Led Zeppelin North American Tour Spring 1969

Led Zeppelin's Spring 1969 North American Tour was the second concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 18 April and concluded on 31 May 1969.

North America Spring 1969
Tour by Led Zeppelin
Poster for Led Zeppelin's concert at the Fillmore West, used to help promote its Spring 1969 North American tour
Associated albumLed Zeppelin
Start date24 April 1969
End date31 May 1969 (Scheduled to end on 1 June 1969)
Legs1
No. of shows28 (30 scheduled)
Led Zeppelin concert chronology

By this point in time, Led Zeppelin's popularity was such that the group had reached top billing, sharing that honour for some of their gigs with established acts such as Julie Driscoll, Delaney & Bonnie and Three Dog Night.[1] They were now receiving four times the money that they had previously commanded on their first tour of America just a few months earlier.[2] Also, the band for some of its performances was one of the first groups to give single bill concerts without an opening act.[3] However, for the band's concert at Columbia, Maryland, on 25 May, manager Peter Grant agreed for Led Zeppelin to receive second billing in support of The Who. This was the only time that these two English bands ever performed on the same bill.[1][4]

During this tour the band took time out to record tracks at various recording studios for their forthcoming album, Led Zeppelin II. Many of the tracks were later mixed down by Eddie Kramer at A&R Studios, New York City.[5]

It was during this period that Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page switched from using his Telecaster to his signature Gibson Les Paul, whilst also incorporating the use of Marshall amplifiers.[1]

Tour set list

The fairly typical set list for the tour was:

  1. "Train Kept A-Rollin' " (Bradshaw, Kay, Mann)
  2. "I Can't Quit You Baby" (Dixon)
  3. "Dazed and Confused" (Page)
  4. "As Long As I Have You" (Mimms) (dropped after 24 May)
  5. "Killing Floor" (Wolf)
  6. "White Summer"/"Black Mountain Side" (Page)
  7. "Sitting And Thinking" (Guy) (on 27 April only)
  8. "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (Bredon, Page, Plant)
  9. "You Shook Me" (Dixon, Lenoir)
  10. "How Many More Times" (Bonham, Jones, Page)
  11. "Communication Breakdown" (Bonham, Jones, Page)
  12. "Pat's Delight" (Bonham)
  13. "Whole Lotta Love" (Bonham, Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant) (on 26 April, 11 May, and 25 May only)

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour.

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
24 April 1969 San Francisco United States Fillmore West
25 April 1969 Winterland Ballroom
26 April 1969
27 April 1969 Fillmore West
29 April 1969 Los Angeles Whiskey A Go Go
30 April 1969
1 May 1969 Irvine Crawford Hall - UC Irvine
2 May 1969 Pasadena Rose Palace
3 May 1969
4 May 1969 Santa Monica Santa Monica Civic Center
5 May 1969
7 May 1969 Portland Portland Memorial Coliseum
9 May 1969 Edmonton Canada Edmonton Gardens
10 May 1969 Vancouver PNE Agrodome
11 May 1969 Seattle United States Green Lake Aqua Theater
13 May 1969 Honolulu Civic Auditorium
16 May 1969 Detroit Grande Ballroom
two shows
17 May 1969 Athens, OH Convocation Center
18 May 1969 Minneapolis Guthrie Theater
21 May 1969 Syracuse Onondaga County Auditorium
23 May 1969 Chicago Kinetic Playground
24 May 1969
25 May 1969 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
26 May 1969 Boston Boston Tea Party
27 May 1969
28 May 1969
29 May 1969
30 May 1969 New York City Fillmore East
31 May 1969
1 June 1969 St. Louis Kiel Auditorium

References

  1. Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5307-4, p. 24.
  2. Chris Welch (1994) Led Zeppelin, London: Orion Books. ISBN 1-85797-930-3, p. 39.
  3. Luis Rey (1997) Led Zeppelin Live: An Illustrated Exploration of Underground Tapes, Ontario: The Hot Wacks Press, p. 38.
  4. Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary
  5. Led Zeppelin Discography

Sources

  • Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5307-4.
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