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 1968 tour of the United Kingdom was the first concert tour of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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. It commenced on 4 October and concluded on 20 December 1968. For some of these early shows, the band were billed as the "New Yardbirds". Press releases eventually announced that they would make their debut under the name 'Led Zeppelin' on October 25 at the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institut ...

(although posters advertising this concert erroneously continued to bill them as the 'New Yardbirds'). During this tour the band went to

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 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to record their debut album, which took a mere 36 studio hours. There was very little press reaction to this tour.Liner notes by Cameron Crowe for '' The Complete Studio Recordings'' The band's second London concert (October 18th, billed as 'New Yardbirds', November 9th, billed as 'Led Zeppelin') at the Roundhouse on November 9 doubled as singer

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

wedding reception A wedding reception is a party usually held after the completion of a marriage ceremony as hospitality for those who have attended the wedding, hence the name reception: the couple ''receive'' society, in the form of family and friends, for t ...

.Nigel Williamson, "Good Times...Bad Times", '' Uncut'', May 2005, p. 54.

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...

attended the Canterbury show on 13 December. "Things went slightly wrong!" he recalled to

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 ...

. "Your fucking amp blew up and I went, 'What's up with that, Jim?' And then I realised it was ''my'' amp, because my roadie had moonlighted and rented Jimmy my equipment! And he'd changed the impedance on the back so it sounded like a pile of shit! But I could see the potential. It was just amazing – blew the house down, blew everybody away."

Tour set list

Exact set lists during this tour are sketchy, due partly to the lack of early live

Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings The Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings are a collection of audio and video recordings of musical performances by the English rock band Led Zeppelin which were never officially released by the band, or under other legal authority. The recordings consis ...

. Old Yardbirds' live staples such as " Train Kept A-Rollin'", " Dazed and Confused", "

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 concerts ...

" and possibly "

For Your Love "For Your Love" is a rock song written by Graham Gouldman and recorded by English group the Yardbirds. Released in March 1965, it was their first top ten hit in both the UK and the US. The song was a departure from the group's blues roots in ...

" were performed, in addition to material from the then unfinished debut album, such as " Communication Breakdown",

I Can't Quit You Baby "I Can't Quit You Baby" is blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Chicago blues artist Otis Rush in 1956. It is a slow twelve-bar blues ensemble piece, with lyrics about the consequences of an adulterous relationship which ...

, "

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 ...

", " Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", and "

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 band also likely performed a Garnet Mimms cover, "As Long as I Have You".Led Zeppelin official website
/ref> A likely set list for the tour was: #" Train Kept A-Rollin'" ( Bradshaw, Kay, Mann) #"

" (

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, Indi ...

) #"As Long as I Have You" ( Mimms) #" Dazed and Confused" ( Page) #"

" (Page) #"

" ( Gouldman) #"

" (Dixon,

Lenoir Lenoir may refer to: Locations: * Lenoir, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir City, Tennessee In Universities: * Lenoir-Rhyne University * Lenoir Dining Hall, a dining hall at the University of N ...

) #" Pat's Delight" (Bonham) #" Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (Bredon, 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 exclud ...

) #"

" ( Bonham, Jones, Page) #" Communication Breakdown" ( Bonham, John Paul Jones, Page)

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 1968 concert tours 1968 in the United Kingdom October 1968 events in the United Kingdom November 1968 events in the United Kingdom December 1968 events in the United Kingdom Concert tours of the United Kingdom