Led Zeppelin North American Tour Spring 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 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.

North America Spring 1970
Tour by Led Zeppelin
Poster for Led Zeppelin's concert at Dallas, used to help promote its Spring 1970 tour of North America
Location
  • United States
  • Canada
Associated albumLed Zeppelin II
Start date21 March 1970
End date18 April 1970
No. of shows28 (29 originally scheduled)
Led Zeppelin concert chronology

Overview

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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, Quebec and Vancouver, British Columbia.[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. On occasion Led Zeppelin were refused service in restaurants and in Texas they had a gun pulled on them.[3]

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]

This was also the fateful tour during which guitarist Jimmy Page's 1960 Gibson Les Paul "Black Beauty" was stolen in an airport in Canada. In 2016, the guitar was returned to Page.[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]

Tour set list

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The fairly typical set list for the tour was:

  1. "We're Gonna Groove" (King, Bethea)
  2. "I Can't Quit You Baby" (Dixon) (Dropped after 25 March)
  3. "Dazed and Confused" (Page)
  4. "Heartbreaker" (Bonham, Jones Page, Plant)
  5. "Bring It On Home" (Page, Plant, Dixon) (Added on 27 March)
  6. "White Summer"/"Black Mountain Side" (Page)
  7. "Since I've Been Loving You" (Page, Plant, Jones)
  8. "Organ Solo"/"Thank You" (Page, Plant, Jones)
  9. "What Is and What Should Never Be" (Page, Plant)
  10. "Moby Dick" (Page, Jones, Bonham)
  11. "How Many More Times" (Page, Plant, Jones, Bonham)

Encores:

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

Tour dates

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Date City Country Venue
21 March 1970 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum
22 March 1970 Seattle United States Seattle Center Arena
23 March 1970 Portland Memorial Coliseum
25 March 1970 Denver Denver Coliseum
26 March 1970 Salt Lake City Salt Palace
27 March 1970 Inglewood The Forum
28 March 1970 Dallas Memorial Auditorium
29 March 1970 Houston Hofheinz Pavilion
30 March 1970 Pittsburgh Civic Arena
31 March 1970 Philadelphia The Spectrum
2 April 1970 Charleston Charleston Civic Center
3 April 1970 Macon Macon Coliseum
4 April 1970 Indianapolis Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum
5 April 1970 Baltimore Baltimore Civic Center
7 April 1970 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum
8 April 1970 Raleigh Dorton Auditorium
9 April 1970 Tampa Curtis Hixon Hall
10 April 1970 Miami Beach Miami Beach Convention Center
11 April 1970 St. Louis Kiel Auditorium
12 April 1970 Bloomington Met Center
13 April 1970 Montreal Canada Montreal Forum
14 April 1970 Ottawa Ottawa Civic Centre
16 April 1970 Evansville United States Roberts Municipal Stadium
17 April 1970 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum
18 April 1970 Phoenix Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
19 April 1970 Las Vegas Las Vegas Convention Center

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Chris Welch (1994) Led Zeppelin, London: Orion Books. ISBN 1-85797-930-3, p. 49.
  4. ^ "Guitar Player - Players". 13 November 2023.
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Sources

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