The Song Remains The Same

In March of 1977, it was announced that Led Zeppelin had included Indianapolis as a stop on the first leg of their 11th tour of the United States. This was during the time of general admission, "festival" seating shows where there were no reserved seats and you had as much chance of watching the show from the front row if you bought the last ticket as you did if you bought the first one. Key was, you had to have that ticket. In those days people would queue up for sometimes days at the ticket outlet to make sure they had a ticket. Turns out, I was scheduled to have my oft-fractured nose rebuilt the day the Zep tickets went on sale, a perfect spring break for my sophomore year of high school. I needed a Plan B.

My surgery was to take place in Community Hospital East in Indianapolis. I knew that being in Indy meant that someone was going be closer to a ticket outlet (Ross & Babcock, Ross & Young, LS Ayres, Karma, Wonderwall, Obadiah's and the Market Square Arena box office for those old enough to remember THAT little snippet) than if we were somewhere else for spring break or even at home in Knightstown. I also knew that I was going to be under the knife for a while and someone was going to have some free time. I decided to see if I could convince my dad to go down to the MSA box office and stand in line for Led Zeppelin tickets rather than stand around the hospital and wait for the docs to finish up with my face.

"You don't even have any of their albums. Why do you want to see THEM?"

"I may never get another chance."

He reluctantly agreed to the plan.

"Oh...yeah...will you buy 5?"

As I was coming out from under the anesthetic, the first thing I remember was Dad putting something in my hand. I had no idea what it was as my eyes were bandaged to prevent them from swelling, but I could feel paper and some texture. 5 tickets to see Led Zeppelin. Tickets with raised embossed printing on them that you could FEEL! Dad has got some good stories about standing in that line with all those Zep fans too. Maybe embellished a little, maybe not!

The '77 US tour included 52 dates and was Zep's first tour in more than two years. It would be the band's biggest tour ever and was a huge financial success. However, the tour was plagued with problems that started even before it began when a bout of laryngitis for Robert Plant delayed the start of the tour for a month to the death of Plant's son in late July that cut the tour short, with the band playing 44 of the 52 scheduled shows.

As the day drew closer, my 4 classmates and I planned our strategy to get the best seats we could. I had been to a whopping two general admission shows in my life. I'm not sure the other guys had been to any at that point in our lives. But two was enough to give me some insight as to when to get to the venue, which door might be opened first, and, most importantly, where to dash in from the concourse to that first aisle (Aisle 19 at MSA) that would get to the floor and to the front of the stage. I don't remember what time we got there but since it was a Sunday, I'm sure it was well in advance of the time the doors were set to open, and I'm also certain that we were not even close to first in line.

This brings up the first anomaly you can find when you search this show. My ticket stub CLEARLY states SUNDAY April 17, 1977. If you look up April 17, 1977 on a calendar it is absolutely a Sunday. And that ticket was $9.50. Just like all the other 18,000+ tickets that were sold for the general admission show. Google "Led Zeppelin Market Square Arena 1977 tour poster" and check out most of those. Nearly all of them say the concert was FRIDAY April 17, 1977, and many of them say "All seats reserved. $7.00, $8.00, $9.00." Don't buy one of these. They are obviously fakes.

The doors opened and as expected, Aisle 19 was the quick way to the floor, and we all ended up nearly in the front row almost dead center stage. If you've never battled a general admission crowd from the front row...makes today's mosh pits look like a pillow fight. Then the show started. Plant in his bell-bottom blue jeans and unbuttoned shirt. Jimmy Page in the silk white suit with the massive dragon. John Paul Jones playing instruments I'd never seen. Bonham..well...being Bonham. I was damn near close enough to shake Robert Plant's hand.

The band played several of their staples including an acoustic set that included The Battle of Evermore and Going to California which was a total surprise. Eventually it was time for Jimmy Page's solo. My first laser show. As Page stood in the center of the stage playing his Gibson Les Paul with a bow, 4 green lasers came from above and formed a square-based pyramid around him and 3 yellow lasers shot from behind the drums, through the pyramid to back wall of the arena. Each time Page would smack the bow on the guitar strings the pyramid would rotate 90 degrees. It was other-worldly.

But even as the sounds of Stairway to Heaven faded and the crowd screamed wildly to coax an encore, I started thinking, "Man, there were a bunch of their biggest tunes they didn't play!" Where was Dazed and Confused? Black Dog? The Immigrant Song? Communication Breakdown? Whole Lotta Love and Heartbreaker? They did open the encore with Rock and Roll, but it seemed they left out a bunch.

Setlist:

The Song Remains The Same

Sick Again

Nobody's Fault But Mine

In My Time of Dying

Since I've Been Loving You

No Quarter

Ten Years Gone

The Battle of Evermore

Going to California

Black Country Woman

Bron-Y-Aur Stomp

White Summer ~ Black Mountainside

Kashmir

(Out On the Tiles intro) Moby Dick

Jimmy Page solo

Achilles Last Stand

Stairway to Heaven

Encores:

Rock and Roll

Trampled Underfoot

The Wikipedia page for the tour details a number of problems that besieged many of the shows including Page's drug addiction which affected him during the show in Chicago eight days before the Indy show. I've read that either he or Plant didn't feel well the night of the Indy show and that may account for what many describe as the lackluster performance they put on. Still, as a 16-year-old, seeing perhaps the biggest band in the world at that time, was a lifetime memory. Little did I know how prophetic my "I may never get another chance." statement would be.

But here's the weird thing. That Wikipedia page says that at least three shows were professionally shot for live video, but none have been released. The show in Seattle's Kingdom is widely available on bootleg without a lot of looking. That being said, there are a lot of fan videos and pictures of all of the shows. Except Indianapolis. I have searched since the advent of the World Wide Web for photographs or video from the show. I have never found any video and these are the largest group of photos I've ever seen.

I don't know why there is no photographic evidence from the Indy show. I know it used to be policy that "Cameras and recorders were prohibited." and any of us that were at concerts during that time period most certainly remember the Bear Force, MSA's rock and roll security team the made sure the rules were enforced. But damn, was the Indy crowd the only one that followed the rules for that tour? I would love to see ANY video or pix from that show. If you have some, hit me up!