The 1977 Tour

[Rock Action]

I was in attendence on 6/23/77, LA Forum. Yes, I was a Badgeholder and the show was For Badgeholders Only. My first and only time to see the band before destiny had its way with them. Well storied and documented gig. I also have the bootleg of the same name of the same night. Kieth Moon was there in his drunken glory clowning with Bonzo all nite sneeking up behind the kit, getting a few hits in and running away. No one knew who it was until Plant let everyone in on the strange visitor that nite, the 3rd of a 6 night, sold out run. I dont believe Bonham EVER gave up his throne to anyone other than Kieth during a gig, which on that particular evening was for a bit of the solo in Moby Dick. By the end of the almost 3 hour set, he was sitting on one of Jimmy's half stacks kicking his feet and smacking the kettle drum like the lunatic he was. There are a couple of good pix on this site of that evening. They were clearly all having a great time. A year later, Kieth was gone. 3 years later, Bonzo. A somewhat historic gig? Let me think, the 2 best and hardest hitting drummers in the business at that time, together on the same night, the same stage, the same kit? Are you kidding me?

F***ING PRICELESS!

Have read many reports of bad performances and drug abuse during this tour, but can't really compare this show to any other. All I know is they were flippin incredible that nite. I was 16 and have been to probably over 1000 shows since but no one has ever come close. Can only hope for a return to thier beloved LA when Percy finishes with his Krauss project.

I always love to play the trainwreck (on the bootleg) the band incurred during Kashmir for my other musician friends as an example of how the mighty Zep can musically go in 3 different directions and how effortlessy they find their way back. While no one can ever replace Bonzo, it is incredible to see the only guy who could even attempt it (or have a right to even try!) back with the original 3. And from what I've read and seen on the bootleg of the 21st century, Youtube, doing it extremely well. I truly never thought they (Plant) would do it without Bonham.

I'd venture to say Bonzo and Moon the Loon are both looking on with great approval....and laughing their asses off!

Oh man...you were at my favorite gig of all time. Words cannot even describe just how jealous I am!!

I'd trade 30 7/24's just for that one 6/23!

[Grey]

I was taken to the concert in chicago by my dad at the Chicago stadium on 07/04/1977 You may ask why did my dad take me? Well I was 9 years old. This was my birthday present as I was turning 10 in October. I think they opend with the Rover, or maybe the Song Remains the Same. Either way those were the first two songs they played. I was to young at the time to realize but now when I think back to it Dazed and Confused was not played. But as far as playing well um yeah they played awsome. I will never forget that whole day when my dad took me to see Led-Zeppelin.

I don't know if they will be touring again but if they are, I want to take my kids to it now. That way 3 generations in my family will have been entertained by Led-Zeppelin.

[OldZepFreak]

I had the opportunity to see the 6th and last night at Madison Square Garden. Blew me away. Loved the acoustic set.

During the encore, someone threw some kind of ash-can or M80 onto the stage. It really pissed off Plant. Didn't see how close it got to Page, but immediately after that thing went off, Page held his wrist in pain for a minute. They played one more number (I forget which one) and walked off.

[Harrpoe]

I had the opportunity to see the 6th and last night at Madison Square Garden. Blew me away. Loved the acoustic set.

During the encore, someone threw some kind of ash-can or M80 onto the stage. It really pissed off Plant. Didn't see how close it got to Page, but immediately after that thing went off, Page held his wrist in pain for a minute. They played one more number (I forget which one) and walked off.

I remember there were alot of fireworks being set off and thrown on stage that tour. I always figured it was because of the movie (TSRTS) where Plant reacts to one like he was shot at the end of Whole Lotta Love and the idiot quotient took it as an invitation to bring and set them off. On the "badgholders" bootleg, Plant says something to the effect of "It is indeed a pleasure to be back on the west coast where things make sense". I'm pretty sure he was talking about the "mellower" demeanor or the LA crowds as opposed to the messy gigs on the east coast and specifically the southern part of the country.

By 77, Zep had reached the top of thier popularity and unfortunately, the top always attracts the fugliest fans, and as they always do, they have to ruin it for everyone else. "Dude, are you going to see Led Zeppelin?" "Yeah, I just gotz my tickets to see him".... "He better do Stairway to Heaven!!!"

