Led Zeppelin North American Tour Summer 1969

North America Summer 1969

Poster by artist Frank Bettencourt for Led Zeppelin's concert at Santa Barbara, used to help promote its Summer 1969 North American tour
Concert tour by Led Zeppelin
Associated album Led Zeppelin
Start date 5 July 1969
End date 31 August 1969
Legs 1
Shows 36
Led Zeppelin concert chronology
United Kingdom Summer 1969 North America Summer 1969 Europe Autumn 1969

Led Zeppelin's Summer 1969 North American Tour was the third concert tour 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.[1] According to music journalist Chris Welch:

One New York concert drew 21,000 people, while support like The Doors and Iron Butterfly were consistently blown off stage by the rampaging Britons.[1]

This concert tour is notable for the number of festival appearances made by Led Zeppelin.[2] On 21 July Led Zeppelin were the headliners of the Schaefer Music Festival at New York City's Wollman Rink, along with B.B. King.[3] The band also appeared at the Atlanta International Pop Festival on 5 July,[4] the Newport Jazz Festival on 6 July,[5] the Laurel Pop Festival on 11 July,[6] the Summer Pop Festival on 12 July,[7] the Midwest Rock Festival on 25 July,[8] the Seattle Pop Festival on 27 July,[9] the Singer Bowl Music Festival on 30 August[10] and the Texas International Pop Festival on 31 August.[11]

It was during this tour that the infamous shark episode is alleged to have taken place, when Led Zeppelin visited Seattle for their appearance at the Seattle Pop Festival.

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. "White Summer"/"Black Mountain Side" (Page)
  5. "You Shook Me" (Dixon, Lenoir)
  6. "How Many More Times" (Bonham, Jones, Page)
  7. "Communication Breakdown" (Bonham, Jones, Page)
  8. "Long Tall Sally" (Johnson, Blackwell, Penniman) (on 6 July only)

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

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
5 July 1969 Atlanta, Georgia United States Atlanta International Pop Festival
6 July 1969 Newport, Rhode Island Newport Jazz Festival
11 July 1969 Laurel, Maryland Laurel Pop Festival – Laurel Park Racecourse
12 July 1969 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Spectrum
13 July 1969 New York City, New York Singer Bowl
unscheduled, impromptu performance
18 July 1969 Chicago, Illinois Kinetic Playground
19 July 1969
20 July 1969 Cleveland, Ohio Musicarnival
21 July 1969 New York City, New York Schaefer Music Festival – Wollman Rink, Central Park
25 July 1969 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Midwest Rock Festival – State Fair Park
26 July 1969 Vancouver, British Columbia Canada PNE Agrodome
27 July 1969 Woodinville, Washington United States Seattle Pop Festival
29 July 1969 Edmonton, Alberta Canada Kinsmen Field House
30 July 1969 Salt Lake City, Utah United States Terrace Ballroom
1 August 1969 Santa Barbara, California Fairgrounds Arena
2 August 1969 Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque Civic Auditorium
3 August 1969 Houston, Texas Houston Music Hall
4 August 1969 Dallas, Texas State Fair Coliseum
6 August 1969 Sacramento, California Memorial Auditorium
7 August 1969 Berkeley, California Berkeley Community Theatre
8 August 1969 San Bernardino, California Swing Auditorium
9 August 1969 Anaheim, California Anaheim Convention Center
10 August 1969 San Diego, California San Diego Sports Arena
14 August 1969 Austin, Texas Municipal Auditorium
15 August 1969 San Antonio, Texas HemisFair Arena
16 August 1969 Asbury Park, New Jersey Asbury Park Convention Hall
17 August 1969 Wallingford, Connecticut Oakdale Musical Theater
18 August 1969 Toronto, Ontario Canada The Rockpile
2 Shows
20 August 1969 Schenectady, New York United States The Aerodrome
21 August 1969 Framingham, Massachusetts Carousel Theater
22 August 1969 Dania, Florida Pirates World
23 August 1969
24 August 1969 Jacksonville, Florida Veterans Memorial Coliseum
27 August 1969 Hampton Beach, New Hampshire Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
30 August 1969 New York City, New York Singer Bowl
31 August 1969 Lewisville, Texas Texas International Pop Festival

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chris Welch (1994) Led Zeppelin, London: Orion Books. ISBN 1-85797-930-3, p.40.
  2. ↑ Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5307-4, p. 32.
  3. ↑ "Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary". Ledzeppelin.com. 21 July 1969. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  4. ↑ "Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary". Ledzeppelin.com. 5 July 1969. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary". Ledzeppelin.com. 6 July 1969. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  6. ↑ "Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary". Ledzeppelin.com. 11 July 1969. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  7. ↑ "Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary". Ledzeppelin.com. 12 July 1969. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  8. ↑ "Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary". Ledzeppelin.com. 25 July 1969. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  9. ↑ "Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary". Ledzeppelin.com. 27 July 1969. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  10. ↑ "Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary". Ledzeppelin.com. 30 August 1969. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  11. ↑ "Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary". Ledzeppelin.com. 31 August 1969. Retrieved 31 December 2011.

External links

Sources