| Concert Tour Name: | North America 1971 |
| Artist: | Led Zeppelin |
| Album: | Led Zeppelin IV |
| Start Date: | 7 August 1971 |
| End Date: | 17 September 1971 |
| Number Of Shows: | 23 (including two European warm-up shows) |
| Last Tour: | Europe 1971 |
| This Tour: | North America 1971 |
| Next Tour: | Japan 1971 |
Led Zeppelin's 1971 North American Tour was the seventh concert tour of North America by the English rock band. The tour commenced on August 7 and concluded on 17 September 1971. It included two warm-up shows in Montreux, Switzerland.
This tour took place just prior to the release of the band's fourth album. The band had hoped to release this album in time for the tour, but various delays prevented this from occurring.[1]
This was the longest break that the band had from touring North America to date, with their last tour there having taken place almost a year previously. During the interim, the hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad had asserted its influence on the American music market, and Led Zeppelin was keen to re-establish their live reputation through this stint of concert performances.[1]
The new material from the fourth album which was presented by the band on stage was very well received by audiences, which helped to ensure massive sales of that album when it was eventually released in November 1971.[1]
The tour is also notable for the high frequency of crowd disturbances which occurred at the concerts, including those at New York City, Toronto and Boston, as the bootlegs of these concerts attest.
Before this tour, Robert Plant shaved off his beard, a style which he and the rest of his bandmates had adopted the year before. John Paul Jones followed suit a month later. However, Jones would later grow a beard in late 1972 and keep it until March 1973, and then have a mustache for part of the 1973 North American Tour, and also have a beard from late 1975 to early 1977.
It was on this tour that the notorious "Folding Chair Incident" took place. On August 26, at the show in Houston, several fans threw folding chairs at the stage in protest to what were perceived as overpriced tickets. No one was injured, and the show continued without any more interruptions.
On this tour, the band grossed $1 million.[2]
The fairly typical set list for the tour was:
Encores (variations of the following list):
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour.
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| European warm-up shows | |||
| 7 August 1971 | Montreux | Switzerland | Montreux Casino |
| 8 August 1971 | |||
| North America | |||
| 19 August 1971 | Vancouver | Canada | Pacific Coliseum |
| 21 August 1971 | Inglewood | United States | The Forum |
| 22 August 1971 | |||
| 23 August 1971 | Fort Worth | Tarrant County Convention Center | |
| 24 August 1971 | Dallas | Memorial Auditorium | |
| 26 August 1971 | Houston | Sam Houston Coliseum | |
| 27 August 1971 | San Antonio | Municipal Auditorium | |
| 29 August 1971 | New Orleans | Municipal Auditorium | |
| 31 August 1971 | Orlando | Orlando Sports Stadium | |
| 1 September 1971 | Pembroke Pines | Hollywood Sportatorium | |
| 3 September 1971 | New York City | Madison Square Garden | |
| 4 September 1971 | Toronto | Canada | Maple Leaf Gardens |
| 5 September 1971 | Chicago | United States | Chicago Amphitheater |
| 7 September 1971 | Boston | Boston Garden | |
| 9 September 1971 | Hampton | Hampton Coliseum | |
| 10 September 1971 | Syracuse | Onondaga Veterans Auditorium | |
| 11 September 1971 | Rochester | War Memorial Auditorium | |
| 13 September 1971 | Berkeley | Berkeley Community Theatre | |
| 14 September 1971 | |||
| 16 September 1971 | Honolulu | Neal S. Blaisdell Arena | |
| 17 September 1971 | |||