Why did Zeppelin ignore Toronto after 1971?

[Hackenbush]

This question might have been answered elsewhere but I can't seem to find an answer. 

Led Zeppelin's last Toronto show was in 1971 and the city was never scheduled again.  I heard rumours there was some legal trouble waiting if they ever stepped back into Ontario.  This sounds plausible by looking at the issues Keith Richards, Lemmy and Jimi Hendrix had in Ontario but doesn't explain why the members came back after 1980.  I also heard that the band was so upset by the audience at the last show they vowed never to return.  Every tour after '71 the band returned to Vancouver and Montreal but avoided one of the largest Canadian markets which is relatively close to Montreal, Buffalo and Detroit.

Anyone have the scoop on this?

[Zep Hed]

I think by 1972 it was Toronto or Montreal and they could sell about 5,000 more tickets at the Forum than at the Gardens. Simple as that. Peter Grant's objective was pretty straightforward.

[Strider]

Maybe they figured people in Toronto could just drive to Detroit or Cleveland for a show? 😀

Actually, barring any legal reason for them to avoid Toronto, it was just sheer laziness.

The Rolling Stones played Montreal and Toronto on their 1972 tour. So did Pink Floyd on their 1973 Dark Side of the Moon tour. Van Halen not only played the Big 3 of Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver…but also played Edmonton and Halifax, Nova Scotia ferchrissakes. 

Led Zeppelin not playing at least Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto on their tours was definitely shorting the market.

[JohnOsbourne]

Slightly bigger headcount in Buffalo's Memorial Auditorium than Maple Leaf Gardens (as per Wiki), so as noted it could be simple economics (the two cities are right across the lake).  Still, Toronto is widely regarded as a fun city, great night life, while Buffalo, not so much.  It is puzzling that they wouldn't have scheduled a stop in Toronto if they were going to play in Buffalo anyway (which they didn't in '75, I suppose there could have been scheduling issues w/NHL).  I would think any real concern with drug issues would have been in '77, not earlier.

Edited June 6, 2021 by JohnOsbourne

[bluecongo]

In Jimmys latest book, Anthology, he gives an explanation 

basically, Customs border crossings were a huge logistical headache for the road crew.  Zep would play US cities near Canadian border, like Detroit, Buffalo, Seattle, etc for the Canadian fans to come to.

 

 

[JohnOsbourne]

10 minutes ago, bluecongo said:

In Jimmys latest book, Anthology, he gives an explanation 

basically, Customs border crossings were a huge logistical headache for the road crew.  Zep would play US cities near Canadian border, like Detroit, Buffalo, Seattle, etc for the Canadian fans to come to.

 

 

That makes sense, but why did they play in Vancouver so much?

[sam_webmaster]

59 minutes ago, bluecongo said:

In Jimmys latest book, Anthology, he gives an explanation 

basically, Customs border crossings were a huge logistical headache for the road crew.  Zep would play US cities near Canadian border, like Detroit, Buffalo, Seattle, etc for the Canadian fans to come to.

 

 

This ^

Also, they were planning on opening the 1977 tour in Toronto, which was eventually meant to be rescheduled later in the year.
https://www.ledzeppelin.com/event/march-3-1977

 

[Strider]

7 hours ago, sam_webmaster said:

This ^

Also, they were planning on opening the 1977 tour in Toronto, which was eventually meant to be rescheduled later in the year.
https://www.ledzeppelin.com/event/march-3-1977

 

Aye. I forgot about this. Robert's tonsillitis really screwed it up for the poor Canadians.

[Hackenbush]

Great answers.  Lots of was info I was not aware of.  Still seems odd though with Vancouver also being close to the border but it does sound like purely a financial matter.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Hackenbush

[LedZep123]

On 6/6/2021 at 10:52 AM, Strider said:

Maybe they figured people in Toronto could just drive to Detroit or Cleveland for a show? 😀

 

That's a bit mean...

[BobDobbs]

On 6/11/2021 at 2:43 PM, LedZep123 said:

That's a bit mean...

and a bit short-sighted. Every tour they should have hit, at the very least, the big three Canadian cities: Montreal, Toronto, & Vancouver. If they were worried about drug busts how difficult would it have been to simply stay drug free for a single day? Fly in, do the show, and fly out. Not even a single day, just a few hours. Crazy.

[3DayBender]

I think part of the problem could be choice of venue. I really don't think they  wanted to deal with Harold Ballard (owner of Maple Leaf Gardens) after the 71 show. Pal Hal was a shifty character. They certainly could have found an outdoors venue for the 73 tour given it ran from May through July. The 75 tour would be a no go. As for 77 I have no idea where they intended to play as there most likely wasn't an big enough arena or indoor venue.  If they actually had rescheduled it maybe at Exhibition Stadium. Who knows?

[SteveAJones]

On 6/15/2021 at 6:52 AM, 3DayBender said:

I think part of the problem could be choice of venue. I really don't think they  wanted to deal with Harold Ballard (owner of Maple Leaf Gardens) after the 71 show. Pal Hal was a shifty character. They certainly could have found an outdoors venue for the 73 tour given it ran from May through July. The 75 tour would be a no go. As for 77 I have no idea where they intended to play as there most likely wasn't an big enough arena or indoor venue.  If they actually had rescheduled it maybe at Exhibition Stadium. Who knows?

I mentioned to Sam a few years ago there was speculation that a rift had developed between Peter Grant and Ballard but Jimmy has since provided a plausible explanation. Additionally, Sam’s post points out they would have played there in 1977 but it was cancelled.