1977 Tour Sales Numbers or total tour sales numbers

[Blues Guy HL]

Does anybody know what the total ticket sales were for Zeppelin?

Even the 1977 tour total ticket sales would be great. (Based on venue capacities I figure approximately 923K saw the tour before it was canceled, [aprox 303K for the 7 canceled shows] but I can't find many official sales numbers for the tour.)

The only records for concert sales totals I can find only go back to 1980, and therefore don't include Zep. I am certain it is in the millions; I just wonder how Zeps numbers stack up to say U2 with 26+ million, Dave Mathews at 23+ million, Stones with 22+ million, Springsteen at 21 million, Elton John at nearly 20 million.

I was one of 62,000 fans who went to the '77 Tour show in Seattle on July 17th in the Kingdome (which based on venue sizes would have been very likely the largest crowd after the record-breaking Pontiac Dome concert.) I was working the day tickets went on sale, I had my buddy wait in line and buy 10-100 level (best tickets available) tickets, one of which I gave him for the trouble, ($10 each) to resell at face value to friends, most of which I ended up giving away to my neighborhood buds. With the tour cut short due to the death of Plant's son, it was one of the last four shows they ever performed in the US.

From 1968 to 1980 Zeppelin did 28 tours, 11 of which were in North America. 6 in the UK. On the 1977 Tour Led Zeppelin played 45 concerts in 25 cites, before the tour was canceled 4 shows into the 11 scheduled shows of the 8 city third leg. I know venue sizes were much smaller on many of the tours, for instance on the '75 tour they played two nights at the Seattle Coliseum (15,000/sold out show.)

[chillumpuffer]

10 hours ago, Blues Guy HL said:

Does anybody know what the total ticket sales were for Zeppelin?

Even the 1977 tour total ticket sales would be great. (Based on venue capacities I figure approximately 923K saw the tour before it was canceled, [aprox 303K for the 7 canceled shows] but I can't find many official sales numbers for the tour.)

The only records for concert sales totals I can find only go back to 1980, and therefore don't include Zep. I am certain it is in the millions; I just wonder how Zeps numbers stack up to say U2 with 26+ million, Dave Mathews at 23+ million, Stones with 22+ million, Springsteen at 21 million, Elton John at nearly 20 million.

I was one of 62,000 fans who went to the '77 Tour show in Seattle on July 17th in the Kingdome (which based on venue sizes would have been very likely the largest crowd after the record-breaking Pontiac Dome concert.) I was working the day tickets went on sale, I had my buddy wait in line and buy 10-100 level (best tickets available) tickets, one of which I gave him for the trouble, ($10 each) to resell at face value to friends, most of which I ended up giving away to my neighborhood buds. With the tour cut short due to the death of Plant's son, it was one of the last four shows they ever performed in the US.

From 1968 to 1980 Zeppelin did 28 tours, 11 of which were in North America. 6 in the UK. On the 1977 Tour Led Zeppelin played 45 concerts in 25 cites, before the tour was canceled 4 shows into the 11 scheduled shows of the 8 city third leg. I know venue sizes were much smaller on many of the tours, for instance on the '75 tour they played two nights at the Seattle Coliseum (15,000/sold out show.)

The Knebworth shows will be impossible to factor in. Grant reckoned there was 200,000 plus at the first show but ticket sales showed otherwise. The Australian/New Zealand outdoor shows likewise. 

[Sems Fir]

Here's ballpark numbers for  77 from an article titled "Biggest of them all".  One could state more or less tickets were sold for each show as not all tickets that were sold were utilized.  For example, unused tickets for Seattle and Pontiac appear for sale on the secondary market.  I could write up a lengthy response, but researching concert reviews, press releases, etc. will provide a ballpark number.

Robert

www.anextranickel.com

[Strider]

Sorry, there is no way Led Zeppelin's numbers will rank up with the Stones, Springsteen, U2, et al at this point in time. At best I would estimate Led Zeppelin's total concert attendance to be somewhere around 4 to 5 million, and that is being generous.

That does not mean they were not the top concert draw in their time. It just means they did not last long enough to reap the rewards of their hard work in establishing the modern arena concert circuit. It was the Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and Who tours from 1969-1973 that made it possible for later bands to have a national circuit of arenas and halls to play across the country that were able to handle the power and P.A. requirements of rock music. Touring is much easier for bands today than it was back in the day. The touring infrastructure just did not exist back then like it does today. Before that, you had to deal with sketchy promoters, venue managers who had no idea of how to present a rock band, rickety ticketing systems, and hostile chambers of commerce, hotels, church groups, politicians and redneck cops who thought rock music was turning the youth of America into commie devil-worshippers. If you were a band from the UK or Europe, you also had to deal with the visa restrictions of the time.

