On This Day 17 May

"Robert Plant... a jester at the wheel of some fearsome juggernaut, offering sly asides and poetic ruminations between moments of terrible power."

~ Chris Welch

1975 17 May On This Day Earls Court Day One

Interestingly, the photo for the On This Day image for Earls Court (above) is from Knebworth, not Earls Court. The band had transported their whole 40-ton stage and light show from the US and a huge screen was installed above the stage for Earls Court. While there were laser effects it wasn't until 1977 that the pyramid effect was used and 1979 that the the bow itself had a laser as in this photo [read more on Led Zeppelin use of lasers].   

Earl's Court, 1975: Three shows sold out in just a few hours (May 23, 24 and 25) before two additional shows were added (May 17 and 18).

1975 19 April NME announcement of two additional shows

Five nights of Led Zeppelin, with each show clocking in at over three hours. Talk about endurance. Many still consider these shows to be Led Zeppelin's best ever performances.

♪ Bron-Y-Aur Stomp YouTube

• 1968 Yardbirds,Tacoma, Washington at University of Puget Sound, Memorial Fieldhouse
• 1969 Led Zeppelin, Athens, Ohio at O. U. Convocation Center
• 1975 Led Zeppelin, London, England - Day 1 of 5 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre
• 1986 The Firm Dallas, Texas at Reunion Arena'
• 1995 Page & Plant - Inglewood, California at The Forum
• 2003 the double DVD set ‘Led Zeppelin’ was released with six tracks from Earls Court May 24 and 25 shows.

1975 May Earls Court stage set

1975 May Earls Court stage set

1975 May Earls Court - Jimmy Page playing Black Dog

1975 May Earls Court Jimmy Page acoustical set

1975 Earls Court

1975 May Earls Court "...moments of terrible power" (Chris Welch quote)