Led Zeppelin's 1973 Concert at Madison Square Garden Deserves a Revisit on Its 50th Anniversary
A legendary concert it was.
Between sports and music, Madison Square Garden is a venue that holds a lot of history. Considered to be one of the most iconic venues in the world, achieving that title means pretty legendary stuff has happened in that building, and one of those events is Led Zeppelin's 1973 concert which occurred at MSG between July 27th and July 29th. These tour dates (which were known simply as the Led Zeppelin North American Tour ) are considered by many fans and critics to have been Led Zeppelin at it's peak. With today marking exactly 50 years from that final Madison Square Garden date, we thought it would be a good time to reflect on the concert that's considered to be one of the best in MSG history.
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The Album Behind the Tour
The album behind Led Zeppelin's 1973 North American Tour is none other than their fifth studio album Houses of the Holy , which was released on March 28th, 1973. The album featured notable Led Zeppelin fan favorites such as "The Rain Song," "Over the Hills and Far Away," "No Quarter," and "The Song Remains the Same," which contributed to its commercial success. Houses of the Holy reached the top spot on the US Billboard 200, and went on to receive a diamond certification in 1999.
The North American Tour
A hit album means it's time to take the show on the road, and take the show on the road they did. The Led Zeppelin North American Tour consisted of two legs that spanned all over the US and Canada, commencing on May 4th, 1973, and ending on July 29th, 1973. Those final dates, of course, were the MSG ones, which leads us back to the topic of those epic shows.
The MSG Dates
The events leading up to the MSG dates were quite hectic, which honestly makes these respective shows even more legendary. According to a 2016 article from Rolling Stone, the Manhattan hotel (The Drake Hotel) the group was staying at was robbed, which added to the tense nature heading into the show. Another article written by Robert Nash stated that the group had $180,000 stolen from them, which set a record for the largest hotel robbery in New York History. While touring is euphoric for artists, it can also be quite draining, and as we mentioned earlier, the MSG dates were the final of the tour. Throw in getting robbed in record-setting fashion, and...yeah.
Adding to that was the pressure of the groups meteoric rise over the course of 1972 and 1973. You could argue that 1971's "Black Dog" is what took Led Zeppelin from being a name that you possibly heard of to a household one, and by 1973 the band was in high demand. Especially back then, playing certain venues, arenas, and shows was full of pressure as it was the official indicator of not just whether or not you had "made it," but if you had the power to stay. Madison Square Garden is one of those places, and playing MSG in the midst of your rise to the top is no easy feat as all eyes are on you from both a positive and critical standpoint.
It's safe to say Led Zeppelin delivered. And according to a 2023 article from Uncut, the band was just simply going with the flow.
"None of us really knew what we were doing," says Plant in a quote featured in the publication. "We’d had a great deal of success, but it didn’t follow there would be more success as times move on. We wanted to spend time doing it properly and it was time well spent."
Additionally, the final night of that three-night MSG stint was taped by videographer Eddie Kramer, who told the pub:
"I was in the truck with my hands on the fader and all of a sudden it began moving up and down. It was like an earthquake. The audience was going crazy, cheering and stomping. When you can feel 20,000 people jumping up and down… well that gives you a moment to remember."
Here's video evidence of all 20,000 in attendance collectively losing their shit at the same time:
And we can just take a minute to pay homage to Robert Plant's hair? Alright, back on topic. Needless to say the dates were a massive success and turning point for Led Zeppelin. In short, if you didn't know about them before, you knew now. A 1973 article from Pittsburgh Stats states that all three MSG shows were sellouts. Furthermore, a press review by Irwin Sirotta from Walrus stated that "Led Zeppelin surprised the shit out of him," and that the band got "several of the loudest ovations he had ever heard," which should tell you everything you need to know.
And yes, for those of you who are heavily into collecting vintage memorabilia, there are authentic concert shirts available from that MSG date.