Clueless

77 was just a rough tour for them. Cole hired John Binden as security chief who was just a thug and pissed everybody off. The crowds were rowdier than usual, they hit bad weather with some outdoor gigs and had to cancel or shorten them, which of course made the crowds worse. More fireworks than there ever was before. Jimmy was strung out and playing like it. There was the uglyness in Oakland where Grant and Bonhan were both arrested and the final blow, the loss of Plant's son.

They were victims of thier own success and when that didnt stop them, thier demons finally caught up to them and shut the whole thing down. When even the death of Plant's son didnt stop them, well, you know the story.

So here we are, 30 years later. All waiting for news of a tour and waiting for Plant to change his mind and say yes. I truly believe the only reason he would do it would be for the fun of it. Looked like he had a great time at the O2 gig, but a full tour? Guess we'll have to wait and see. For now, have to be content with the pending DVD and just the fact that they actually played a gig with the junior Bonham.

And from what I can ascertain from the reviews and youtube, they sounded great. ZEP LIVES!

All just my humble opinion of course and I could be completly wrong...again!

Peace

[plant1onme]

I saw them at Freedom Hall in Louisville, KY on April 25, 1977. It was an awesome show! We had pretty good seats luckily because the crowd on the floor got pretty crazy pushing towards the stage.

[Green Ajah]

My dad saw them twice on that tour, once in Birmingham AL, and again in Greenesboro NC. It was all "festival seating" then, and he had to haul ass to get to the front row, but he did it! I am so jealous of him I could scream! LOL. He said they were fantastic, and he remembers much about both shows, like Page's pyramid of light that surrounded him, and would rotate and change color every time he hit the strings with his bow. He said he was blown away by the guitars alone, and how much Page looked like some ambassador from another world altogether, with his crazy outfits, wild hair, and of course, the sound. I can only imagine what a young country boy thought of these cats. He also tells me a funny story about buying LZII and (without tv appearances and such) thinking that the old crew of the actual Zeppelin on the cover was all the members of the band, and how "Ramble On" would get stuck on the record player saying "Time I was on my way, on my way, on my way..." and they would have to bang their feet on the floor to get it moving again. I hope these guys do a tour, because I was too young in '94 to have seen Page and Plant, and I'd probably flip my lid the second I laid eyes on Page, cos that man is my hero! Plus, this music has brought my dad and I together in a really cool way, and I'd love to take him with me to a show that would be my first.

[icantquityoubabe]

77 TOUR RULES!!!!!!

[3hrsoflunacy]

Oh man...you were at my favorite gig of all time. Words cannot even describe just how jealous I am!!

I'd trade 30 7/24's just for that one 6/23!

Plant wasn't kidding when he said "Welcome to 3 hours of lunacy!"

[mos6507]

Oh man...you were at my favorite gig of all time. Words cannot even describe just how jealous I am!!

I'd trade 30 7/24's just for that one 6/23!

On that show Jimmy was wearing a black jacket with white pants? Never seen that combo in 1977 before. It's like he mixed up his wardrobe or something.

[skarnie]

Hey, Wolgang. I was lucky enough to score tickets to see them 2 nights in a row($8.50 a ticket then). April 12 & 13 in the Twin Cities. 2 of the best shows I've ever seen(which is saying something cuz I've been to more than 200 concerts). Jimmy is like no other guitatist save the other Jimi and Plant, in his prime, could hit those notes like no one else. I would've gave anything to have seen their concert in London. I'm praying they'll decide to go on tour! Arnie from Cottage Grove, Minnesota

[rockinmama]

Wow! Take me back. I'm also 48 years old and attended one show at the Capitol Center, Largo, MD in 1977. I will never, ever forget that night..the music never seemed to stop. I can still see it in my mind. I recently bought the Led Zep DVD and can't stop watching and remembering. Long Live ZP!

ok....1977 was a very different time than now...music and concerts were so different....I'm 48 now....and have seen more than 1000 shows in my lifetime...I still have most all of my ticket stubs....I really have seen almost everyone...most of 'em 5 to 100 times.with that said....

