Tour Over Europe 1980 was the last
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 to ...
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 Wales ...
band
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
. The tour ran from 17 June to 7 July 1980. Nine of the tour's shows were performed in cities throughout West Germany, as well as one show each in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
,
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
,
Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
, and
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
.
History
This was the first series of concerts performed by the band since their
shows at Knebworth almost a year before. Singer
Robert Plant was reluctant to tour the United States, and the band wanted to avoid some of the negative press attention that had dogged them in the United Kingdom, so as a compromise Led Zeppelin manager
Peter Grant decided to schedule a short European tour. He hoped that being on the road again would rejuvenate Plant's enthusiasm for touring and eventually inspire Plant's desire to tour the U.S. again.
[Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) ''Led Zeppelin: The Concert File'', London: Omnibus Press. , p. 134.]
The band performed rehearsals for the tour at the
Rainbow Theatre and
Victoria Theatre in London, and then at
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
.
During the tour the band played small venues with a scaled-down
PA and a modest stage and lighting setup. As such, it had a much more low-key feel than on recent tours. The set list was also shorter, at approximately two hours, with some of the band's longer songs such as "
No Quarter
The phrase no quarter was generally used during military conflict to imply combatants would not be taken prisoner, but killed.
According to some modern American dictionaries, a person who is given no quarter is "not treated kindly" or "treated ...
" and "
Moby Dick
''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...
" discarded. Material from the band's most recent album, ''
In Through the Out Door'', was also limited. The concerts opened with "
Train Kept A-Rollin'
"Train Kept A-Rollin'" (or "The Train Kept A-Rollin'") is a song first recorded by American jazz and rhythm and blues musician Tiny Bradshaw in 1951. Originally performed in the style of a jump blues, Bradshaw borrowed lyrics from an earlier son ...
," which had not been a regular feature of their live sets since 1969. Press coverage of the tour was minimal.
[
Generally speaking, there was a playful and generous spirit about the tour, with guitarist Jimmy Page even handling some of the stage introductions himself for the first time in the band's twelve-year career.][Liner notes by ]Cameron Crowe
Cameron Bruce Crowe (born July 13, 1957) is an American journalist, author, writer, producer, director, actor, lyricist, and playwright. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at '' Rolling Stone'' magazine, for w ...
for '' The Complete Studio Recordings''. However, some on-stage problems were experienced. The 26 June show at Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
was interrupted during "White Summer
"White Summer" is a guitar instrumental by English rock guitarist Jimmy Page, that incorporates Indian and Arabic musical influences. Page initially recorded and performed it with the Yardbirds and later included it in many Led Zeppelin concer ...
" when Page was struck in the face by a firecracker
A firecracker (cracker, noise maker, banger) is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang, usually for celebration or entertainment; any visual effect is incidental to ...
. The organizer stepped up and talked to the audience, and asked the person responsible to come to the stage to have a word with him. After a delay, omitting "Black Mountain Side", Page and the band returned to play " Kashmir" and the rest of the show. The 27 June show at Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
came to an abrupt end after the third song when John Bonham
John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Led Zeppelin. Esteemed for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove ...
collapsed on stage and was rushed to a hospital. Press speculation arose that Bonham's problem was caused by an excess of alcohol and drugs, but the band claimed that he had simply overeaten.
The tour's poster listed a second concert at Berlin, on 8 July, but this show was never performed. The final full-length concert Led Zeppelin played until 2007 was on 7 July, with "Whole Lotta Love
"Whole Lotta Love" is a song by 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 single was ...
" being the closing number at this gig.
In an interview, bass player John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...
recalled of this tour:
Recordings
Audio bootlegs
All the shows of the tour were released by the bootleg label Tarantura on a 26-disc box set, and as separate releases during 1996 and 1997. Most of the shows are complete and are sourced from soundboard recording
A soundboard recording is a sound recording of a concert taken from a direct connection to the soundboard at the venue
Venue is the location at which an event takes place. It may refer to:
Locations
* Venue (law), the place a case is heard
* ...
s; the Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
show is missing the first four songs (there are, however, two complete audience recordings of the Rotterdam show in existence), and the Vienna and Munich shows are sourced from audience recordings. There have been many unofficial releases of these concerts since, most of them in higher audio quality than Tarantura’s release.
Video
On Led Zeppelin's website, there are 8mm films featuring parts of the Rotterdam, Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
and Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
shows. Footage also exists for the shows in Dortmund and Cologne.