Sounds like it was a hell of a show to witness. We only wish we could have been there.
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How Led Zeppelin Began the ‘Song Remains the Same’ Tour
Led Zeppelin kicked off their latest U.S. tour on May 4, 1973, beginning a jaunt that became legendary thanks to The Song Remains the Same .
They'd become the biggest band in the land by the spring of 1973. The immediate success of Led Zeppelin's new album, Houses of the Holy , only made that case stronger. Released just a couple of weeks prior to the tour, the LP was flying off store shelves. Led Zeppelin had just hit the U.S. the year before, but demand was at an all-time high.
The tour began at the Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta with a record crowd of around 50,000. This was topped the following night in Tampa, where Led Zeppelin drew more than 55,000 fans, grossing $309,000. That broke the record for a one-day event for single act, previously held by the Beatles for their 1965 Shea Stadium show.
Fans worldwide got to see the concerts for themselves when the three Madison Square Garden gigs that ended the tour in July were recorded for what would become The Song Remains the Same movie and LP. "The kind of speed we were moving at, the creative juices in the air, the whole thing was just an absolute mixture of adrenaline, chemical, euphoria, and there were no brakes," said Robert Plant in the liner notes to a subsequent reissue of the live project.
Listen Led Zeppelin Perform Live in 1973
Living the high life of '70s rock stars, Led Zeppelin even had their own private jet for the tour. A United Airlines Boeing 720B passenger jet, called the Starship and emblazoned with the band's logo, got them from gig to gig. But the tour wasn't without its problems. As documented in the film, Led Zeppelin had money (more than $200,000) stolen from a safe in the hotel they were staying at while in New York.
"Quite honestly, I don’t know why we’ve had such phenomenal success," Jimmy Page told the Los Angeles Times in 1973. “Perhaps you could relate it to street music and the fact that people feel more of an affinity to Zep’s music because it’s not constantly hammered down their throats from every direction.
"All I can say is that whenever we've gone on stage or into the studio, we've always done our best," Page added. "We've never really been involved in the media. We've never done a TV program, and air play, of course, is limited because of the fact that we don’t record singles."
The tour would end up as the biggest in rock history – for the time being, anyway – by grossing $4 million for 36 dates. “We can’t allow ourselves the luxury of becoming fascinated with our own popularity,” Page argued. “The way I look at it, if the Beatles were to get back together, they’d forget all about us again.”
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May 8, 1973
Official Press Release:
ATLANTIC RECORDING CORPORATION NEW YORK, NEW YORK
LED ZEPPELIN TOUR ROCKETS OFF
May 8, 1973 - The Led Zeppelin's first U.S. tour in almost a year opened like a house afire last week. The group opened in Atlanta on Friday (4) on the first leg of a tour that will keep the group busy performing at U.S. venues until June 2 . The second leg of the tour is now being set for July.
The group's Atlanta date was a complete sellout at the Atlanta Braves Stadium, and marked one of the biggest crowds ever to attend a rock concert in that Southern City. The Zeppelin's Tampa date on Saturday (5) at the Tampa Stadium, broke all records for the huge arena, with the group outdrawing every other rock act ever to play the Florida West Coast City.
Led Zeppelin continue their tour with dates in Jacksonville , St. Louis , Mobile , New Orleans , Houston , Dallas , Fort Worth , Albuquerque , Denver , Salt Lake City , San Diego , Los Angeles , and San Francisco .
The group's new Atlantic album, "Houses Of The Holy" is now No. 1 on all best-selling charts.
