On this day (Dec. 26) in 1968, Led Zeppelin (not to be confused with “Len Zefflin“) kicked off their first North American tour opening for psychedelic hard rock band Vanilla Fudge at Denver Auditorium in Colorado. A ticket to see them play would only set you back $5 and the setlist included a surprising eight covers and only a few original tracks off the band’s forthcoming self-titled debut album, which peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1969.
Rocky Mountain News music critic Thomas MacCluskey reviewed the December 26 show and recounted the way Led Zeppelin played their set with a series of emphatic adverbs: “powerfully, gutsily, unifiedly, inventively, and swingingly.”
Legendary promoter Barry Fey recalled the band’s first U.S. show in his autobiography, Backstage Past: “The night of the concert, I get on stage to make the announcement to open the show. “Ladies and gentleman, please welcome, direct from England for their North America debut, Led Zeppelin!” There was a smattering of polite applause. Then, Robert Plant let it rip and everybody in the audience was stunned. You didn’t have to be a genius to know Zeppelin was going to be a smash. Oh, my God. People were going crazy!” Fey nearly passed on Led Zeppelin. When Ron Terry (agent for Vanilla Fudge) approached Fey about adding Led Zeppelin as an opener to the already sold-out Vanilla Fudge show, Fey refused. It wasn’t until Vanilla Fudge offered $750 of their own money to pay for half of Led Zeppelin’s performance fee that Fey reconsidered.
(LZ and Floyd, prolly BB's favorite bands )
Today in 1968 Led Zeppelin Kicked Off First U.S. Tour
On this day (Dec. 26) in 1968, Led Zeppelin kicked off their first North American tour opening for the band Vanilla Fudge at Denver Auditorium in Colorado.www.billboard.com