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 1970 European Tour was a concert tour of Europe 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. The tour commenced on 23 February and concluded on 12 March 1970.

Overview

During this tour, the cover for the band's debut album met with controversy. At a 28 February 1970 performance in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, the band was billed as "The Nobs" as the result of a threat of legal action from aristocrat Frau Eva von Zeppelin, descendant of

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Ferdinand von Zeppelin creator of the

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

aircraft, over use of the 'Zeppelin' name.Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary
/ref> Led Zeppelin 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 ...

commented to the music newspaper ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' that Frau Eva von Zeppelin initially took issue during an early Led Zeppelin concert performance in Copenhagen in October 1969, when she tried (unsuccessfully) to stop a television appearance. The aristocrat angrily described the group as "shrieking monkeys".Chris Welch (1994) ''Led Zeppelin'', London: Orion Books. , p. 42. As a gesture of good will, the band invited her to meet with them at a television studio. The meeting was apparently a cordial one. However, upon leaving the studio, her anger reignited when she saw the cover of the group's first album – the exploding '' Hindenburg'' aircraft. As Page recalled: Frau von Zeppelin felt the band's use of ''Zeppelin'' was insulting and dishonoured her family name. As a result, hostility toward the rock group continued on their next tour of the country in early 1970 by threat of a lawsuit, unless they agreed to change their name while working there. While Peter Grant (the band's manager) was not normally passive when faced with a confrontation, it was decided to appease the

aristocrat The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...

by temporarily changing the group's name. One name speculated in the national press was "Ned Zeppelin", which Jimmy Page found humorous. After some discussion, Grant and Page settled on the tongue-in-cheek name ''The Nobs'', a playful pun on the name of their European promoter,

Claude Nobs Claude Nobs (February 4, 1936 – January 10, 2013) was the founder and general manager of the Montreux Jazz Festival. Biography Nobs was born in Montreux, Switzerland. After apprenticing as a cook, Nobs worked in the Tourism Office of Montreux. ...

.Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) ''Led Zeppelin: The Concert File'', London: Omnibus Press. , p. 43-44. The controversy in Copenhagen was considered advantageous to Led Zeppelin early in their career, as the incident gained them worldwide publicity. The band's choice of names was widely seen as an expression of the band's likability and wit. One concert from this tour, at

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

on 10 March, was cancelled at a week's notice as a result of riots having previously occurred at the venue following a concert by Jethro Tull. It was replaced by a gig at

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Tour set list

The fairly typical set list for the tour was: #"

We're Gonna Groove "We're Gonna Groove" (or "Groovin" as it was originally titled) is a song written by soul artist Ben E. King and later co-credited to James Bethea. In 1964, it was released as the single B-side of King's rendition of " What Now My Love". Altho ...

" ( Ben E. King) #"

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 ...

" (

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 ...

) #" Dazed and Confused" (Page) #"

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 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 ...

) #"

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 ...

"/"

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) #" Since I've Been Loving You" (Page, Plant,

Jones Jones may refer to: People *Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname *List of people with surname Jones * Jones (singer), a British singer-songwriter Arts and entertainment * Jones (''Animal Farm''), a human character in George Orwell ...

) #"

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) #"

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 N ...

" (Page, Plant) (On 7 March, 10 March, and 11 March) #" Moby Dick" (Bonham) #"

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 ...

" (Bonham, Jones, Page) Encores (variations of the following list): *" Communication Breakdown" (Bonham, Jones, Page) *"

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 r ...

" (Bonham, Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant) *" Bring It On Home" (Dixon, Page, Plant) (On 28 February) *"

C'mon Everybody "C'mon Everybody" is a 1958 song by Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart, originally released as a B-side. Background When Cochran recorded his lead vocal for the song, he also created an alternate version of the song called "Let's Get Together". ...

"/" Something Else" ( Cochran, Capehart, Sheeley, Cochran) (On 28 February) *"

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 ...

" (Little Richard) (On 28 February) There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour.

Tour dates

Sources

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

References

External links

Video footage of Led Zeppelin in Germany, 1970 (official website)Comprehensive archive of known concert appearances by Led Zeppelin (official website)
{{Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin concert tours 1970 concert tours LZ 129 Hindenburg 1970 in Europe February 1970 events in Europe March 1970 events in Europe