LA Drone

Song_infobox
Name = LA Drone


Artist = Led Zeppelin
Album = How The West Was Won
Released = May 27, 2003
Recorded = June 27, 1972
Genre = Hard rock, heavy metal, blues-rock
track_no = 1
Length = 0:14
Writer = John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page"LA Drone" is a short piece of music that the English rock band Led Zeppelin played as an intro tape on the second half of their 1972 concert tour of the United States. It began their concert performances from June 15, 1972 up until June 28, 1972.

The monotonous drone was produced by Led Zeppelin keyboardist John Paul Jones and guitarist Jimmy Page by playing an acoustic guitar with a violin bow in the key of F# and layering the various sounds it produced. The tape of this piece, played through the venue's PA, segued directly into the band's opening number, "Immigrant Song". The drone was intended to build a sense of suspense and anticipation in the concert audience.

The only official release of the piece has been a brief excerpt used as the opening track on "How the West Was Won". This captures the recording of "LA Drone" at the Long Beach Arena on June 27, 1972. Despite being only 0:14 on the live album, it was usually closer to a 1:30 in live performances, as can be heard on a number of Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings.

"LA Drone" can also be heard on the "Led Zeppelin DVD", being included on disc 2 at the introduction of the band's performance of "Immigrant Song". However, unlike "How the West Was Won", the DVD does not include "LA Drone" on the track listing. Also, the DVD features a 0:25 version of the song which is eleven seconds longer than the album version.

List of performances

*15/06/1972 flagicon|United States Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY
*17/06/1972 flagicon|United States Memorial Coliseum - Portland, OR
*18/06/1972 flagicon|United States Seattle Center Coliseum - Seattle, WA
*19/06/1972 flagicon|United States Seattle Center Coliseum - Seattle, WA
*21/06/1972 flagicon|United States Denver Coliseum - Denver, CO
*22/06/1972 flagicon|United States Swing Auditorium - San Bernadino, CA
*23/06/1972 flagicon|United States San Diego Sports Arena - San Diego, CA
*25/06/1972 flagicon|United States The Forum - Inglewood, CA
*27/06/1972 flagicon|United States Long Beach Arena - Long Beach, CA
*28/06/1972 flagicon|United States Tucson Community Center - Tucson, AZ