The concert so bad Led Zeppelin never set foot in Italy again

When people speak about Led Zeppelin, they talk about them as if they aren’t a band. Instead, they become a force of nature, something supernatural and unrelenting that changed the way we thought about music. This isn’t hype. The way Led Zeppelin managed to merge different genres of music in order to create something totally unique was inspired and changed the face of rock as people knew it.

It was apparent from the first time they played together that they were onto something special. When they initially jammed together, it was in a basement in Chinatown. They didn’t have any expectations and instead were just willing to see how things went. They performed their take on a Yardbirds song, and it became clear that something special was happening.

“I remember the little room, all I can remember: it was hot, and it sounded good – very exciting and very challenging,” said Robert Plant, reminiscing on their first rehearsal. “Because I could feel that something was happening to myself and to everyone else in the room. It felt like we’d found something that we had to be very careful with because we might lose it.”

Their sound could be effectively captured on studio recordings. Prior to playing guitar in Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page worked predominantly as a session musician, which meant that he had an excellent knowledge of recording techniques. He was able to use extensive feedback and exaggerated sounds and still create something listenable.

That being said, while people could experience the power of Led Zeppelin on an album, the best place to hear them was live. They were constantly touring and made a name for themselves as one of the best live bands out there, to the point that they started breaking records because of how big their crowds were and how fast they were selling out arenas.

One of their biggest gigs was the Silverdome, which saw them break the record for the biggest live show that had previously been set by The Beatles. Fans everywhere wanted the chance to see Led Zeppelin in all their glory, which meant queueing for tickets and causing traffic jams in the process.

“At 11am, we issued announcements telling people not to come to the stadium because of traffic jams,” said the stadium promotions director at the time, Gerry Baron, reflecting on the morning tickets went on sale. “At noon, we announced we were closing the ticket office at 3. We stayed open until 10 and sold out.”

Of course, not every gig the band did went well. If you ask the members of Led Zeppelin, they all probably have a variety of shows they didn’t enjoy playing; however, their collective number one would have to be a gig they played on July 5th, 1971, in Milan.

There was a festival being held at the Vigorelli Velodrome, which was supposed to go off without a problem but ended up being subject to chaos. There was a huge clash with police as political activists, random troublemakers and other violent factions all collided and created a barrage of violence in their wake.

Led Zeppelin usually played for hours at a time, but reports state they only stayed on stage for 20 minutes during this show at the risk of their safety. The show was such a horrible experience that they never returned to Italy, opting to stay away from the home of their worst gig ever.