Prior to the release of the double album masterpiece Physical Graffiti , Led Zeppelin announced their 1975 North American Tour. The band were still riding, selling millions of records and would include a February 4th stop at our own Boston Garden. Tickets were to go on-sale on this date (1/6) so thousands of fans braved the cold and lined up outside the box office to procure tickets.
Due to the extreme temps, the venue's ticket manager decided to open the lobby doors to let the masses warm up. Bad idea as the raucous crowd proceeded to break into the Garden, itself. This forced management to open the ticket windows early leading to the show being sold out in the wee hours of the morning. But it wasn't before all hell broke loose. Fans were all ramped up, broke into the beer concessions, trashed the place and set fires. Boston's finest arrived in full force with riot gear and K-9's to help spell the chaos. Damages were estimated to be between $50,000-$75,000.
The City's Mayor at the time, Kevin White, declared the concert would be cancelled and imposed a five-year ban on the band playing anywhere in the city. Sadly, this would also include what would be Zeppelin's final dates in the States in 1977. Pretty ironic move, considering it was this same Mayor that advocated for the Rolling Stones release from a Rhode Island prison so they could play a Garden gig only 3 years earlier. Below is some vintage video of the group's set from that '75 tour in London.
via UCR
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