After the completion of their first tour of America, the band returned home and immediately hit the circuit around their home country, and did some dates, in Scandinavia as well. The group did twenty-seven dates overall, with twenty-one of the dates occurring in England, and six abroad in Sweden and Denmark. The band's first album saw a belated release in the U.K. during the middle of the group's tour.
The tour began at with a gig in Wolverhampton on February 24th at Club Lafayette, which is also the same venue the band chose to play to close out the tour on April 17th. The band played the Fillmore West in San Francisco just a week after this last gig. The first date at Club Lafayette was actually John Bonham's wife's 21st birthday and the gig served as a birthday party for her. Bonham's brother Mick recalled the evening in his book "Bonham on Bonham", "The party itself was a great success. The place was full of friends and
family so I spent more of the night dancing with Pat’s sister Beryl and
friends Ross, Jill and Joyce until the highlight of the night was about
to commence. John took to the stage along with Jimmy, Robert, John Paul
and they began to stun the audience with some superb music. They really
were amazing and everyone was enthralled with this exhibition of
unbridled talent. Like me, most people present had not seen the band
before and were all amazed as I was."
An advertisement for the group at Club Lafayette
Below is a list of gigs the band played on this tour:
24/02/1969 Club Lafayette - Wolverhampton, England
01/03/1969 Fishmonger's Hall - London, England
02/03/1969 Van Dyke Club - Plymouth, England
03/03/1969 Playhouse Theatre - London, England (BBC)
05/03/1969 The Locarno - Cardiff, Wales
07/03/1969 Hornsey Wood Tavern - London, England
10/03/1969 Cooks Ferry Inn - Edmonton, England
12/03/1969 Leicester University, Leicester, England
14/03/1969 Stockholm Konserthuset - Stockholm, Sweden (afternoon show)
14/03/1969 Uppsala University - Stockholm, Sweden (evening show)
21/03/1969 "How Late It Is" - London, England (BBC TV)
22/03/1969 Mother's Club - Birmingham, England
24/03/1969 Cooks Ferry Inn - Edmonton, England
25/03/1969 British Supershow - Staines, England
28/03/1969 Marquee Club - London, England
29/03/1969 Bromley College of Technology - Bromley, England
30/03/1969 Potter's Bar - Southall, England
01/04/1969 Klooks Kleek - Hampstead, England
05/04/1969 Roundhouse - London, England
08/04/1969 The Cherry Tree - Welwyn Garden City, England
12/04/1969 Toby Jug - Tolworth, England
14/04/1969 Stoke-On-Trent, England
17/04/1969 Club Lafayette - Wolverhampton, England
Press Release after the Band's gig at the Marquee Club
This tour is also significant because of the band's decision to appear televised for a number of shows, including one in Denmark on March 17th, a session for the BBC on March 21st, and a taping for the music documentary film "Supershow" on March 25th. "Supershow" was put together by the same people who did The Rolling Stones' "Rock and Roll Circus". It was put together in great secrecy at a cost of 100 pounds a minute to film. Besides Led Zeppelin, the film featured, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, and Stephen Stills. The show was supposed to also have Jimi Hendrix, but he missed his flight and was unable to appear. The shows from Denmark, and from "Supershow" can be seen on Led Zeppelin's 2003 live DVD.
The above is a clip from the "Supershow" session off the Led Zeppelin DVD.
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