On this day 31 October

 Lucifer, bringer of light.

2011 31 October On This Day Lucifer Rising

All Hallows Eve, Samhain or just dressing up and trick-or-treating - celebrate the day as you see fit, but stay safe.

• 1966 The Yardbirds Dick Clark Caravan of Stars tour - Beaumont, TX at Beaumont Municipal Auditorium
• 1969 Led Zeppelin Springfield, MA at  Springfield Municipal Auditorium, Gansett Tribal Rock Festival 

1969 31 October On This Day Led Zeppelin, Springfield MA

And no, I am not providing a link to Homer Simpson singing anything.

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♪  Lucifer Rising and Other Sound Tracks (Jimmy Page, 2011) YouTube

On this day 30 October

On this day 29 October

On this day 28 October

 When one door closes, another is opened.

1966 28 October On This Day Yardbirds, Dick Clark's Caravan of the Stars Tour

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Dick Clark Caravan of Stars tour, Amarillo at Tri-State Fairgrounds Coliseum
• 1967 The Yardbirds - St. Louis, MO at Washington University, Francis Fieldhouse
• 1972 Led Zeppelin - Montreux, Switzerland at Pavillion Montreux (day 1)
• 1988 Jimmy Page Outrider Tour - Uniondale, NY at Nassau Complex, Mitchel Field Complex 

1966:

Joining the Dick Clark tour might have been the straw that broke the camel's back for Jeff Beck and the Yardbirds.

The tour was a grueling endurance test for the participants, who were treated anything but like stars. Every show each act got to do a few songs and then the next band was up. Soon as the show was over everyone got in the bus with the other acts and their gear and were hauled off to the next gig. They did this day after day for a month at a time with no breaks. 

It was trial by fire. 

At this point, both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page were playing lead guitar, though it wasn't for long. Not long into the tour, Beck took off. While it must have been traumatic for the band, it was the opportunity for Jimmy Page and The Yardbirds' manager, Peter Grant, to move the band into a new musical direction, one that would ultimately morph into Led Zeppelin.  

1972:
Claude Knobs introduced Led Zeppelin at Montreux as the greatest rock and roll band in the world.  As Chris Charlesworth said in his Melody Maker review of the two shows, "it was a description taken for granted by many, but which suits only a few". 

1972 Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, Backstage at Montreux

1972 Robert Plant, Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Montreux (Gilles Chateau photo)

1972 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Montreux (Gilles Chateau photo)

1972 Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin at Montreux (Gilles Chateau photo)

1988:
"I want to introduce you to the mistress..."

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♪  Full set (Jimmy Page, Outrider Tour Uniondale 1988) YouTube

On this day 27 October

 MSG makes your experience tastier

1995 27 October On This Day Page & Plant at Madison Square Garden (day 2)
Video:  ♪ Achilles Last Stand (Page & Plant, Atlanta 1995) YouTube

• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - New York, NY at Madison Square Garden (day 2) 

1995 Page & Plant chillin' at MSG (Ross Halfin photo)

2013:

On this day musician, singer and songwriter Lou Reed died from liver disease. Just a few weeks before Jimmy Page had attended the London launch of the photobook, Transformers, a joint project by Reed and Mick Rock.

RIP Lou Reed (1942-2013)
Jimmy Page, Lou Reed, Mick Rock in London shortly before Lou's death

2014

Financial Times, London (Anna Huix photo)

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♪  I'm Waiting For My Man (The Yardbirds feat. Jimmy Page, Lou Reed cover 1968) YouTube
♪  Page & Plant (New York, NY at Madison Square Garden - day 2, 27 October 1995) 

On this day 26 October

 Never out of time when it comes to Jimmy Page's music

1987 26 October On This Day Jimmy Page recorded Blues Anthem with Chris Farlowe

• 1968 Led Zeppelin - Bristol, England at Bristol Boxing Club 
• 1987 Jimmy Page with Chris Farlowe, Blues Anthem for Outrider recorded
• 1988 Jimmy Page Outrider Tour - East Rutherford, NJ at Brendan Byrne Arena
• 1995 Page & Plant Unledded Tour - New York, NY at Madison Square Garden (day 1)

1966:

Mick Jagger and Keith Richard wrote Chris Farlowe's biggest hit, Out of Time.  Jagger produced it as well as sang backup vocals, with Jimmy Page on guitar.  

