June 3, 1977
Tampa, FL US
Tampa Stadium
Setlist:
The Song Remains The Same, (The Rover intro) Sick Again, Nobody's Fault But Mine.
Notes:
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Click here to view the US '77 Tour Programme (flipbook) |
Show ends early due to rain.
The promoters then ran a full page ad, apologizing to fans for the turn of events – it read:
“Concerts West Apologizes and is sorry for the humiliation & inconvenience to you and your faithful fans at Tampa Stadium, June 3, 1977.
You did everything that you could and wanted to do so much more. You are the best and deserve the best, not the worst treatment.
-Respectfully, Concerts West.
News Report: At Least 100 Injured At Led Zeppelin Concert
TAMPA Fla. - City officials, reeling from a mini riot which erupted when a thunderstorm washed out a Led Zeppelin concert, canceled a rain check rerun Saturday, leaving fans from as far as Michigan and New York holding "rain or shine" ticket stubs.
"If I were in Buffalo, I'd go home right now," said Bonnie Strickland. The 19-year-old youth and three companions had driven 24hours to get to Florida for the concert. Strickland said they were the first ones in the stadium when the doors opened at 11:30 a.m. Friday for the8:30 p.m. concert. After spending the day in 90-degree weather on the sun baked football field, they settled down for the concert.
The British band played for 20 minutes before the thunderstorm hit. About 45minutes later the concert was called off.
The cry "We want Zeppelin. We want Zeppelin" came from the 70,000 fans as rocks and bottles began flying onto the stage."We had what had to be called a small riot. There were between 3,000 and4,000 people who were unruly and disorderly," Tampa Police spokesman Johnny Barker said.
About 250 police officers, all in riot gear and using billy clubs, broke up the rioting and herded the fans out of the stadium. The scene was followed by 26 reported traffic accidents near the grounds. "The cops didn't give any warning," one teen-aged girl said. "They just waded in. I ended up at the bottom of the crowd and a cop kicked me in the head. My brother got a broken leg and broken ribs."
The melee left an estimated 100 fans with injuries. Eight were arrested. Shift Commander Tom Wilson said "in the neighborhood" a dozen officers were treated for injuries." One had a concussion, there was one with a broken hand, one with a broken ankle, one with cut lips and some teeth knocked out, one with a dislocated shoulder..." There were so many people you just couldn't move," a 32 year-old man from West Palm Beach said: "I was just trying to get away. The ticket said rain or shine."
Persons holding ticket stubs can get refunds, but we are encouraging them to mail in their refund requests," Barker said. (Newswire - June 5, 1977)
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'77 Tampa Stadium
What a day ... I quit my job that day to go to the show because my boss wouldn't let me leave ... I was like dude it's Zeppelin ... he didn't know what I was saying ... I left ... at 17 didn't care much anyhow ... gathered my best bud Armstrong and headed out in my Datsun P/U from orlando to Tampa ... I didn't even have a ticket ... got there ... some dude comes up asks if I need a ticket ... "hell yeah" ... how much ... I was ready to pay close to a $100 ... $10.50 he said, that's what I paid my old lady didnt come ... sold dude ... paid the man and was in ... this was like in a 30 minute span of arriving ... so cool ... Strong an I made our way thru down to the infield ... there's this cat there sitting rollin J after J ... we sat next to him and he said spark em ... we just started to toke our friggin brains out ... hittin the beach ball, frenchin strange chicks, it was a blast ... we had taken several hits earlier each so it was kickin in ... and we all watched as this damn cloud sittin over the bay just made it's way over ... Zep comes out plays a few songs and blam ... flood ... as Floridians we're use to this stuff .. but people started freakin and the band was getting wet so they postponed to "dry" off the stage ... everyone was ripped and couldnt handle the absence and started getting rowdy ... it was fun at first ... then it got worse ... then the pigs came out and started busted friggin heads ... it was freakin surreal ... we're like lookin at each other said screw this and headed for the walls ... you ahd to climb up to get out ... we were stuck like sheep for a slaughter ... the pigs didnt care who they hit either ... Strong made it up ... I was helping some chick who was getting crushed ... then jumped up and Strong grabbed my arm and I pulled her at the same time ... she was totally freaking ... we got up on the stands and started throwing whiskey bottles and anything else we could at the pigs cause they were taking 4-5 of them at a time and gangin on kids beatin them to hell, draggin them by the hair and then pouncin on them with their clubs, friggin what a mess ... we lost our buzz with thise crap happenin ... finally I was like dude lets split before they come into the stands and drag our asses out there ... so we booked out ... then it was traffic jam murder ... wow ... 70,000 people trying to leave out one two lane road .... we sparked a doobie and went 4 wheelin down the side of the road .... blasted past alot of people who were yellin n screamin and fightin it was wicked ... then one accident we came on the people were laying out on the road dead, wild sight ... once past that we hit hwy and crusied back to Orlando ... I fell asleep driving gettin near Disney went off the road and was doing doughnuts in the grass whille Strong was smacking me in the arm ... he about crapped himself and I was laughin my ass off ... but we made it home okay after we stopped at a rest area for a few hours .. WILD WILD day ... will never forget it the rest of my life.... They banned Zep from Florida after that incident and never got to see them again ... but what a memory ... Peace!