LED ZEPPELIN IN PITTSBURGH

Pat DiCesare had Led Zeppelin booked to play his new Electric Theatre in Pittsburgh in 1969, but the date had been cancelled. The Yardbirds with Jimmy Page had played the Hunt Armory in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Shadyside earlier that same year. Future DiCesare-Engler partner, Rich Engler, played drums for the opening act - The Grains of Sands.

Led Zeppelin contract with Pat DiCesare to play in Pittsburgh

(pictured above is Pat DiCesare's contract - who temporarily used the spelling "DeCaesar" - with Led Zeppelin to play his Electric Theatre in 1969)

Led Zeppelin played Pittsburgh on March 30, 1970. Pat DiCesare brought them to the PIttsburgh Civic Arena under his company name "University Attractions".

Led Zeppelin ad for Pittsburgh in 1970

Pat DiCesare comments:
"The English acts were always difficult to deal with. In 1970, I played Led Zeppelin at the arena, which sold out as expected. The group wanted two cases of Dom Perignon champagne for the dressing room.

I had several runners whose jobs were to fetch what the acts demanded, the "rider requirements." The dressing room was the hockey team's locker room. All the walls and floors were concrete. We tried to buy the two cases of Dom but to no avail. Horne's Department store, the premier liquor store at the time, said that "In all of the city of Pittsburgh, you will not find two cases of Dom. You must order that item well in advance."
I dispatched my runner to all the state stores in the Tri-State area to fill up two cases with Dom and the next best thing he could find.

Before Led Zeppelin arrived, the two cases of champagne were placed in the dressing room. Several hours later, I was again summoned to the dressing room.

"What is this?" the manager asked.

"Champagne?" I responded.

"Champagne. You call this garbage champagne?" he yelled.

I tried to explain the incredible effort it took to gather up the champagne to fill the cases, but he kept calling it garbage. Then, he reached for a bottle, one that cost me about $100 apiece, and threw it against the wall. Again and again until all 24 bottles were smashed. Two thousand and five hundred dollars disappeared before my eyes."

Headline in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after Three Rivers Led Zeppelin show in 1973

Led Zeppelin played Three Rivers Stadium on July 24, 1973. Some of the footage shot in Pittsburgh during the Three Rivers Stadium show was used for their film "The Song Remains the Same".

The Led Zeppelin motorcade arrives at Three Rivers Stadium

(click on the picture above to play video from ledzeppelin.com)

Led Zeppelin played two shows at the Civic Arena on Febrary 1-2 of 1975. They were scheduled to return for August 9-10 of 1977 at the Civic Arena, but the shows were canceled due to the untimely death of Robert Plant's son.

On March 25, 1995 Jimmy Page and Robert Plant played to a record crowd for the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh during the Page and Plant Tour.

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LED ZEPPELIN IN PITTSBURGH