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 ...

's 1972 North American Tour was the eighth

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 ...

of North America by the English rock

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

. The tour was divided into two legs, with performances commencing on 27 May and concluding on 28 June 1972. It included two warm-up shows in Europe.

History

Guitarist

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

considers Led Zeppelin at this point to have been at their artistic peak. However, despite selling out their concerts, the tour had the lowest profile of all of the band's eleven North American concert tours, being vastly overshadowed by the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

' tour of the same period, much to the annoyance of Led Zeppelin.Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) ''Led Zeppelin: The Concert File'', London: Omnibus Press. , pp. 76-77.Luis Rey (1997) ''Led Zeppelin Live: An Illustrated Exploration of Underground Tapes'', Ontario: The Hot Wacks Press, p. 186.Interview with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, January 1975
/ref> In order to prevent this from happening again, the band's manager, Peter Grant, decided to hire PR consultants to help promote subsequent tours. During this concert stint the band stopped at New York City to mix tracks that had been recorded at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a renowned British independent commercial recording studio based in Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st century, including Jimi Hendr ...

in London the previous month, for their forthcoming

fifth album ''Fifth Album'' is the fourth studio album (her 5th overall release) by American singer and songwriter Judy Collins, released by Elektra Records in 1965. It peaked at No. 69 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Albums chart''. The album featured a collecti ...

. According to Led Zeppelin archivists Dave Lewis and Simon Pallett, it was at around this period in time that Grant began to implement the unprecedented policy of asking concert promoters for 90% of all gate receipts: For this tour, and all of Led Zeppelin's subsequent American tours, the band hired

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

-based company

Showco Showco was a sound equipment provider of touring sound reinforcement equipment and services to the concert touring industry. It was based in Dallas, Texas, United States. In 2000, Showco was acquired by Clair Global. Showco was established in 19 ...

to provide its lighting and sound.

Recordings

Like many other

Led Zeppelin concert tours A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...

, several of the concerts performed by the band on this tour were recorded by fans as unofficial bootlegs. Some of these were subsequently released on bootleg titles such as '' Burn Like a Candle''. Two of the concerts from this tour, at the

L.A. Forum Kia Forum (formerly The Forum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Inglewood, California, United States, adjacent to Los Angeles. Located between West Manchester Boulevard, across Pincay Drive and Kareem Court, it is north of SoFi Stadium and ...

on 25 June and the Long Beach Arena on 27 June respectively, were professionally recorded by Eddie Kramer for a potential live release. These recordings were remastered by Page and officially released on the album '' How the West Was Won'' in 2003 and was later reissued in 2018. No official live footage of the band was filmed during this tour. In an interview Page gave to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' newspaper in 2010, when asked which performances from Led Zeppelin's career stand out to him now, he made reference to the tour but acknowledged the lack of visual recordings:

Tour set list

This was the first tour in which Led Zeppelin used songs from their upcoming album ''

Houses of the Holy ''Houses of the Holy'' is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released on 28 March 1973 by Atlantic Records. The album benefited from two band members installing studios at home, which allowed them to develop mor ...

'' (" Over the Hills and Far Away", "

Dancing Days "Dancing Days" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It appears on their 1973 album, ''Houses of the Holy'', and was released as a single in the US. It was recorded at Stargroves, England in 1972. It was inspired by an Indian tune tha ...

", and " The Ocean"). This was also the last concert tour on which Led Zeppelin included an acoustic section until it was revived in 1975 for their Earls Court performances. John Bonham sang co-lead vocals with Robert Plant during the song "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp". The decision to drop the acoustic set was perhaps made because their live concerts were regularly extending into three hour long marathons (and sometimes up to four and a half hours), which were becoming taxing on all four band members. 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: #"

LA Drone LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

" (

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 ...

, Jones) (15 June to 28 June) #" Immigrant Song" (Page,

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 excl ...

) #"

Heartbreaker Heartbreaker(s) or The Heart Breaker(s) may refer to: Film and television *''The Heart Breakers'', a 1916 film starring Andrew Arbuckle *'' The Heart Breaker'', a 1925 film directed by Benjamin Stoloff * ''Heartbreaker'' (1983 film), an American ...

" ( Bonham, Page, Plant) #"

Celebration Day "Celebration Day" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, and the third track from their 1970 album '' Led Zeppelin III''. The band's last concert film and album, released on 19 November 2012, took their name from this song. Composition a ...

" (Page, Plant, Jones) (on 27 May and 9 June only) #"

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) (Page, Plant, Bonham) / " Black Dog" (Page, Plant, Jones) #" Over the Hills and Far Away" (Page, Plant) (only on 19 June, 25 June, 27 June, and 28 June) #"

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 ...

" (Page, Plant, Jones) #"

Stairway to Heaven "Stairway to Heaven" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page and lead singer Robert Plant for their untitled fourth studio album (often titled ''Led Zeppelin IV'') ...

" (Page, Plant) #"

Going to California "Going to California" is a ballad recorded by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released on their untitled fourth album in 1971. In 2012, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked "Going to California" number 11 on their list of the 40 greatest Led Zep ...

" (Page, Plant) #" Black Country Woman" (Page, Plant) (only on 19 June) #" That's the Way" (Page, Plant) #"

Tangerine The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of '' Citrus reti ...

" (Page) #"

Bron-Y-Aur Stomp "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is a song recorded by English rock band Led Zeppelin for their third album, ''Led Zeppelin III'', released in 1970. Background The song is named after Bron-Yr-Aur, a house in Montgomeryshire, Wales, where the members of Led Z ...

" (Page, Plant, Jones) #" Dazed and Confused" (Page) #"

What Is and What Should Never Be "What Is and What Should Never Be" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and was included as the second track on '' Led Zeppelin II'' (1969). Composition and recording "What is and What Shoul ...

" (Page, Plant) #"

" (Page, Plant) (only on 19 June, 25 June, 27 June, and 28 June) #"

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 ...

" (Bonham) #"

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 Dixon may refer to: Places International * Dixon Entrance, part of the Inside Passage between Alaska and British Columbia Canada * Dixon, Ontario United States * Dixon, California * Dixon, Illinois * Dixon, Greene County, Indiana * Dixon, In ...

, Jones, Page, Plant) Encores (variations of the following list): *"

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 ...

" (Page, Plant, Jones, Bonham) *" The Ocean" (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant) (On 10 June, 19 June, 21 June, and 25 June) *"

Louie Louie "Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a standard in pop and ...

" (Berry) (On 19 June, 21 June, and 25 June) *"

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 ...

" (Page, Plant) (On 7 June, 19 June, 21 June, and 25 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) (On 9 June, 11 June, 14 June, and 25 June) *" Bring It On Home" (

, Page, Plant) (On 13 June, 14 June, and 25 June) *"

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, ...

" (Bradford, Gordie) (only on 19 June) *" Weekend" (Post) (On 14 June)

Tour dates

Note: The 18 June show was moved to Seattle from the planned location in Vancouver at the last minute due to fans rioting.

External links

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

References

*Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) ''Led Zeppelin: The Concert File'', London: Omnibus Press. . {{Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin concert tours 1972 concert tours