Led Zeppelin's 1971 European Tour was a concert tour of Europe by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 3 May and concluded on 5 July 1971. It included one concert at Liverpool, England, which was a rescheduled date from their preceding tour of the United Kingdom.Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary It is possible that other unverified dates in Europe were also performed during this period.Dave Lewis and Simon Pallett, (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press, p. 63.
Though being very short in duration, this concert tour was well known, primarily because of the extremely violent crowd disturbance which took place at the band's concert at the Vigorelli Velodrome in Milan on 5 July.Led Zeppelin Interview 1971 Led Zeppelin official website: concert summaryChris Welch (1994) Led Zeppelin, London: Orion Books. , p. 63. This festival appearance in front of an audience of 15,000 people was abandoned when hundreds of tear-gas wielding riot police charged into the crowd. The group were forced to leave the stage and many fans were injured. Some of the group's equipment was also damaged in the chaos. The band's singer Robert Plant later recalled:
The concert has been described as one of the low points of Led Zeppelin's career, and the band never again returned to Italy.Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. , p. 63.
Tour set list All track written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, except where noted.
The fairly typical set list for the tour was:
"Immigrant Song" "Heartbreaker" (Bonham, Jones, 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" "Going to California" "That's the Way" "Celebration Day" (from 7 Aug) "What Is and What Should Never Be" "Moby Dick" (Bonham, Jones, Page) (on 8 Aug only) "Four Sticks" (on 3 May and 4 May only) "Gallows Pole" (on 3 May and 4 May only) "Whole Lotta Love" (Bonham, Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant)
Encores (variations of the following list): "Communication Breakdown" (Bonham, Jones, Page) (on 3 May and 4 May only) "Misty Mountain Hop" (Page, Plant, Jones) (on 3 May only) "Rock and Roll" (Page, Plant, Jones, Bonham) (on 3 May only) "Weekend" (Post) (on 7 August only)
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. On 3–4 May Led Zeppelin played "Four Sticks" (Page, Plant), the only known times it was performed by the original band.Dave Lewis (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, Omnibus Press, . Also played on 3–4 May was "Gallows Pole," two of only four complete known live performances, the third performance occurring later that year on 19 August 1971 at Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada, and the fourth on 16 November 1971 at St Matthew's Baths Hall, Ipswich, UK.
Tour dates Date City Country Venue Leg 1 – Denmark & England3 May 1971 Copenhagen Denmark K.B. Hallen4 May 1971 Odense Fyns Forum10 May 1971 Liverpool England University of Liverpool Leg 2 – Italy5 July 1971 Milan Italy Velodromo VigorelliLeg 3 – Switzerland (warm-up shows for following tourhttps://www.ledzeppelin.com/event/may-3-1971 The Swiss warm-up shows are considered to be part of this tour according to the official website.)7 August 1971MontreuxSwitzerlandMontreux Casino8 August 1971
References
External links Comprehensive archive of known concert appearances by Led Zeppelin (official website) Led Zeppelin concert setlists 1971 interview with Robert Plant about the Milan riot Europe 1971 tour
Sources Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. .