I waited 2 1/2 weeks in line...I was the very first person in line to buy tickets in the DC/MD area. Infact tickets were scheduled to go on sale at 10:00am Sat morning....and at 4:00am Sat...the police came and escorted the first 10 of us into the cap center and sold us our tickets...tickets were $9.50 with a .50 service charge...so the very first $10.00 concert tickets. We were allowed to buy 10 tics for each of the 3 nights....I bought 10 front row center seats 3 nights in a row.... holy shit!!!!!!!!!!! The police then escorted me and my nine other friends...who bought the whole first 7 rows center out!, out to our cars because they were afraid we would be mugged.......honest absolute true story.......then I simply traded when they added a fourth night for another front row seat...I still have 3 of my four stubs...........THE SHOWS...............first let me say...I was, am probably still am, one of the biggest Zep heads ever....they were everything to me since 1969 when ZepI came out....was never then same again.....waiting in line over night each year to buy the albums as they were released....back to the shows... Upon the first show I didn't want to be wasted or drunk because I wanted to remember everything....they were late coming out...when the house lights went out....you have NEVER heard such a roar from a crowd...this wasn't a Beatles hysterical roar...this was pure blissful love screaming to our favorite muscians on the planet, who were literally 3 feet from my face....front row and I never got down off my chair....we stood on our chairs all 4 hours....singing every lyric.....it was insane...from the first notes of TSRTS....it was a dream come true this 18 year old!!

Things were so different as I said...we didn't know what they were gonna play...there was no internet to look up setlists....in fact there was no MTV and we never even got a glimpse of our heros other than Circus Mag, Rolling Stone, Crawdaddy.....we were totally enamored by their presense...it was so exciting....all 20,000 of us KNEW this was history......

4 nights...yes 4 nights...by the 4th night we were dissappointed in our heros to be honest...they played the same songs each night...and Robert even said pretty much the same thing between songs.....or so it seemed as it was happening....listening to the boots now, we all know there were a couple differences...like Dancin Days..etc.....Jimmy was wasted...I mean wasted...on the 3rd night...after STH he held his double neck above his head and 2 roadies caught it just in time.....he needed to be carried off the stage.....

Another big event was some asshole shouting a bottle rocket on stage which caught Plant's shirt on fire, or at least smoldering.....and he ripped his shirt off, basically cursed the guy out...threatened to shut down and played shirtless for a while.......also you've never seen such a cloud of pot smoke....you could cut it with a knife......

All that said almost 30 years ago.....still the BEST SHOWS I HAVE EVER SEEN....no one has ever come close.....the Who with Kieth Moon was close....but they were NO LED ZEPPELIN....

hope you enjoyed reading...I enjoyed remembering.

Damn I'll never forget it!

[charlton]

Was born in 1980, but my boots from the 1977 tour have the best set list, Japan shows had the most precision and "wow, they are fucking jamming" effect.

[tom kid]

On that show Jimmy was wearing a black jacket with white pants? Never seen that combo in 1977 before. It's like he mixed up his wardrobe or something.

Don't think so, I think he took the top half of the poppy suit off after Stairway (the final number) and put on another shirt for the encores. Probably because of the sweat.

[The Baroness Von Zeppelin]

Sorry if it's a bit off-topic, but I had to comment on this:

He also tells me a funny story about buying LZII and (without tv appearances and such) thinking that the old crew of the actual Zeppelin on the cover was all the members of the band

That's a really weird coincidence because I thought exactly the same the very first time I saw the cover of LZII (I must have been about 5 or something, it was my mother's copy, heh). So for ages I must have assumed there was a woman in the band somewhere (until I actually started getting into them and learning about them, of course!)

[tikiandbabu]

I saw them as well in 77 - twice and yes they were amazing but they were also wasted, as were most of us back then :-). It was brilliant to see them at the O2 - they sounded fantastic and honestly better than I remembered. Love for them to tour, but feel so lucky to have been one of the 20,000 that were there on December 10th. Amazing

[RV245]

I saw Zep on April 30, 1977 - Pontiac Silverdome. I have some words and images on my website here: Pontiac Silverdome Concert

Was a moment that I will never forget!