Before 1973, most of Led Zeppelin's tours were rarely more than a month long. It was not until the 1977 tour that they had a tour over 40 shows...they were scheduled to play 52 and ended up playing 44 before Plant's son died and the rest of the dates were cancelled. Of course, Led Zeppelin didn't seem to like playing giant outdoor stadiums as much as The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd and other acts. Unlike the Stones, who booked mostly large football and baseball stadiums on their 1978 and 1981 tours, Led Zeppelin's 1977 tour was mostly indoor arenas of 10,000 - 20,000 size. In 1973 Led Zeppelin played a few outdoor stadiums and they had a 1975 summer tour of large stadiums booked but had to cancel when Plant had his car crash. If the 1975 and 1977 tours had gone on, Led Zeppelin's overall numbers would be a bit higher.

The 1981 Rolling Stones tour and the 1982 Who tour were the modern day game-changers. Both of those tours were over 50 shows and sold out stadiums across the country and raked in millions and millions of dollars.

Here are some other tours of note from that time. Let's start with two of Led Zeppelin's hard-rock competitors, Van Halen and AC/DC.

Van Halen's first headlining tour in 1979: 108 shows

Van Halen 1980 tour: 124 shows

Van Halen 1981 tour: 81 shows

Van Halen 1982-83 tour: 97 shows

Van Halen 1984: 101 shows

AC/DC 1979 tour: 99 shows

AC/DC 1980 tour: 143 shows

AC/DC 1981-82 tour: 90 shows

Bruce Springsteen 1984-85 Born in the USA tour: 157 shows

U2 1987 Joshua Tree tour: 110 shows

Both the Springsteen and U2 tours were similar in that the tours started out in indoor arenas like the Forum and the Sports Arena and then by the end they were selling out multiple days at the LA Coliseum football stadium.

But if you look at those figures above, the only way Led Zeppelin could have kept up is if they had had a major attitude adjustment and a change in living habits. Remember, even when Led Zeppelin was only touring for a month at a time and barely doing 30 - 40 shows a year, John Paul Jones and Bonham and Plant were whining about being on the road and away from their families. Imagine the whining if they had to play a 100-date tour.

So, even if Bonham had lived and the band survived to tour in the 1980s and beyond, would they have had the work ethic and desire to do so at the pace of those other bands? Because that is the only way they would accrue total concert attendance numbers in the 20+ million range needed to be in the top 10.

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by Strider

[chillumpuffer]

14 hours ago, Sems Fir said:

Here's ballpark numbers for  77 from an article titled "Biggest of them all".  One could state more or less tickets were sold for each show as not all tickets that were sold were utilized.  For example, unused tickets for Seattle and Pontiac appear for sale on the secondary market.  I could write up a lengthy response, but researching concert reviews, press releases, etc. will provide a ballpark number.

Robert

www.anextranickel.com

Taken from either Sounds or NME both UK music papers from the 70's. I still have that cutting somewhere

[dave2007]

4 hours ago, chillumpuffer said:

Taken from either Sounds or NME both UK music papers from the 70's. I still have that cutting somewhere

I think it was from Melody Maker issue June 25th 77.

 

Edited July 25, 2023 by dave2007
date added

[custard pie man]

don't know about attendance numbers but Strider makes some valisd points about shorter tours, enjoyed perhaps the  sound quality and feel of  indoor arenas vs. out door stadium but they also had the luxury of choosing their own pace because  they  perhaps were the  wealthiest band of their generation and could do as they wish?

[chillumpuffer]

5 hours ago, dave2007 said:

I think it was from Melody Maker issue June 25th 77.

 

eemmmm  Sounds I think. The issue also reviewed Bootlegs by Geoff Barton who definitely wrote for Sounds. However I may be wrong and you maybe correct. I'll have to dig it out

[dave2007]

This is the one...Melody Maker.  Ray Coleman interviewed them in New York.  Text on front cover also mentions the total attendance figure of 1,338,729.

