 1969 San Francisco Fillmore West
10 January 1969
11 January 1969
12 January 1969
13 January 1969 San Diego Fox Theater
15 January 1969 Iowa City Iowa Memorial Union Main Lounge Mother Blues
17 January 1969 Detroit Grande Ballroom Linn County, Lawrence Blues Band
18 January 1969 Target
19 January 1969 Wind and/or Linn County
20 January 1969 (cancelled?) Wheaton Wheaton Youth Center
21 January 1969 (cancelled?) Pittsburgh Hunt Armory
23 January 1969 Boston Boston Tea Party The Raven
24 January 1969
25 January 1969
26 January 1969
29 January 1969 (cancelled) Philadelphia Spectrum
31 January 1969 New York City Fillmore East
1 February 1969
2 February 1969 Toronto Canada The Rock Pile Teegarden & Van Winkle, Mary Lou Horner 1,200 / 1,200
3 February 1969 (cancelled) New York City United States Scene Club N/A
4 February 1969 (cancelled)
5 February 1969 (cancelled)
6 February 1969 (cancelled)
7 February 1969 Chicago Kinetic Playground
8 February 1969
10 February 1969 Memphis Elma Roane Fieldhouse
14 February 1969 Miami Beach Thee Image Club
15 February 1969
16 February 1969 Baltimore Baltimore Civic Center

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Liner notes by Cameron Crowe for The Complete Studio Recordings
  2. ^ A to Zeppelin: The Story of Led Zeppelin, Passport Video, 2004.
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5307-4, p. 15.
  4. ^ "Their Time is Gonna Come", Classic Rock Magazine: Classic Rock Presents Led Zeppelin, 2008, p. 17.
  5. ^ Nick Kent, "Bring It On Home", Q Magazine, Special Led Zeppelin edition, 2003
  6. ^ Dominick A. Miserandino, Led Zeppelin – John Paul Jones Archived 2015-05-12 at the Wayback Machine, TheCelebrityCafe.com.
  7. ^ a b Mat Snow, "Apocalypse Then", Q magazine, December 1990, pp. 77, 79.
  8. ^ a b Chris Welch (1994) Led Zeppelin, London: Orion Books. ISBN 1-85797-930-3, p. 34.
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