Did ever Led Zeppelin/The New Yardbrids play in Norway

[Toften]

Did ever Led Zeppelin, then under the name The New Yardbirds, play in Norway one month before they changed their name into Led Zeppelin? I think that it maybe could be true, after the arcticle I saw.

"Revolver" is a book that have listed all the great gigs by the great bands that have been played in Norway. There it stands two gigs under the name Led Zeppelin, then The New Yardbrids, of course, that they played one concert in Bergen (Gimle skole/school) 22. September 1968 and one in Oslo (Manglerudklubben) 23. September 1968.

Robert Plant also confess that he played a gig at least in Oslo (with Page, Jones and Bonham), and many people mean that they saw them there as a bluesband. But some rockexpert’s also mean that they may are mixing it with the Yardbirds concert in Norway one year before. One pupil at Gimle skole (school) confess that he do remember one british-bluesband at the concert (Gimle skole), but he didn’t notice them to mutch. The book to Ander Bakke, and some websites mean that The New Yardbirds played one gig in Bergen, but the strange thing was that the 22th. September was a Sunday.

But after all this could be possible. The Led Zeppelin specialist and writer, Dave Lewis, have also confirmed the dates in his book “The Concert Files.” He also have added an extrra gig that should have taken place in Oslo the 24. sep. But he is not to sure, and writes: ”Verification of these initial gigs have been very difficult to obtain.” But before they changed their name to Led Zeppelin, they based their setlist on old bluessongs.

But altough Robert Plant, Dave Lewis and some pupils at Gimle shcool mean that this is true, Alan Clayson the writer of the most exact book about the Yardbirds, means something quite different. The book contains a complete calender about the Yardbirds, including everything that the new line-up of The Yardbirds had done to 31. okt 1968. On the 18th. September it stands that the group had returned to England to record their first LP. So after her opinion the last concert of eight concerts in Scandinavia should have been played in Liseberg in Gøteborg in Denmark, and Clayson says: ”further Scandinavian dates after this are unconfirmed and unlikely”. So after Clayson’s opinion, she thinks that the New Yardbirds couldn’t have been playing in Norway on the dates 22-24. sep.

In the another book written by Nigel Williamson, named: ”The Rough Guide to Led Zeppelin”, it stands: “returned to Britain on 18 September.” But confusing enough it also stands that they didn’t begin to record before the 27. sep.

That means that the band could have been in Scandinavia two times, only interrupted by a bandpractice in England. So after all, Robert Plant could remember right.

After all I think it's possible that they could have been playing two or three gigs in Norway.

http://www.nrk.no/musikk/1.4434990 this is the link to the real article, but it is written in Norwegian, so I have tried to translate it into English (I'm not to good in English, but I have tried, and hope it counts).

[sam_webmaster]

Thanks for the post. It would be great to know if they played these dates in '68. For now, I've left those dates out of the Timeline until there was some proof.

I can try to see of the band remembers anything about it, but I think the best way would be to look up old newspapers in the area for ads/reviews.

[SteveAJones]

Did ever Led Zeppelin, then under the name The New Yardbirds, play in Norway one month before they changed their name into Led Zeppelin? I think that it maybe could be true, after the arcticle I saw.

"Revolver" is a book that have listed all the great gigs by the great bands that have been played in Norway. There it stands two gigs under the name Led Zeppelin, then The New Yardbrids, of course, that they played one concert in Bergen (Gimle skole/school) 22. September 1968 and one in Oslo (Manglerudklubben) 23. September 1968.

Robert Plant also confess that he played a gig at least in Oslo (with Page, Jones and Bonham), and many people mean that they saw them there as a bluesband. But some rockexpert's also mean that they may are mixing it with the Yardbirds concert in Norway one year before. One pupil at Gimle skole (school) confess that he do remember one british-bluesband at the concert (Gimle skole), but he didn't notice them to mutch. The book to Ander Bakke, and some websites mean that The New Yardbirds played one gig in Bergen, but the strange thing was that the 22th. September was a Sunday.

But after all this could be possible. The Led Zeppelin specialist and writer, Dave Lewis, have also confirmed the dates in his book "The Concert Files." He also have added an extrra gig that should have taken place in Oslo the 24. sep. But he is not to sure, and writes: "Verification of these initial gigs have been very difficult to obtain."

I've researched Jimmy's pre-Zeppelin gigs extensively and just thought I'd mention I have never seen anything to suggest he ever played Norway with The (original) Yardbirds. So any fan recollections of having seen Jimmy perform with The Yardbirds in Norway without Plant, Bonham and Jones in the lineup are inaccurate.

My notes show Dave Lewis as well as Greg Russo mention The New Yardbirds having played these dates, as well as two in Stockholm (Sep 21-22) (venue unconfirmed). Interesting thing about that if true then they played Stockholm four times on this tour, with Sep 12-13 being the other two dates. It also means they most likely did not return

to England before the Scandanavian tour was complete, either with or without the Norway dates. By the way, I don't see the significance of a Sunday date in Norway,

seeing as they performed twice on Sun, Sep 8th in Denmark.

I also show the Page/Plant/Bonham/Jones lineup conducted an album recording session ('Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You' & 'You Shook Me') at Abbey Road Studios on Fri, Sep 27, 1968. However, many sources show Sep 20th at Olympic Studios in Barnes as having

been the first session. If that date holds true, it pretty much wipes out the Norway

dates. We know the album was done in 30 hours, because Jimmy paid the studio bill.

Does anyone in Norway know if Robert ever commented on playing there in '68 during

his many solo public performances in Norway (1990, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 or 2005) ?

Perhaps he made comments about it in press interviews?

Sam is absolutely correct that scouring local newspaper archives may shed more light

on this mystery. Many of the other gigs on this tour were advertised in the press.

Edited October 19, 2008 by SteveAJones

[Toften]

By the way, I don't see the significance of a Sunday date in Norway,

seeing as they performed twice on Sun, Sep 8th in Denmark.

It was on the 18th. sep. The concert was on a school (Gimle skole), and the school's are closed on Sundays.

[SteveAJones]

The concert was at a school (Gimle skole), and the school's are closed on Sundays.

Oh, I see. It seems to cast doubt rather than support. Thanks for the clarification.