"Funnily enough I didn’t like the song at first. I saw myself as an r’n’b and blues singer, and it seemed too “pop” to me. But Mick said, wait until you hear it with a full orchestra behind it. And he was right – it’s a great song. I’ve still got photographs of the recording session.’
~ Chris Farlowe, The Merceysider Magazine interview 2014

The orchestra was okay. Kind of overdone, if you ask me. But Jimmy Page - he was the secret weapon. More would have been better.

Jimmy Page's Gibson Cromwell acoustic guitar used to record Out of Time (1966)

Jimmy Page with Gibson Cromwell acoustic guitar

1968:

There isn't much info about this Led Zeppelin appearance, but Mick Farren (1943-2013) of The Deviants talked about the show.

"We supported Led Zeppelin at one of their first gigs at the local Bristol boxing club and the audience hated us and despised them. Somebody threw a beer glass at the stage and Sid Bishop, our guitarist, unfortunately threw it back and cut somebody's head open. When Led Zeppelin came on, they got through number and a half until the fire extinguishers, buckets, bricks and everything was being thrown at them.

"All these farmboys with brown suits and haircuts who had come into town looking to get laid marched in. Page and Plant were cracking up in the dressing room after we'd come off, saying how terrible we were. But they had gotten the same treatment because by now it had gotten way out of hand. We had to huddle inside the van while the kids bounced up and down on it and we didn't escape until 2 in the morning when it was safe to go home."

~ LedZepConcerts.com 

1988:
Chris Farlowe sang on three tracks from Jimmy Page's Death Wish II soundtrack (1982), as well as Hummingbird, Prison Blues and Blues Anthem on Outrider.

1995:
Jimmy Page & Robert Plant's American tour was sponsored by Miller Genuine Draft (Miller Brewing Company), a portion of the proceeds from the sponsored tour to benefit the Second Harvest National Food Bank Network. It's not clear to me whether every venue in 1995 was covered or only the first leg of the tour. Part of the deal was the Miller Genuine Draft Led Zeppelin Memorabilia truck that was supposed to show up at each venue, and 50 "Miller Genuine Draft Page/Plant guitars" were to be autographed and donated to the cause.  The brewing company guaranteed a minimum $100,000 for Second Harvest.

1995 Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, Madison Square Garden

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♪  Out Of Time (Jimmy Page, Chris Farlowe 1966) YouTube
♪  Jimmy Page Outrider (East Rutherford NJ at Brendan Byrne Arena, 26 October 1988) 

♪  Page & Plant Unledded Tour - New York, NY at Madison Square Garden - day 1, 26 October 1988)

On this day 25 October

 Good old Surrey U

1968 25 October On This Day Led Zeppelin at Surrey University

• 1966 The Yardbirds - Los Angeles, CA at ABC TV Center, taping for The Milton Berle Show
• 1968 Led Zeppelin - London, England at University of Surrey, Great Hall
• 1969 Led Zeppelin - Boston, MA at Boston Garden
• 1988 Jimmy Page Outrider Tour - Rochester, NY at Rochester Community War Memorial 

1968:

Although the poster used as the background for today's On This Day post is for The New Yardbirds, in fact Led Zeppelin performed as Led Zeppelin for the first time. The poster, authenticated and auctioned off in 2003, apparently was printed in advance of the gig and prior to when Peter Grant and Jimmy Page decided to switch the name of the band to Led Zeppelin, sometime in mid-October.

Dave Lewis quotes Jimmy Page telling Chris Welch (Melody Maker), "It's refreshing to know that today you can go out and form a group to play the music you like and people will listen. It's what musicians have wanted for twenty years."

~ Dave Lewis, Led Zeppelin: The Concert File

Surrey University is also where, on 20 June 2008, Jimmy Page was awarded the honorary degree of Doctorate of the University of Surrey, in recognition of his services to the music industry. 

By the way, if you don't have a copy of  Dave Lewis' book, you really should get one. It's an incredible resource. I keep mine on my desk where I can reach for it whenever I need it.

1988 Jimmy Page Outrider Tour, Rochester NY (Jason Bonham drums) (photo by smagin)

2013 Jimmy Page visits Arctic Monkeys backstage at Earls Court (Ross Halfin photo)

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♪  Happenings Ten Years Time Ago (Yardbirds - lip synched - for Milton Berle Show 1966) 
♪  Jimmy Page  Outrider tour(Rochester NY at Rochester Community War Memorial, 25 October 1988)