| Concert Tour Name: | United Kingdom Winter 1971 |
| Album: | Led Zeppelin IV |
| Start Date: | 11 November 1971 |
| End Date: | 21 December 1971 |
| Number Of Shows: | 16 |
| This Tour: | United Kingdom Winter 1971 |
| Next Tour: | Australasia 1972 |
Winter 1971 United Kingdom Tour was a concert tour of the United Kingdom by Led Zeppelin. The tour ran from 11 November to 21 December 1971, and "confirmed their supremacy in the UK rock marketplace".[1] Taking place immediately after the release of the band's fourth album, Led Zeppelin IV, all tickets sold out despite going on sale less than a week before the commencement of the tour. Second shows at Wembley and at Manchester were added after fans queued for up to eighteen hours in order to secure a ticket.[1]
This tour is particularly notable for the two concerts performed by the band at the Wembley Empire Pool, Wembley Park, dubbed the "Electric Magic" shows.[2] [3] [4] These five hour shows included bizarre vaudeville circus acts with plate spinners, trapeze artists and performing pigs which were dressed in policeman's uniforms.[5] The concerts also incorporated supporting acts such as Stone the Crows, which was a rare event for Led Zeppelin at this point in their career.[1] A colour poster was sold to fans at the concerts for 30p, which is now a rare and highly sought-after collectible. An altered version of the poster was created for a two coloured silk-screen T-shirt print in 2010 for an official Led Zeppelin T-shirt.[6]
This was the first concert tour on which the band visually projected the "four symbols" which adorned (and is a variant title for) their fourth album onto their stage equipment. Jimmy Page's "Zoso" symbol was put onto one of his Marshall amplifiers, John Bonham's three interlinked circles adorned the outer face of his bass drum, John Paul Jones had his symbol stenciled onto material which was draped across his Fender Rhodes keyboard and Robert Plant's feather symbol was painted onto a side speaker PA cabinet. Plant's feather symbol was the only one not used in subsequent Led Zeppelin concert tours, and Jones' symbol was removed after the Japanese Tour in 1972.[1]
All track written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, except where noted.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 November 1971 | Newcastle City Hall | ||
| 12 November 1971 | Locarno Ballroom | ||
| 13 November 1971 | Caird Hall | ||
| 16 November 1971 | England | St. Mathew's Baths | |
| 17 November 1971 | Kinetic Circus | ||
| 18 November 1971 | Sheffield University | ||
| 20 November 1971 | Empire Pool 'Electric Magic' show | ||
| 21 November 1971 | |||
| 23 November 1971 | Preston Public Hall | ||
| 24 November 1971 | Free Trade Hall | ||
| 25 November 1971 | Leicester University | ||
| 29 November 1971 | Liverpool Stadium | ||
| 30 November 1971 | Kings Hall, Belle Vue | ||
| 2 December 1971 | Royal Ballroom | ||
| 9 December 1971 | Lacarno Ballroom | ||
| 21 December 1971 | City Hall |