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Led Zeppelin
- July 28, 1973 Setlist
Led Zeppelin Setlist at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA
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Tour: North American Tour 1973 Tour statistics Add setlist
- Rock and Roll Play Video
- Celebration Day Play Video
- Black Dog ( With Bring It On Home intro ) Play Video
- Over the Hills and Far Away Play Video
- Misty Mountain Hop Play Video
- Since I've Been Loving You Play Video
- No Quarter Play Video
- The Song Remains the Same Play Video
- The Rain Song Play Video
- Dazed and Confused ( Jake Holmes cover) Play Video
- Stairway to Heaven Play Video
- Moby Dick Play Video
- Heartbreaker Play Video
- Whole Lotta Love Play Video
- The Ocean Play Video
Edits and Comments
12 activities (last edit by ExecutiveChimp , 29 Nov 2023, 01:29 Etc/UTC )
Songs on Albums
- Over the Hills and Far Away
- The Rain Song
- The Song Remains the Same
- Misty Mountain Hop
- Rock and Roll
- Stairway to Heaven
- Heartbreaker
- Whole Lotta Love
- Celebration Day
- Since I've Been Loving You
- Dazed and Confused by Jake Holmes
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Led zeppelin gig timeline.
- Jul 24 1973 Three Rivers Stadium Pittsburgh, PA, USA Add time Add time
- Jul 27 1973 Madison Square Garden New York, NY, USA Add time Add time
- Jul 28 1973 Madison Square Garden This Setlist New York, NY, USA Add time Add time
- Jul 29 1973 Madison Square Garden New York, NY, USA Add time Add time
- Jan 11 1975 Ahoy Rotterdam, Netherlands Add time Add time
13 people were there
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North America 1973. North America 1975. Led Zeppelin 's 1973 North American Tour was the ninth concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour was divided into two legs, with performances commencing on 4 May and concluding on 29 July 1973. Rehearsals took place at Old Street Film Studios in London.
They altered “lead” to “led” and changed “balloon” to “zeppelin creating the name “Led Zeppelin.” On October 25, 1968, the band performed their first show under the new name at the University of Surrey in Battersea, London.
After touring almost incessantly during its early years, Led Zeppelin later limited its tour appearances to alternating years: 1973, 1975, 1977 and 1979. [4] From the early 1970s, the commercial and popular drawing power of Led Zeppelin was such that the band began to embark on major stadium tours which attracted vast crowds, more than they had ...
The Led Zeppelin North American Tour consisted of two legs that spanned all over the US and Canada, commencing on May 4th, 1973, and ending on July 29th, 1973. Those final dates, of course, were the MSG ones, which leads us back to the topic of those epic shows.
Led Zeppelin's memorable American tour in 1973 would gross an estimated $4 million, and broke several attendance records including Atlanta, Tampa and San Francisco. With public relations help from Danny Goldberg, the press would widely report on the huge success of the concerts and the newly released fifth album Houses of the Holy. The band travelled in style, with a private Boeing 720B jet ...
The tour was divided into two legs, with performances commencing on 4 May and concluding on 29 July 1973. Rehearsals took place at Old Street Film Studios in London. Led Zeppelin's 1973 North American Tour was the ninth concert tour of North America by the English rock band.
Led Zeppelin kicked off their latest U.S. tour on May 4, 1973, beginning a jaunt that became legendary thanks to The Song Remains the Same. They'd become the biggest band in the land by the spring ...
Variety (August 1973): Led Zeppelin Wraps Up U.S. Tour with Record Gates and $4-Million Gross Led Zeppelin’s U.S. tour, which wound up at Madison Square Garden, N.Y. Sunday (29th), shattered attendance records, many previously held by the Beatles and grossed some $4,000,000. Latter figure for the 33 dates is unofficial as the British quartet ...
May 8, 1973 - The Led Zeppelin's first U.S. tour in almost a year opened like a house afire last week. The group opened in Atlanta on Friday (4) on the first leg of a tour that will keep the group busy performing at U.S. venues until June 2 . The second leg of the tour is now being set for July. The group's Atlanta date was a complete sellout ...
Use this setlist for your event review and get all updates automatically! Get the Led Zeppelin Setlist of the concert at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA on July 28, 1973 from the North American Tour 1973 Tour and other Led Zeppelin Setlists for free on setlist.fm!