On This Day May 23

Day three of the Earls Court concerts in 1975 and, in 1969, two concerts half a continent apart in one day. Let no one say it's all fun and games and Riot Houses in the life of rock stars.

1968 23 May On This Day The Yardbirds - San Francisco,CA at Fillmore Auditorium

• 1967 The Yardbirds - Bristol England at The Corn Exchange
• 1968 The Yardbirds - San Francisco CA at Fillmore Auditorium
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - (show 1 of 2 this day) San Jose  CA at Santa Clara Pop Festival
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - (show 2 of 2 this day) Chicago IL at Kinetic Playground
• 1973 Led Zeppelin - Albuquerque NM at University Arena
• 1975 Led Zeppelin - London at Earls Court Exhibition Hall
• 1976 Page and Plant jam with Bad Company at the LA Forum
• 1986 The Firm - Costa Mesa CA at Pacific Amphitheatre
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - Portland OR at Portland Memorial Coliseum
• 1998 Page & Plant North America Tour - Jacksonville FL at Coliseum
• 2012 Jimmy Page at Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee party

1969:
On this day Led Zeppelin performed two shows, one in San Jose CA and one in Chicago, thanks to a Lear jet provided by the promoters of the Santa Clara Pop Festival to fly the band to Chicago after their San Jose festival performance.  

Even though Led Zeppelin only had one album out at this time, they appeared with some big names at the festival. The three-day festival lineup included: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jefferson Airplane, The Chambers Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Eric Burdon, Spirit, Canned Heat, Buffy Sainte-Marie, The Youngbloods, Steve Miller, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Taj Mahal, Noel Redding, Lee Michaels, Blues Image, Santana, Aum, Elvin Bishop, Poco, People!, Lynn County, The Loading Zone, Sweet Linda Divine, Cat Mother, Doc Watson & New Lost City Ramblers. Eric Burdon wound up not appearing.

1975 Led Zeppelin - London,England at Earls Court Exhibition Hall - Melody Maker front page 24 May

1975 Led Zeppelin - London,England at Earls Court Exhibition Hall - NME front page 24 May

1976:
Various sites report that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant jammed with Bad Company at the LA Forum on this day, though it was no doubt actually May 16, as indicated by advertising for Bad Company's gig.  Page and Plant joined in for an encore performance of I Just Wanna Make Love To You. According to Dave Lewis, John Bonham was there but didn't play because of an injured hand.

1976 Page and Plant jam with Bad Company at the LA Forum

1976 Page and Plant jam with Bad Company at the LA Forum

2012 Jimmy Page at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee party at the Royal Academy

♪

♪  Dazed and Confused (The Yardbirds, Fillmore Auditorium 1968) YouTube
♪ No Quarter (Led Zeppelin, Albuquerque 1973) YouTube
♪  Stairway To Heaven (Led Zeppelin, Earl's Court 23 May 1975) YouTube
♪  Full set (Page & Plant, Jacksonville 1998) YouTube


♪ Mage Music 1 playlist at YouTube
♪ Mage Music 2 playlist at YouTube
♪ Page & Plant playlist at YouTube