Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

's Spring 1970 North American Tour was the fifth

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

of North America by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band. The tour commenced on 21 March and concluded on 18 April 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 Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia. 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 The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. On occasion Led Zeppelin were refused service in restaurants and in Texas they had a gun pulled on them.Chris Welch (1994) ''Led Zeppelin'', London: Orion Books. , p. 49. Singer

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

'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 ; ) is a privately owned 18th-century cottage in Gwynedd, mid-Wales, on the outskirts of Machynlleth, best known for its association with the English rock band Led Zeppelin. In 1970, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant went there and wrote many of the ...

, and was later recorded for the band's forthcoming album '' Led Zeppelin III''. This was also the fateful tour during which guitarist

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

's 1960

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typic ...

"Black Beauty" was stolen in an airport in Canada. In 2016, the guitar was returned to Page. Initially,

Stone the Crows Stone the Crows were a Scottish blues rock band formed in Glasgow in late 1969. They are remembered for the onstage electrocution of guitarist and founding member Les Harvey. History The band were formed after Maggie Bell was introduced to ...

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. , p. 45. The final date of this tour, at

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, was cancelled as a result of cumulative strain on Plant's voice.

Tour set list

The fairly typical

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

for the tour was: #" We're Gonna Groove" (King, Bethea) #" I Can't Quit You Baby" ( Dixon) (Dropped after 25 March) #" Dazed and Confused" (Page) #" Heartbreaker" ( Bonham, Jones Page,

Plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

) #" Bring It On Home" (Page, Plant, Dixon) (Added on 27 March) #" White Summer"/" Black Mountain Side" (Page) #"

Since I've Been Loving You "Since I've Been Loving You" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in 1970 on the album '' Led Zeppelin III''. Overview "Since I've Been Loving You" was one of the first songs prepared for the ''Led Zeppelin III'' album. The ...

" (Page, Plant, Jones) #"Organ Solo"/"

Thank You "Thank you" (often expanded to ''thank you very much'' or ''thanks a lot'', or informally abbreviated to ''thanks'' or alternately as ''many thanks''Geoffrey Leech, ''The Pragmatics of Politeness'' (2014), p. 200.) is a common expression of gr ...

" (Page, Plant, Jones) #" What Is and What Should Never Be" (Page, Plant) #"

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...

" (Page, Jones, Bonham) #" How Many More Times" (Page, Plant, Jones, Bonham) # Encores: *"

Whole Lotta Love "Whole Lotta Love" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is the opening track on the band's second album, '' Led Zeppelin II'', and was released as a single in 1969 in several countries; as with other Led Zeppelin songs, no singl ...

" ( Dixon, Page, Plant, Jones, Bonham) *"

Communication Breakdown "Communication Breakdown" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, from their 1969 self-titled debut album. It was also used as the B-side of the group's first single in the US, " Good Times Bad Times". A promotional video was release ...

" (Page, Jones, Bonham) (On 21 March and 27 March) There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour.

Tour dates

References

External links

Comprehensive archive of known concert appearances by Led Zeppelin (official website)
*

Sources

*Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) ''Led Zeppelin: The Concert File'', London: Omnibus Press. . {{Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin concert tours 1970 concert tours 1970 in North America