Page on the Road: UK 1968

For this installment of "Page on the Road" we examine the band's first tour of the United Kingdom.

When Zeppelin took Flight

Led Zeppelin's first tour of their home country wasn't so much a tour as much as it was a disjointed series of concerts the band put on before the departed for their tour of the United States at the end of the year. The band played thirteen separate dates from October 4th to December 12th of 1968 during which they dropped the name "The New Yardbirds" and officially became "Led Zeppelin". The tour dates are as follows:

• 04/10/1968 Mayfair Ballroom - Newcastle upon Tyne, England
• 18/10/1968 Marquee Club - London, England
• 19/10/1968 Liverpool University - Liverpool, England
• 25/10/1968 University of Surrey - Guildford, England
• 09/11/1968 Roundhouse - London, England
• 16/11/1968 College of Technology - Manchester, England
• 23/11/1968 Sheffield University - Sheffield, England
• 29/11/1968 Crawdaddy Club - Richmond, England
• 10/12/1968 Marquee Club - London, England
• 13/12/1968 Bridge Place Country Club - Canterbury, England
• 16/12/1968 Bath Pavilion - Bath, England
• 19/12/1968 Civic Hall - Exeter, England
• 20/12/1968 Wood Green Fishmongers Hall - London, England

The band's gig at the Roundhouse club on November 9th, also served as lead singer Robert Plant's wedding reception to his wife Maureen.

An ad for the band's first live show in the U.K.

The songs the band played for this tour remain pretty much unknown as they weren't recorded at the time, and nobody thought to keep track. It is assumed that the band played a multitude of Yardbirds hits, and as time progressed, they began to debut cuts from their first album. The band was paid roughly 125 or 150 pounds per performance, give or take over the course of the tour with John Bonham receiving an extra five pounds from his band-mates for his role as the group's driver. 

Here is a review of the band's performance at the Marquee club on December 10th, 1968:

"Led Zeppelin, the re-grouped Yardbirds, made their Marquee debut last week. They are now very much a heavy music group, with singer Robert Plant leading and ably holding his own against a powerful backing trio of John Paul Jones (bass), John Bonham (drums), and Jimmy Page (guitar).

Amp troubles didn’t help them on this particular occasion but there seemed to be a tendency for too much volume which inevitably defeats musical definition.

One of the best numbers of the set was “Days of Confusion” (aka Dazed and Confused), featuring interesting inter-play of Plant’s voice and Page’s guitar on which he used a violin bow creating an unusual effect. Drummer Bonham is forceful, perhaps too much so, and generally there appears to be a need for Led Zeppelin to cut down on volume a bit." - (T. Wilson, Oct’ 68)

Ad for the Marquee Club Gig

The tour was a modest success, the band didn't make much money from it as was the case with their jaunt through Scandinavia the previous month. Jimmy Page and Peter Grant had their eyes firmly set on the United States at the time, feeling that that was the market they would have to break in order to become a success. England at the time was driven musically by the 45" single format, and Led Zeppelin was an album band. With the emergence of FM radio, combined with the wide expanse of huge markets, America was tailor made to break the band wide open, whereas in their home country, they would be seen as just another blues rock band middling their way around the charts. The U.K. tour of 1968 served as the band's preparation to take America by storm.