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 ...

's Summer 1969 North American Tour was the third

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. The tour commenced on 5 July and concluded on 31 August 1969. By this point in the band's career, Led Zeppelin were earning $30,000 a night for each of the concerts they performed. According to

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

Chris Welch Chris Welch (born 12 November 1941) is an English music journalist, critic, and author who is best known for his work from the late 1960s as a reporter for ''Melody Maker'', ''Musicians Only'', and ''Kerrang!''. He is the author of over 40 mu ...

: This concert tour is noteworthy for the number of festival appearances made by Led Zeppelin. These include: *5 July – Atlanta International Pop Festival *6 July –

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hir ...

*11 July – Laurel Pop Festival *12 July – Summer Pop Festival *21 July –

Schaefer Music Festival The Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park was a recurring music festival held in the summer between 1967 and 1976 at Wollman Rink in New York City's Central Park. It featured a number of notable performances. The sponsorship was taken over by D ...

headliners at New York City's

Wollman Rink Wollman Rink is a public ice rink in the southern part of Central Park, Manhattan, New York City. It is named after the Wollman family who donated the funds for its original construction. The rink is open for ice skating from late October t ...

, along with

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

*25 July –

Midwest Rock Festival The Midwest Rock Festival was a music festival held at the State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, on July 25–27, 1969. The festival featured Led Zeppelin, Buffy Sainte-Marie, The First Edition, Sweetwater, Pacific Gas & Electric, SRC an ...

*27 July –

Seattle Pop Festival The Seattle Pop Festival was a music festival held at the Gold Creek Park, 16020 148th Ave NE, Woodinville, Washington from July 25 to July 27, 1969. The event was organized by Boyd Grafmyre. Overview The plan for Seattle Pop was to have 25 ac ...

the infamous shark episode is alleged to have taken place at this time *30 August – Singer Bowl Music Festival *31 August –

Texas International Pop Festival The Texas International Pop Festival was a music festival held at Lewisville, Texas, on Labor Day weekend, August 30 to September 1, 1969. It occurred two weeks after Woodstock. The site for the event was an open field just south and west of the ...

Tour set list

During the tour, Led Zeppelin usually played the same songs in the same order: #"

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 ...

" #" I Can't Quit You Baby" #" Dazed and Confused" #"

You Shook Me "You Shook Me" is a 1962 blues song recorded by Chicago blues artist Muddy Waters. Willie Dixon wrote the lyrics and Earl Hooker provided the instrumental backing; the song features Waters' vocal in unison with Hooker's slide-guitar melody. "Yo ...

" #"

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 ...

" #"

How Many More Times "How Many More Times" is the ninth and final track on English rock band Led Zeppelin's 1969 debut album ''Led Zeppelin''. The song is credited in the album liner to Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham, but Robert Plant was later added to ...

"the medley portion was sometimes expanded to include " The Lemon Song" and some early rock & roll and blues numbers #"

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 ...

" The group sometimes added: #"I Gotta Move" (8 August, while Page replaced a broken guitar string) #"

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 Should ...

" (11 July & 21 August) #"Pat's Delight" (18 July) #"

Your Time Is Gonna Come ''Led Zeppelin'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released on 12 January 1969 in the United States and on 31 March in the United Kingdom by Atlantic Records. The album was recorded in September and October ...

" (14 August) #"

Long Tall Sally "Long Tall Sally", also known as "Long Tall Sally (The Thing)", is a rock and roll song written by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson, and Little Richard. Richard recorded it for Specialty Records, which released it as a single in March ...

" (6 July, 12 July, & 30 August)

Tour dates

References

Sources

* * {{Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin concert tours 1969 concert tours 1969 in North America