End date 31 May 1969 No. of shows 25 | Start date 24 April 1969 Legs 1 | |
Led Zeppelin's Spring 1969 North American Tour was the second concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour commenced on 18 April and concluded on 31 May 1969.
By this point in time, Led Zeppelin's skyrocketing popularity was such that the group had reached top billing, sharing that honour for some of their gigs with established acts such as Julie Driscoll, Delaney & Bonnie and Three Dog Night. They were now receiving four times the money that they had previously commanded on their first tour of America just a few months earlier. Indeed, the band was also one of the first groups to be a single act without any opening group for some of their performances. However, for the band's concert at Columbia, Maryland, on 25 May, manager Peter Grant agreed for Led Zeppelin to receive second billing in support of The Who. This was the only time that these two English bands ever performed on the same bill.
During this tour the band took time out at various recording studios to record tracks for their forthcoming album, Led Zeppelin II. Many of the tracks were later mixed down by Eddie Kramer at A&R Studios, New York City.
It was during this period that Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page switched from using his Telecaster to his signature Gibson Les Paul, whilst also incorporating the use of Marshall amplifiers.
Tour set list
The fairly typical set list for the tour was:
- "Train Kept A-Rollin' " (Bradshaw, Kay, Mann)
- "I Can't Quit You Baby" (Dixon)
- "As Long As I Have You" (Mimms)
- "Dazed and Confused" (Page)
- "You Shook Me" (Dixon, Lenoir)
- "How Many More Times" (Bonham, Jones, Page)
- "Communication Breakdown" (Bonham, Jones, Page)
- "White Summer"/"Black Mountain Side" (Page)
- "Killing Floor" (Wolf)
- "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (Bredon, Page, Plant)
- "Sitting and Thinking" (on 27 April only)
- "Pat's Delight" (Bonham)
- "Whole Lotta Love" (Bonham, Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant)
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour.