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 1972–1973 United Kingdom Tour was a

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 the United Kingdom 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 commenced on 28 October 1972 and concluded on 30 January 1973.

History

The tour was preceded by two warm-up shows in

Montreux, Switzerland Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxima ...

, and rehearsals at the Rainbow Theatre in London, before formally kicking off at

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. This was Led Zeppelin's longest ever tour of the United Kingdom, and the original 110,000 tickets for the 25 dates sold out within four hours of box offices opening simultaneously on 10 November. Tickets were charged £1 for all the concerts, except for the shows at

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

which charged £1.25.Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) ''Led Zeppelin: The Concert File'', London: Omnibus Press. , p. 83. Two dates, in Bradford and Preston respectively, needed to be postponed as a result of singer Robert Plant contracting influenza after the car in which he and drummer

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 ...

were travelling broke down on the way to a concert in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

on 2 January. An additional date was also added at

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

on 22 January.Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary
/ref> Led Zeppelin archivists Dave Lewis and Simon Pallet have characterised this concert tour as something of an end of an era for the band: This would be the last full UK tour Led Zeppelin would undertake. The five Earl's Court 1975 shows and two

Knebworth Festival 1979 The Knebworth Festival 1979 consisted of two concerts performed by the English rock band Led Zeppelin and other artists at Knebworth House, Hertfordshire, England, in August 1979. History The grounds of Knebworth House near the village of Knebwo ...

shows would be their only subsequent performances in Britain before Bonham's death in 1980.

Recordings

High-quality stereo soundboard bootleg recordings have been distributed on the internet from the show of 7 January at Oxford and the show of 22 January at Southampton. The ambiance is very intimate on these recordings, as these were small theatre-size venues. The Southampton show was professionally recorded and intended for an official release, but the performance quality was not deemed adequate. Instead, Jimmy Page selected the Madison Square Garden shows from later in the year for the live album '' The Song Remains the Same'' (1976). The mellotron track from " Stairway to Heaven" which was included on the live album '' How The West Was Won'' (2003) was actually from 22 January Southampton show; all of the other material on this album came from the 1972 shows in Southern California. The recordings from this tour reveal further strain in Robert Plant's voice that began on the previous tour of Japan. He struggled to sing " Over the Hills and Far Away" at the Oxford show, and for all remaining live performances of this song through 1979, he changed the melody to a lower register. Plant also changed the melody of the song "

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 ...

", singing it in a lower register.

Tour set list

The

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 ...

pattern was virtually the same as that played during the previous Japanese tour. The fairly typical set list was: #"

" (

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 ...

, Jones, Bonham) #" Over the Hills and Far Away" (Page, Plant) #"

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) #"

Misty Mountain Hop "Misty Mountain Hop" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in 1971 by Atlantic Records. The song appears on the band's untitled fourth album, and was released as the B-side to the single " Black Dog" and performed in most of the ...

" (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 ...

" (Page, Plant, Jones) #"

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 ...

" (Page, Plant) #" Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp" (Page, Plant, Jones) #" The Song Remains the Same" (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) #" Dazed and Confused" (Page) #" Stairway to Heaven" (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) Encores (variations of the following list): *"

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 f ...

" (Bonham, Page, Plant) *"

Immigrant Song "Immigrant Song" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is built upon a repeating riff and features lyrical references to Norse mythology, with singer Robert Plant's howling vocals mentioning war-making and Valhalla. The song was ...

" (Page, Plant) (On 30 November, 4, 8, 12, and 22 December, and 18 January) *"

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 30 November, 4, 11, 12, and 22 December, and 22 January) *" The Ocean" (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant) (On 11 and 17 December and 14 January) *"

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 4 and 8 December and 22, 27, and 30 January) There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. "

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 ...

" was also played on 22 January, and "What Is And What Should Never Be" was played on 25 January.

Tour dates

References

Sources

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

External links

Comprehensive archive of known concert appearances by Led Zeppelin (official website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Led Zeppelin United Kingdom Tour 1972-1973 Led Zeppelin concert tours 1972 concert tours 1973 concert tours 1972 in the United Kingdom 1973 in the United Kingdom Concert tours of the United Kingdom