Led Zeppelin's Spring 1971 United Kingdom & Ireland Tour (also known as the Back to the Clubs Tour) was a concert tour of the United Kingdom & Ireland by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 5 March and concluded on 1 April 1971.
Overview For this tour, the band decided to mainly perform at the smaller clubs that they had originally played earlier in their career, rather than large arenas and auditoriums. This decision was made to reward those fans who had been loyal to them from the start of their career. The small, more intimate size of the venues, and the correspondingly smaller ticket sales and gate receipts, was offered as proof that Led Zeppelin wasn't preoccupied with making money and instead endeavoured to create a close connection with their audiences when performing on-stage.Chris Welch (1994) Led Zeppelin, London: Orion Books. , pp. 62-63. However, as the tour progressed, it became evident that this intention was compromised due to thousands of fans being shut out of shows because of the scarce availability of concert tickets.Luis Rey (1997) Led Zeppelin Live: An Illustrated Exploration of Underground Tapes, Ontario: The Hot Wacks Press, p. 136.
The Belfast concert on 5 MarchLed Zeppelin official website: concert summary featured the first public performance of their now-legendary song "Stairway to Heaven", which was played at nearly every subsequent Led Zeppelin show. One scheduled concert from the tour, at Liverpool University, was cancelled and rescheduled to take place during the band's subsequent tour of Europe.
During this period the band members began to experiment with their stage attire, introducing strange caftans and garments and growing longer hair and beards, which gave them a very fashionable appearance.
Tour set list A fairly typical set list for the tour was:
"Immigrant Song" (Page, Plant) "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" (Page, Plant) "Going to California" (Page, Plant) "That's the Way" (Page, Plant) (on 1 April only) "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): "Organ Solo"/"Thank You" (Page, Plant) (on 21 March and 1 April only) "Communication Breakdown" (Bonham, Jones, Page) "Rock and Roll" (Page, Plant, Jones, Bonham) (On 5 March and 6 March) "Bring It On Home" (Page, Plant, Dixon) (on 5 March only)
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour.
Tour dates
Date City Country Venue5 March 1971 Belfast Northern Ireland Ulster Hall6 March 1971 Dublin Ireland National Stadium9 March 1971 Leeds England Leeds University10 March 1971 Canterbury University of Kent11 March 1971 Southampton Southampton University13 March 1971 Bath Bath Pavilion14 March 1971 Stoke-on-Trent Trentham Gardens Ballroom16 March 1971 Liverpool Liverpool University18 March 1971 Newcastle upon Tyne Mayfair Ballroom19 March 1971 Manchester Manchester University20 March 1971 Birmingham Stepmothers Club21 March 1971 Nottingham Boat Club23 March 1971 London The Marquee1 April 1971 Paris Theatre (BBC concert)
References
Sources Keith Shadwick, Led Zeppelin : the story of a band and their music, 1968-80. . Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. .
External links Comprehensive archive of known concert appearances by Led Zeppelin (official website) Led Zeppelin concert setlists