Bruce the Buckeye

http://www.ledzeppelin.ws

Bruce, first off what an awesome read. WOW!!!! did that bring back the memories. I was also at the April 30th show at the Silverdome. I remember getting the tickets very well as I frozen my azz off. The tickets went on sale around early January, think it was the coldest day of the year. You had to get your tickets at one of the 4 outside entrance booths. Some friends and me went down to get tickets for the show. We got in line and ended up with 8 tickets. As you said the time for the concert seemed to take forever, having seen them at Cobo in 73, I think made it even more worst. The night of the concert we all piled into my 75 Dodge Trademan van in headed done I-75 from the Flint/Saginaw/Thumb area. We got there about 3 or 4 hours before the show. We finally made our way into the Silverdome only to find out that our tickets was in the lower level, but at the opposite end of where the stage was. Well nothing was going to stop me as I had to get closer. I wasn't feeling any pain and looked towards the stage and pointed. Told them if they wanted to find me, I would be up front. I left with another friend and headed towards the stage. We spent the rest of the concert about 20 yards from the stage on the floor. Having played the drums a little while growing up, I was more into watch Bonzo than most of the show. He was awesome that night as always, about the only person in the same league is Moon. After the show we met at the entrance head home with the memories to last a lifetime.

Lately, I've been on youtube.com and found this guy. He is amazing. You should hear him play Zep tunes. Here's a link to one of my favorite Zep tunes. The Rover. Sit back, close your eye's and enjoy

[FredZ]

Did anyone get a chance to see a show on this tour? I was at the Tampa Fla show where the show got rained out after three songs The band sounded Amazing! The three songs they played were, The Song Remains The Same, Sick Again and Nobodys Fault But Mine. Thanks for any reviews of the full set.

[FredZ]

Did anyone get a chance to see a show on this tour? I was at the Tampa Fla show where the show got rained out after three songs The band sounded Amazing! The three songs they played were, The Song Remains The Same, Sick Again and Nobodys Fault But Mine. Thanks for any reviews of the full set.

I was at the show in St Louis April 15th. I had camped out at the venue, then known as the Checkerdome, all night to get tickets when they went on sale. I kept trading shots of vodka for "herbal refreshment" and made a few friends that way, By the day of the show I was as excited to see them as I have ever been to see anyone.

They were an hour late starting the show, and Robert spoke to us and said "Hello St Louis! Welcome to the sauna!" because it was pretty hot in there. Then he said they'd play straight through with no intermission, and they did.

I have never seen any photos from that show, nor heard any bootlegs, but I loved it all. Bonzo was amazing - I was all the way in the back of a sold out house with 20,000 screaming people but I could feel Bonzo's drums in my chest, from back there in the rafters. I'll never forget it.

Apparently (not sure where I got this from) some moron hit Robert in the head with a frisbee, causing them not to play "Rock and Roll" as the encore. Robert was rumored to have said "f&%$ St Louis! We're never coming back. (not sure about this either)" and as Zeppelin they never did.

[stonefreelee]

I was at the show in St Louis April 15th. I had camped out at the venue, then known as the Checkerdome, all night to get tickets when they went on sale. I kept trading shots of vodka for "herbal refreshment" and made a few friends that way, By the day of the show I was as excited to see them as I have ever been to see anyone.

They were an hour late starting the show, and Robert spoke to us and said "Hello St Louis! Welcome to the sauna!" because it was pretty hot in there. Then he said they'd play straight through with no intermission, and they did.

I have never seen any photos from that show, nor heard any bootlegs, but I loved it all. Bonzo was amazing - I was all the way in the back of a sold out house with 20,000 screaming people but I could feel Bonzo's drums in my chest, from back there in the rafters. I'll never forget it.

Apparently (not sure where I got this from) some moron hit Robert in the head with a frisbee, causing them not to play "Rock and Roll" as the encore. Robert was rumored to have said "f&%$ St Louis! We're never coming back. (not sure about this either)" and as Zeppelin they never did.

Hey, nice memories Fred! I am from St.Louis and remember seeing on the local news how the tickets sold out in like, three hours. And this after people had literally camped out for THREE DAYS waiting for tix to go on sale! I remember thinking how dumb these people were for staying out in the elements for three days and nights to see some silly musical group. I was 13 at the time tickets went on sale and obviously wasn't into Zeppelin yet. I think it still listened to QSLQ! I WAS THE MORON!