[dave2007]

[SuperDave]

23 hours ago, Strider said:

Sorry, there is no way Led Zeppelin's numbers will rank up with the Stones, Springsteen, U2, et al at this point in time. At best I would estimate Led Zeppelin's total concert attendance to be somewhere around 4 to 5 million, and that is being generous.

That does not mean they were not the top concert draw in their time. It just means they did not last long enough to reap the rewards of their hard work in establishing the modern arena concert circuit. It was the Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and Who tours from 1969-1973 that made it possible for later bands to have a national circuit of arenas and halls to play across the country that were able to handle the power and P.A. requirements of rock music. Touring is much easier for bands today than it was back in the day. The touring infrastructure just did not exist back then like it does today. Before that, you had to deal with sketchy promoters, venue managers who had no idea of how to present a rock band, rickety ticketing systems, and hostile chambers of commerce, hotels, church groups, politicians and redneck cops who thought rock music was turning the youth of America into commie devil-worshippers. If you were a band from the UK or Europe, you also had to deal with the visa restrictions of the time.

Before 1973, most of Led Zeppelin's tours were rarely more than a month long. It was not until the 1977 tour that they had a tour over 40 shows...they were scheduled to play 52 and ended up playing 44 before Plant's son died and the rest of the dates were cancelled. Of course, Led Zeppelin didn't seem to like playing giant outdoor stadiums as much as The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd and other acts. Unlike the Stones, who booked mostly large football and baseball stadiums on their 1978 and 1981 tours, Led Zeppelin's 1977 tour was mostly indoor arenas of 10,000 - 20,000 size. In 1973 Led Zeppelin played a few outdoor stadiums and they had a 1975 summer tour of large stadiums booked but had to cancel when Plant had his car crash. If the 1975 and 1977 tours had gone on, Led Zeppelin's overall numbers would be a bit higher.

The 1981 Rolling Stones tour and the 1982 Who tour were the modern day game-changers. Both of those tours were over 50 shows and sold out stadiums across the country and raked in millions and millions of dollars.

Here are some other tours of note from that time. Let's start with two of Led Zeppelin's hard-rock competitors, Van Halen and AC/DC.

Van Halen's first headlining tour in 1979: 108 shows

Van Halen 1980 tour: 124 shows

Van Halen 1981 tour: 81 shows

Van Halen 1982-83 tour: 97 shows

Van Halen 1984: 101 shows

AC/DC 1979 tour: 99 shows

AC/DC 1980 tour: 143 shows

AC/DC 1981-82 tour: 90 shows

Bruce Springsteen 1984-85 Born in the USA tour: 157 shows

U2 1987 Joshua Tree tour: 110 shows

Both the Springsteen and U2 tours were similar in that the tours started out in indoor arenas like the Forum and the Sports Arena and then by the end they were selling out multiple days at the LA Coliseum football stadium.

But if you look at those figures above, the only way Led Zeppelin could have kept up is if they had had a major attitude adjustment and a change in living habits. Remember, even when Led Zeppelin was only touring for a month at a time and barely doing 30 - 40 shows a year, John Paul Jones and Bonham and Plant were whining about being on the road and away from their families. Imagine the whining if they had to play a 100-date tour.

So, even if Bonham had lived and the band survived to tour in the 1980s and beyond, would they have had the work ethic and desire to do so at the pace of those other bands? Because that is the only way they would accrue total concert attendance numbers in the 20+ million range needed to be in the top 10.

 

 

 

Great info and numbers regarding these tours. It was definitely a different era as you backed it up. The two Page and Plant tours of 1995-6 and in 1998 were much larger in shows played than and Led Zeppelin tour. I forget how many dates they played in 1998, but it began around late February or early March and ran through nearly the end of the year with some breaks in between. I think the first tour in 1995-96 was something like 115 shows beginning in the states and finishing in Japan.

[jabe]

1977 Led Zeppelin had probably developed the best touring template of any band to date. 
Attack the most lucrative market, North America, break the tour into three separate mini tours
with 2-3 week breaks between to recharge their batteries, re-evaluate and be with their families.

Designate logistically sensible (and entertaining) cities to be based out of during each leg of the tour.
Despite the heavy duty hedonism and debauchery we've all read about over the years,
I imagine the band had achieved thier "dream and pocketful of gold," by the mid 70's.
Quality over quantity.
Damn glad I was able to experience Led Zeppelin when I did. 

(as usual, I veered of the topic a bit, but parts tie in to the"77 tour.)

"No Cure Is Known"
 

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by jabe