Led Zeppelin's 1971 North American Tour was the seventh concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour commenced on August 7 and concluded on 17 September 1971. It included two warm-up shows in Montreux, Switzerland.
This tour took place just prior to the release of the band's fourth album. The band had hoped to release this album in time for the tour, but various delays prevented this from occurring.Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. , p. 64.
This was the longest break that the band had from touring North America to date, with their last tour there having taken place almost a year previously. During the interim, the hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad had asserted its influence on the American music market, and Led Zeppelin was keen to re-establish their live reputation through this stint of concert performances.
The new material from the fourth album which was presented by the band on stage was very well received by audiences, which helped to ensure massive sales of that album when it was eventually released in November 1971.
The tour is also notable for the high frequency of crowd disturbances which occurred at the concerts, including those at New York City, Toronto and Boston, as the bootlegs of these concerts attest.
Before this tour, Robert Plant shaved off his beard, a style which he and the rest of his bandmates had adopted the year before. John Paul Jones followed suit a month later. However, Jones would later grow a beard in late 1972 and keep it until March 1973, and then have a mustache for part of the 1973 North American Tour, and also have a beard from late 1975 to early 1977.
On this tour, the band grossed $1 million.Chris Welch (1994) Led Zeppelin, London: Orion Books. , p. 65.
Tour set list The fairly typical set list for the tour was:
"Walk Don't Run" (only on 22 August) "Immigrant Song" (Page, Plant) "Heartbreaker" (Bonham, Page, Plant) "Since I've Been Loving You" (Page, Plant, Jones) "Out on the Tiles" (intro) (Page, Plant, Bonham) / "Black Dog" (Page, Plant, Jones) "Dazed and Confused" (Page) "Stairway to Heaven" (Page, Plant) "Celebration Day" (Jones, Page, Plant) "That's the Way" (Page, Plant) "Going to California" (Page, Plant) "What Is and What Should Never Be" (Page, Plant) "Moby Dick" (Page, Jones, Bonham) "Whole Lotta Love" (Bonham, Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant)
Encores (variations of the following list): "Communication Breakdown" (Bonham, Jones, Page) "Organ Solo" (Jones) / "Thank You" (Page, Plant) "Rock and Roll" (Page, Plant, Jones, Bonham) (19 & 21 August and 3, 7 & 13 September) "Weekend" (Post) (19 & 21 August)
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour.
Tour dates Date City Country VenueEuropean warm-up shows7 August 1971MontreuxSwitzerlandMontreux Casino8 August 1971North America19 August 1971 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum21 August 1971InglewoodUnited StatesThe Forum22 August 197123 August 1971 Fort Worth Tarrant County Convention Center24 August 1971 Dallas Memorial Auditorium26 August 1971HoustonSam Houston Coliseum27 August 1971 San Antonio Municipal Auditorium29 August 1971 New Orleans Municipal Auditorium31 August 1971 Orlando Orlando Sports Stadium1 September 1971 Pembroke Pines Hollywood Sportatorium3 September 1971 New York City Madison Square Garden4 September 1971 Toronto Canada Maple Leaf Gardens5 September 1971 ChicagoUnited States Chicago Amphitheater7 September 1971 Boston Boston Garden9 September 1971 Hampton Hampton Coliseum10 September 1971 Syracuse Onondaga Veterans Auditorium11 September 1971 Rochester War Memorial Auditorium13 September 1971BerkeleyBerkeley Community Theatre14 September 197116 September 1971HonoluluNeal S. Blaisdell Arena17 September 1971
References
External links Comprehensive archive of known concert appearances by Led Zeppelin (official website) Led Zeppelin concert setlists U.S. 1971 tour
Sources Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. .