I didnd't become 'experienced' until Dec. 1977 and started trying to catch up...too late of course! My one chance to see 'the boys' had expired. Their 'last stand' in STL of course, was tax day, April 15th, 1977!

I DO remember hearing about trouble at the show. l always heard someone threw a beer bottle and hit Jimmy in the head, or something to that effect---urban legend? I swear, i heard that a few years later. I grew up by the 'Checkerdome' and would crash many concerts in the years to come...but never got to see them..."as they were".

[Dzldoc]

Thursday, May 19, 1977, Baton Rouge.

Got to LSU Assembly Center at 2:00 P.M. (I was a junior in high school at the time.)

My friends went to party - I sat against the glass doors. My ticket was for the floor and there was no way I was going to forfeit a chance to be close to the stage... By 6:30, I was pressed against the doors, and people were pounding against the building. They let us in under heavy security, and I made it to the stage (separated by steel barricades).

By 8:45 P.M., they had still not appeared, and by this time with all the pushing and shoving I was about 6 feet back from the stage. Turns out that the cavalcade was tied up in a serious Interstate traffic accident. But then Pagey's opening TSRTS note pierced the place around 9, and until about 12:30 A.M. they were relentless.

Percy's greeting after Sick Again was 'Baton Rouge! --- Red Stick!!!'

Later in the show during Going to California in the acoustic set, Plant had to ask the audience to stop hurling those phosphorescent night sticks around and onto the stage... He said something like, "It's rather hard to stand on a hill in a mountain of dreams with those green things flying at you"...

My highlight was 'Ten Years Gone', my fave song at the time, and Jimmy's Danelectro playing was superb. Being a hardcore Zep fan from before then, I thought his playing was spot-on that night...

I also remember Robert sitting atop a big Marshall stack and jumping down right after Jimmy's Black Mountain Side segued into Kasmir!!!

The last song was Achilles Last Stand... I was deafened for the next day or so. The experience is forever burned into my soul!

I was at this show as well, originally scheduled for March 1st, Damned Rockn Show I'd post my experience but I've already posted it a couple times elsewhere too lazy to type again, search my posts if interested.

[wad]

i was there in my past life as a er.... cameraman?

[gjohung]

I saw Led Zeppelin at Forum, Los Angeles in 1977. What I recall was that concert was once postponed due to Robert's injury and they didn't play in my times of dying. I had a loge seat left side looking over the floor seats. Great view. I was 20 years old. I am originally from Korea but grew up in Okinawa, Japan - left for "states" in 1975. The first dream that I had was to see Led Zeppelin in concert. It was the one of the reason I started playing guitar and joining rock and roll band - I still play on a regular basis - but with a twist I play for Jesus, Christ. Modern praise music has strong influence from rock and roll - I can still crank up my guitar turn on my distortion pedals and wah wah.

I recall it was a 6 day stand at the Forum and it had immediately sold out. I had to goto one of the ticket agency to pay whooping "scalper" price of $25. I thought I was getting ripped off. I believe the face value was $9.95. How things have changed. To best of my recollection they opened up with TSRTS - I found this on internet - I do not remember which of the 6 shows that I went to:

06/21/1977 The Forum, Inglewood, California

1. The Song Remains The Same

2. The Rover (intro) / Sick Again

3. Nobody's Fault But Mine

4. Over The Hills And Far Away

5. Since I've Been Loving You

6. No Quarter

7. Ten Years Gone

8. The Battle Of Evermore

9. Going To California

10. Black Country Woman

11. Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp

12. White Summer

13. Black Mountain Side

14. Kashmir

15. Out On The Tiles / Moby Dick

16. Heartbreaker

17. Guitar Solo / Achilles Last Stand

18. Stairway To Heaven

19. Whole Lotta Love (intro) / Rock And Roll

I recall during Trampled Underfoot - Jimmy's guitar went dead and he made a what the f*ck jesture. It took a while for roadies to come and fix. the whole guitar cable. These were the days of laser shows. Unfortunate for me they dropped Dazed and Confused from their set list. But before ALS - I thought it was much earlier in the set - but set list indicates it was 2nd to the last song - Jimmy stood inside a pyramid created by laser beam light and he did his violin bow there with the pyramid rotating incrementally in synch with Jimmys violin induced power chord. The highlight was Kashmir to me. The LP version (CD) will never show how powerful and heavy they played Kashmir live. Recent DVD will show glimpse of live Kashmir but one needs to hear this Live..O2 concert played pretty heavy. But it was Bonham that steal the song. I vividly remember they rotated the mirror ball during the bridge section of Kashmir (contrary to a laser as told my some posting here) it was a big big mirror ball.. Everyone was going crazy

I did goto the bathroom during Moby Dick - I ran in and out not to miss a beat. But I had to go. I could hear Bonzo's drum echoing inside the bathroom. No Quarter had extended JP solo on a grand piano. It was a long piece.

