Led Zeppelin begins their last European tour

Led Zeppelin begins their last European tour on June 17, 1980

Tour Over Europe 1980 was the last concert tour by the English rock band Led Zeppelin.

The tour commenced on June 17 and concluded on July 7, 1980. All of the shows on the tour took place in cities throughout Germany, with the exceptions of one show each at Brussels, Rotterdam, Vienna and Zürich.

This was the first series of concerts performed by the band since their shows at Knebworth almost a year before. Singer Robert Plant was reluctant to tour the United States, and the band wanted to avoid some of the negative press attention which had dogged them in the United Kingdom, so as a compromise Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant decided to schedule a short European tour. He hoped that being on the road again would rejuvenate Plant's enthusiasm for touring, which would eventually lead to the band's return to the U.S.

Led Zeppelin performed rehearsals for the tour at the Rainbow Theatre and Victoria Theatre in London, and then at Shepperton Studios, Middlesex.

During this tour the band played small venues with a scaled down PA and a modest stage and lighting setup. As such, it had a much more low-key feel than had been witnessed on recent tours. The set list was also shorter at approximately two hours in duration, with some of the band's lengthier songs such as "No Quarter" and "Moby Dick" being discarded. A limited amount of material from the band's most recent album In Through the Out Door, was also performed. The set for these concerts opened with "Train Kept A-Rollin'" which had not been a regular feature of their live sets since 1969. Press coverage of this concert tour was minimal.

Generally speaking, there was a playful and generous spirit about the tour, with guitarist Jimmy Page even handling some of the stage introductions himself for the first time in the band's twelve year career. However, some on-stage problems were also experienced. The June 26th show at Vienna was interrupted during "White Summer", as Page was hit in the face by a firecracker. The organizer stepped up and talked to the audience, and asked the person responsible to come to the stage to have a word with him. After a delay, the band returned to play "Kashmir" and finish the show. The June 27th show at Nuremberg came to an abrupt end after the third song when John Bonham collapsed on stage and was rushed to a hospital. Press speculation arose that Bonham's problem was caused by an excess of alcohol and drugs, but the band claimed that he had simply overeaten.

The poster of the tour announced a second concert at Berlin, on July 8, but this show was never performed. The final full-length concert Led Zeppelin played until 2007 was on July 7, with "Whole Lotta Love" being the final song performed at this gig.

Retro History for June 17 The 50s 60s 70s 80s

Retro History For The Decade 1980

1989 U.S. beats Guatemala 2-1, in 3rd round of 1990 world soccer cup
1988 Bruce Springsteen separates from Juliette Phillips
1988 Givens' Family reports Mike Tyson beats his wife Robin Givens
1988 Microsoft releases MS DOS 4.0
1988 Soyuz TM-5 launches
1988 Women sentenced to 90 years in 1st product tampering murder case
1986 Chief Justice Warren Earl Burger resigns Antonin Scalia nominated
1985 18th Space Shuttle Mission (51-G)-Discovery 5 launched
1984 Ayako Okamoto wins LPGA Mayflower Golf Classic
1984 John Turner succeeds Pierre Trudeau as premier of Canada
1982 President Reagan 1st United Nations General Assembly address, "evil empire" speech
1982 President Galtieri resigns after leading Argentina to defeat
1981 Battle between Moslems and Christians in Cairo, 14 killed
1980 Led Zeppelin begins their last European tour

Retro History For The Decade 1970

1979 "Sarava" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City after 140 performances
1979 79th U.S. Golf Open: Hale Irwin shoots a 284 at Inverness Club in Toledo
1979 Jane Blalock wins LPGA Sarah Coventry Golf Tournament
1978 "Cheeseburger In Paradise" by Jimmy Buffett peaks at #32
1978 Ron Guidry sets Yankee record with 18 strike-outs
1976 ABA (Nets, Pacers, Nuggets and Spurs) merges into NBA
1976 Indonesia annexes Portuguese East-Timor
1975 Voters in Northern Mariana Is approve commonwealth status with U.S.
1973 1st du Maurier Golf Classic (La Canadienne): Jocelyne Bourassa
1973 73rd U.S. Golf Open: Johnny Miller shoots a 279 at Oakmont CC PA
1973 Russian party leader Brezhnev visits U.S.
1972 "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool" by Little Jimmy Osmond peaks at #38
1972 5 arrested for burglarizing Democratic Party HQ at Watergate
1972 Chile president Allende forms new government
1972 Looking Glass releases "Brandy"
1972 White House "plumbers" break into Democratic National headquarters at the Watergate Hotel
1970 Edwin Land patents Polaroid camera

Retro History For The Decade 1960

1968 Belgium government of Eyskens-Merlot forms
1968 KQEC TV channel 32 in SF, California (PBS) begins broadcasting
1968 Ohio Express' "Yummy Yummy Yummy" goes gold
1967 "Somebody To Love" by Jefferson Airplane peaks at #5
1967 1st Chinese hydrogen bomb explodes
1967 Barbra Streisand: A Happening in Central Park performed
1967 Longest doubleheader 9:15 (Tigers and Athletics)
1966 Peter Green joins John Mayall's Bluebreakers
1965 11.08" (28.14 cm) of rainfall, Holly, Colorado (state 24-hour record)
1965 1st bombing by B-52 (50 km north of Saigon)
1965 Kinks arrive in New York City beginning their 1st U.S. tour
1963 British House of Commons debates Profumo-Christine Keeler affair
1963 Supreme Court rules against Bible reading/prayer in public schools
1962 62nd U.S. Golf Open: Jack Nicklaus shoots a 283 at Oakmont CC PA
1962 Brazil Beats Czechoslovakia in soccer's 7th World Cup at Santiago
1962 Lou Brock is 2nd to home run into Polo Grounds right-center field bleachers
1962 Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Cosmopolitan Golf Open
1961 "Billy Barnes People" closes at Royale Theater New York City after 8 performances
1961 61st U.S. Golf Open: Gene Littler shoots a 281 at Oakland Hills Michigan
1961 Russian ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev defects to west in Frankfurt
1960 Ted Williams hit his 500th home runs

Retro History For The Decade 1950

1959 Eamon de Valera elected President of Ireland
1958 Radio Moscow reports execution of Hungarian ex-premier Imre Nagy
1957 "So Rare" by Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra peaks at #2
1957 Tuskegee boycott begins, Blacks boycotted city stores
1956 Golda Meir begins her term as Israel's foreign minister
1954 CIA exile army lands in Guatemala, JF Dulles and United Fruit Co
1954 Rocky Marciano beats Ezzard Charles in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1954 Televised Senate Army McCarthy hearings ends
1953 Riots in East Germany for reunification
1953 Supreme Court Justice Wm O Douglas stays executions of spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg scheduled for next day their 14th anniversary
1952 2 mine cave-ins at Charleroi, Belgium
1951 "Flahooley" closes at Broadhurst Theater New York City after 40 performances
1950 1st kidney transplant, Chicago
1950 Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria sign security pact

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Led Zeppelin Tour Over Europe concluded on July 7, 1980.