46 Years Ago Today, the Show That Foreshadowed the End of Led Zeppelin Took Place in Germany

On this day (June 27) in 1980, Led Zeppelin took the stage at the Messezentrum Halle in Nuremberg, Germany. It was the eighth show on their 13-stop Tour Over Europe. Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t get the show they came to see. Instead, drummer John Bonham collapsed at his drum kit just a few songs into the set. While they were able to finish the tour, the drummer died before the end of the year, spelling the end of the band.

The music world was changing drastically during the late 1970s and early ’80s. Led Zeppelin were doing what they could to keep up with the times. Their 1980 European tour was the premiere of their new direction. While the music was largely the same, they drastically trimmed their stage production, doing away with the smoke, lasers, and the rest of the spectacle fans had come to expect. At the same time, their stage clothes were less flashy, and they trimmed some of the long jams from the set.

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Behind the scenes, Bonham’s drinking was getting out of control. In September 1980, he died in his sleep after drinking roughly 40 shots of vodka. Assuming a shot is 1.5 ounces, that’s 60 ounces, nearly half a gallon, of vodka. He was working up to that on June 27.

Led Zeppelin’s Nuremberg Show Ended Abruptly

Fans in Nuremberg only got to see Led Zeppelin play three songs that night. They opened with “Train Kept a-Rollin’” followed by “Nobody’s Fault but Mine.” According to The Year of Led Zeppelin, John Bonham started struggling during the second song, losing the beat multiple times.

Robert Plant introduced “In the Evening” from In Through the Out Door. Then, Bonham said, “No way.” A long pause followed. Plant claimed there was a “slight technical problem.” Bonham had passed out behind his kit and was later rushed to the hospital. The band claimed he had eaten too many bananas before the show.

Led Zeppelin played in Zurich two days later and went on to finish the tour, closing it out on July 7 in West Berlin. They were scheduled to kick off a North American tour in October. However, John Bonham died on September 24. Then, in December, Led Zeppelin shared a press release revealing they had disbanded.

Featured Image by Rob Verhorst/Redferns

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