Sound quality was fair - but one thing I remember is that it was LOUD. Knowing all the songs did help enjoying the songs but as typical as those days it was not a crystal clean sound. I also saw ELP in the similar era - at Long Beach Arena. I thought it was the one best sounding concert that I have ever been - past and present.

As the set list indicate they did come back for one encore after leaving us with Stairway to Heaven. and I still thought they did the complete whole lotta love - I do recall the bridge break. oh well it was over 30 years ago... my recollection is hazy. I was not drunk or high.. one of those days when I couldn't score. Looking back I think it was good thing that I attended the concert straight headed. Knowing now that it was first and the last time I saw real Led Zeppelin.

As far as the performance is concerned - I think the excitement and the atmosphere of the day overshadows it. They played well - I mean they are LZ. To me Bonzo really shinned. Drum solo during Moby Dick (after I came back from the bathroom) he threw the stick and started banging on drums with his bare hands.

I am not sure if this was the Presence Tour. But they did few songs from Presence Archill's last stand was amazing.

Well that is my recollection of LZ 1977 concert..long live LZ and hope they tour this year

[gjohung]

Oh man...you were at my favorite gig of all time. Words cannot even describe just how jealous I am!!

I'd trade 30 7/24's just for that one 6/23!

I trying to remember which 1977 Forum show that I went.. did Jimmy's guitar have Technical Problem during Trampled Under Foot??

[eternal light]

I trying to remember which 1977 Forum show that I went.. did Jimmy's guitar have Technical Problem during Trampled Under Foot??

I don't remember any technical problems. I went to three of the shows at the Forum in 1977, including this one on http://youtube.com/watch?v=vct-K0ijRS4.

[Mooney1975]

I trying to remember which 1977 Forum show that I went.. did Jimmy's guitar have Technical Problem during Trampled Under Foot??

You saw the June 23rd show. The night when Keith Moon came out. He accompanied Bonzo on Moby Dick. He also played along on WLL/Rock and Roll. The video eternal light posted is from that night.

The setlist for the night:

1. The Song Remains The Same

2. The Rover (intro) / Sick Again

3. Nobody's Fault But Mine

4. Over The Hills And Far Away

5. Since I've Been Loving You

6. No Quarter

7. Ten Years Gone

8. The Battle Of Evermore

9. Going To California

10. Black Country Woman

11. Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp

12. White Summer

13. Black Mountain Side

14. Kashmir

15. Trampled Underfoot

16. Out On The Tiles / Moby Dick

17. Guitar Solo / Achilles Last Stand

18. Stairway To Heaven

19. Whole Lotta Love (intro) / Rock And Roll

I recall during Trampled Underfoot - Jimmy's guitar went dead and he made a what the f*ck jesture. It took a while for roadies to come and fix. the whole guitar cable. These were the days of laser shows. Unfortunate for me they dropped Dazed and Confused from their set list. But before ALS - I thought it was much earlier in the set - but set list indicates it was 2nd to the last song - Jimmy stood inside a pyramid created by laser beam light and he did his violin bow there with the pyramid rotating incrementally in synch with Jimmys violin induced power chord. The highlight was Kashmir to me. The LP version (CD) will never show how powerful and heavy they played Kashmir live. Recent DVD will show glimpse of live Kashmir but one needs to hear this Live..O2 concert played pretty heavy. But it was Bonham that steal the song. I vividly remember they rotated the mirror ball during the bridge section of Kashmir (contrary to a laser as told my some posting here) it was a big big mirror ball.. Everyone was going crazy

That's interesting that you say Kashmir was the highlight for you. Cause on this night JPJ fucked up a certain bit of the song. The band was lost for a bit, but they soon found there way back.