Tour set list
#"Train Kept A-Rollin'
"Train Kept A-Rollin'" (or "The Train Kept A-Rollin'") is a song first recorded by American jazz and rhythm and blues musician Tiny Bradshaw in 1951. Originally performed in the style of a jump blues, Bradshaw borrowed lyrics from an earlier son ...
" ( Bradshaw, Kay, Mann)
#"Nobody's Fault but Mine
"It's Nobody's Fault but Mine" or "Nobody's Fault but Mine" is a song first recorded by gospel blues artist Blind Willie Johnson in 1927. It is a solo performance with Johnson singing and playing slide guitar. The song has been interpreted an ...
" (Page
Page most commonly refers to:
* Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book
Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to:
Roles
* Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation
* Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...
, Plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...
)
#"Out on the Tiles
''Led Zeppelin III'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 5 October 1970. It was recorded in three locations. Much of the work was done at Headley Grange, a country house, using the Rolling Stones Mobil ...
" (intro) ( Bonham, Page, Plant, ) / " Black Dog" ( Jones, Page, Plant)
#" In the Evening" (Jones, Page, Plant)
#"The Rain Song
"The Rain Song" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released in March 1973 as the second track on their fifth album, ''Houses of the Holy''.
Recording
"The Rain Song" is a ballad of over seven minutes in length. Guitarist J ...
" (Page, Plant)
#"Hot Dog
A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...
" (Page, Plant)
#" All My Love" (Jones, Plant)
#"Trampled Under Foot
"Trampled Under Foot" is a song by English rock group Led Zeppelin. A funk-influenced piece with John Paul Jones on clavinet, it was included on their 1975 album '' Physical Graffiti''. The song was released as a single in several countries an ...
" (Jones, Page, Plant)
#"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 s ...
" (Jones, Page, Plant)
#"Achilles Last Stand
"Achilles Last Stand" is a song by the English rock group Led Zeppelin released as the opening track on their seventh studio album, '' Presence'' (1976). Guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant began writing the song during the summer of ...
" (Page, Plant) (not performed on 26 June or 7 July)
#"White Summer
"White Summer" is a guitar instrumental by English rock guitarist Jimmy Page, that incorporates Indian and Arabic musical influences. Page initially recorded and performed it with the Yardbirds and later included it in many Led Zeppelin concer ...
"/"Black Mountain Side
"Black Mountain Side" is an instrumental by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded in October 1968 at Olympic Studios in London, and is included on the group's 1969 debut album ''Led Zeppelin''.
Composition and recording
"Black Mo ...
" (Page)
#" Kashmir" (Bonham, Page, Plant)
#" Stairway to Heaven" (Page, Plant)
Encores:
*"Rock and Roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...
" (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant)
*"Whole Lotta Love
"Whole Lotta Love" is a song by 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 single was ...
" (Bonham, Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant)
**''Performed on 17, 20, 26 & 30 June; on 2 & 5 July (with Simon Kirke
Simon Frederick St George Kirke (born 28 July 1949) is an English rock drummer best known as a member of Free and Bad Company. He has been the only continuous member of Bad Company since their inception.
Life and career
Kirke was born in L ...
on second drum set) and on 7 July''
*" Heartbreaker" (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant)
**''Performed on 17, 21 & 29 June''
*"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 released ...
" (Bonham, Jones, Page)
**''Performed on 18, 23 & 24 June and on 3 July''
*"Money (That's What I Want)
"Money (That's What I Want)" is a rhythm and blues song written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, which was the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise. Barrett Strong recorded it in 1959 as a single for the Tamla label, ...
" (Gordy
''Gordy'' is a 1994 American family comedy-drama film directed by Mark Lewis, about a livestock piglet named Gordy who searches for his missing family (who are taken away to a slaughterhouse in Omaha, Nebraska). He experiences the lives of others ...
, Bradford)
**''Performed on 30 June (with Philip Carson on bass guitar)''
Tour dates
The tour was pushed back a month. The original itinerary consisted of:
The dates performed were:
References
External links
Comprehensive archive of known concert appearances by Led Zeppelin (official website)
View in Google Earth
Sources
*Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) ''Led Zeppelin: The Concert File'', London: Omnibus Press. .
{{Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin concert tours
1980 concert tours
1980 in Europe