Earl's Court 1975
| Concert by Led Zeppelin | |
 |
|
| Associated album | Physical Graffiti |
|---|---|
| Start date | 17 May 1975 |
| End date | 25 May 1975 |
| Legs | 1 |
| No. of shows | 5 |
| Led Zeppelin concert chronology | |
Earls Court 1975 were five concerts performed by the English rock band Led Zeppelin at Earls Court Arena in London in May 1975.
The concerts were initially booked for three nights on 23, 24 and 25 May, but due to unprecedented public demand (tickets for the three shows sold out within just four hours), two further dates were added for 17 and 18 May, making total ticket sales 85,000. Noted critic and film director Tony Palmer stated at the time in The Observer that no group in history had ever attracted such an audience in Britain.
These concerts took place less than two months following the conclusion of Led Zeppelin's 1975 North American Tour. The whole of the band's 40-ton stage and light show was airlifted from America for the concerts. A huge Eidiphor screen which showed the action as it was being filmed was also erected above the stage, at a cost of £10,000. This is thought to be one of the first occasions when such a device was used for a rock show in England. It was said that an entire city could be lit by the energy spent in a single concert. Three days of rehearsals took place in order to fix every possible detail or PA problem. The sound at the concerts was managed by Showco.
The Earls Court performances were promoted by Mel Bush. In an interview he gave several years after the event, Bush explained:
By that time [Led Zeppelin] were a huge attraction and I knew Peter (Grant) [Led Zeppelin's manager] wanted to present them in the biggest and best setting that particular year. I was the first concert promoter to use Earl's Court a couple of years before with David Bowie and Slade. So when Peter was considering venues to use he got in touch. Once it was all up and running we came to a good agreement about the ticket prices which Peter was always keen to keep at a reasonable level.
To help promote the concerts, Bush and Grant used advertisements which displayed a train, dubbed the "Zeppelin Express", linked to Earl's Court via the Inter City train services of British Rail. It was intended to convey the message that, despite all the concerts being performed in one location, they would be easily accessible to fans from all parts of the country. This image was featured on the concert's official poster (see above, right), the originals of which are now amongst the most collectible posters in rock history. The posters were produced by Martine Grainey of Peter Grainey Graphics of Bournemouth, together with the design for the concert programme.
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