Led Zeppelin North American Tour Spring 1970

infobox concert tour
concert_tour_name = North America Spring 1970

Poster for Led Zeppelin's concert at Dallas, used to help promote its Spring 1970 tour of North America
artist = Led Zeppelin
type = Concert
locations = North America
start_date = March 21, 1970
end_date = April 18, 1970
number_of_legs = 1
number_of_shows = 25 (26 originally scheduled)
last_tour = Europe 1970
this_tour = North America Spring 1970
next_tour = 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.

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. The band were also made honorary citizens of the city of Memphis.

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.Luis Rey (1997) "Led Zeppelin Live: An Illustrated Exploration of Underground Tapes", Ontario: The Hot Wacks Press, p. 84.] 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".

This was also the fateful tour during which guitarist Jimmy Page's 1960 Gibson Les Paul "Black Beauty" -- a gift from Keith Richards -- was stolen in an airport in Canada. [cite web | url=http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/ledzeppelinorg1/images/gear/GibsonLPBlackBeauty3.jpg| accessdate=2006-11-25 | title=Page's Black Beauty | work=Jimmy Page pictured with his "Black Beauty" Les Paul] Despite attempts to recover the guitar involving advertisements being placed in music magazines, it was never returned to its owner. [cite web | url=http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/ledzeppelinorg1/images/gear/BB_missing_guitar_ad.jpg| accessdate=2006-11-25 | title=Stolen guitar ad | work=Picture showing ad in Rolling Stone magazine reporting Page's stolen guitar]

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.Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) "Led Zeppelin: The Concert File", London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5307-4, p. 45.]

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

Tour set list

The fairly typical set list for the tour was:

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

Encores:
*"Whole Lotta Love" (Dixon,Page, Plant, Jones, Bonham)
*"Communication Breakdown" (Page, Jones, Bonham)

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

Tour dates

*21/03/1970 flagicon|Canada Pacific Coliseum - Vancouver, BC
*22/03/1970 flagicon|United States Seattle Center Coliseum - Seattle, WA
*23/03/1970 flagicon|United States Memorial Coliseum - Portland, OR
*25/03/1970 flagicon|United States Denver Auditorium Arena - Denver, CO
*26/03/1970 flagicon|United States Salt Palace - Salt Lake City, UT
*27/03/1970 flagicon|United States The Forum - Inglewood, CA
*28/03/1970 flagicon|United States Memorial Auditorium - Dallas, TX
*29/03/1970 flagicon|United States Hofheinz Pavilion - Houston, TX
*30/03/1970 flagicon|United States Civic Arena - Pittsburgh, PA
*31/03/1970 flagicon|United States The Spectrum - Philadelphia, PA
*01/04/1970 flagicon|United States Boston Garden - Boston, MA
*02/04/1970 flagicon|United States Civic Center - Charleston, WV
*04/04/1970 flagicon|United States Coliseum - Indianapolis, IN
*05/04/1970 flagicon|United States Baltimore Civic Center - Baltimore, MD
*07/04/1970 flagicon|United States Charlotte Coliseum - Charlotte, North Carolina
*08/04/1970 flagicon|United States Dorton Auditorium - Raleigh, North Carolina
*09/04/1970 flagicon|United States Curtis Hixon Hall - Tampa, FL
*10/04/1970 flagicon|United States Miami Beach Convention Center - Miami Beach, FL
*11/04/1970 flagicon|United States Kiel Auditorium - St. Louis, MO
*12/04/1970 flagicon|United States Met Center - Bloomington, MN
*13/04/1970 flagicon|Canada Montreal Forum - Montreal, QB
*14/04/1970 flagicon|Canada Ottawa Civic Centre - Ottawa, ON
*16/04/1970 flagicon|United States Roberts Municipal Stadium - Evansville, IN
*17/04/1970 flagicon|United States Mid-South Coliseum - Memphis, TN
*18/04/1970 flagicon|United States Arizona Coliseum - Phoenix, AZ
*19/04/1970 flagicon|United States (Cancelled) Las Vegas Convention Center - Las Vegas, NV

External links

* [http://www.ledzeppelin.com/timelinebrowse Comprehensive archive of known concert appearances by Led Zeppelin (official website)]
* [http://www.bootledz.com/setlists.htm Led Zeppelin concert setlists]
* [http://www.led-zeppelin.org/reference/index.php?m=int2 Interview with Jimmy Page about the tour]

References

ources

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