Led Zeppelin
On this day in 1972, Led Zeppelin made their Australian debut at the Subiaco Oval in Perth as part of their 1972 Australasian Tour.
Police battled with over 500 fans who rammed locked gates trying to get into the concert in what is now known as the Perth Riot. Over 4,000 fans stood outside the venue without tickets and local residents jammed police phone lines to complain about the noise.
Journalist John Bryant wrote a follow up entitled “Heavy Rock - With Discipline” for The West Australian:
Perth has probably never seen a concert quite like it. Certainly, a Festival of Perth attraction has never been so “heavy”. That Led Zeppelin rock group’s only concert at Subiaco Oval last night at the beginning of an Australian Tour was unique. The pelting rhythm and distinctive brackets of the group - consisting of electric guitarist Jimmy Page, organist John Paul Jones, drummer John Bonham and lead vocalist Robert Plant - were different from any rock group that has appeared in Perth. And the 80000 people who went enjoyed every minute of the two and a half hour performance. Some were so keen to see the most popular English heavy rock group to ever appear live in Perth that they did not mind climbing fences to get in. Police and officials were kept busy preventing and removing people entering the stadium. Early in the programme about 30 youths could be seen running across the stand adjoining the member’s pavilion at the oval. Presumably they did not pay for the seats in that stand.
Soon after the concert began Robert Plant told the audience, “Anyway we took 36 hours to get here, so we are going to have a good time.”
Continue reading at ledzeppelin.com.
