Led Zeppelin Tour of Iceland, Bath and Germany, Summer 1970

infobox concert tour
concert_tour_name = Iceland, Bath and Germany, Summer 1970

Poster for Led Zeppelin's concert at Berlin, used to help promote its Summer 1970 tour of Germany
artist = Led Zeppelin
type = Concert
locations = Iceland, England, Germany
start_date = June 22, 1970
end_date = July 19, 1970
number_of_legs = 3
number_of_shows = 6
last_tour = North America Spring 1970
this_tour = Iceland, Bath and Germany, Summer 1970
next_tour = North America Summer 1970

Led Zeppelin's Summer 1970 tour of Iceland, Bath and Germany was a concert tour by the English rock band. The tour commenced on June 22 and concluded on July 19, 1970.

Overview

Led Zeppelin's sole performance in England during this tour was one of the most important of the band's career. They accepted an offer from promoter Freddy Bannister to headline the Bath Festival, in Shepton Mallet, at a fee of ₤20,000.Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) "Led Zeppelin: The Concert File", London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5307-4, pp. 50-51.] This was the second time Led Zeppelin performed at this festival, having also appeared at the Bath Festival of Blues during their U.K. tour in summer 1969.

The band's performance at Bath in 1970 [ [http://ledzeppelin.com/show/june-28-1970 Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary] ] in front of an audience of 150,000 people is widely considered by music critics, and members of Led Zeppelin itself, as representing a turning point in terms of the amount of recognition they received in Britain. Until that point their on-stage success and popularity had largely been borne out on numerous United States concert tours. This concert helped foster an improved relationship with the U.K. press, which gave them consistently good reviews for their performance at the festival. Tantalisingly, however, the only known audio documents of the festival exist in very poor quality as Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings.

This tour is also notable for the band's visit to Iceland for their opening show at Laugardalshöll. [ [http://ledzeppelin.com/show/june-22-1970 Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary] ] It was this visit which inspired singer Robert Plant to write the lyrics to "Immigrant Song", which was subsequently featured on their forthcoming album "Led Zeppelin III". This song premiered at the Bath Festival, just six days after their show in Iceland. A short segment of footage of Jimmy Page playing bowed guitar during "Dazed and Confused" during Led Zeppelin's performance at Laugardalshöll was included on the menu clips of the "Led Zeppelin DVD" (2003).

Tour set list

The fairly typical set list for the tour was:

#"Immigrant Song" (Page, Plant)
#"Heartbreaker" (Bonham, Page, Plant)
#"Dazed and Confused" (Page)
#"Bring It on Home" (Page, Plant, Dixon)
#"That's the Way" (Page, Plant)
#"Bron-Yr-Aur" (Page)
#"Since I've Been Loving You" (Page, Plant, Jones)
#"Organ Solo"/"Thank You" (Page, Plant)
#"What Is and What Should Never Be" (Page, Plant)
#"Moby Dick" (Page, Jones, Bonham)
#"How Many More Times" (Plant, Jones, Bonham, Plant)

Encore:
#"Whole Lotta Love" (Dixon, Page, Plant, Jones, Bonham)
#"Communication Breakdown" (Page, Jones, Bonham)

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

Tour dates

*22/06/1970 flagicon|Iceland Laugardalshöll - Reykjavik, Iceland
*28/06/1970 flagicon|England Bath Festival - Shepton Mallet, England
*16/07/1970 flagicon|Germany Sporthalle - Cologne, Germany
*17/07/1970 flagicon|Germany Grugahalle - Essen, Germany
*18/07/1970 flagicon|Germany Festhalle - Frankfurt, Germany
*19/07/1970 flagicon|Germany Deutschlandhalle - Berlin, Germany

External links

* [http://www.ledzeppelin.com/timelinebrowse Comprehensive archive of known concert appearances by Led Zeppelin (official website)]
* [http://www.bootledz.com/setlists.htm Led Zeppelin concert setlists]

References