| Tour byLed Zeppelin | |
 Poster for Led Zeppelin's concert at Southampton University, used to help promote its 1971 "Back to the Clubs" tour | |
| Location |
|
|---|---|
| Associated album | Led Zeppelin IV |
| Start date | 5 March 1971 |
| End date | 1 April 1971 |
| Legs | 2 |
| No. of shows | 13 (14 originally scheduled) |
| Led Zeppelin concert chronology | |
| |
Led Zeppelin'sSpring 1971 United Kingdom & Ireland Tour (also known as theBack to the Clubs Tour) was aconcert tour of theUnited Kingdom &Ireland by theEnglishrockband. The tour commenced on 5 March and concluded on 1 April 1971.
For this tour, the band decided to mainly perform at the smaller clubs that they had originally played earlier in their career, rather than large arenas and auditoriums. This decision was made to reward those fans who had been loyal to them from the start of their career. The small, more intimate size of the venues, and the correspondingly smaller ticket sales and gate receipts, was offered as proof that Led Zeppelin wasn't preoccupied with making money and instead endeavoured to create a close connection with their audiences when performing on-stage.[1] However, as the tour progressed, it became evident that this intention was compromised due to thousands of fans being shut out of shows because of the scarce availability of concert tickets.[2]
The Belfast concert on 5 March[3] featured the first public performance of their now-legendary song "Stairway to Heaven", which was played at nearly every subsequent Led Zeppelin show. One scheduled concert from the tour, atLiverpool University, was cancelled and rescheduled to take place during the band's subsequenttour of Europe.
During this period the band members began to experiment with their stage attire, introducing strangecaftans and garments and growing longer hair and beards, which gave thema very fashionable appearance.[2]
A fairly typicalset list for the tour was:
Encores (variations of the following list):
There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour.
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 March 1971 | Belfast | Northern Ireland | Ulster Hall |
| 6 March 1971 | Dublin | Ireland | National Stadium |
| 9 March 1971 | Leeds | England | Leeds University |
| 10 March 1971 | Canterbury | University of Kent | |
| 11 March 1971 | Southampton | Southampton University | |
| 13 March 1971 | Bath | Bath Pavilion | |
| 14 March 1971 | Stoke-on-Trent | Trentham Gardens Ballroom | |
| 18 March 1971 | Newcastle upon Tyne | Mayfair Ballroom | |
| 19 March 1971 | Manchester | Manchester University | |
| 20 March 1971 | Birmingham | Stepmothers Club | |
| 21 March 1971 | Nottingham | Boat Club | |
| 23 March 1971 | London | The Marquee | |
| 1 April 1971 | Paris Theatre (BBC concert) |
