There are numerous horror stories about crowd control in the music industry. Tragically, a good deal of those stories involve fans passing away, but that is not a story we are telling today. Rather, we are merely telling the story about the time the Mayor of Boston, Kevin White, canceled a Led Zeppelin show because a couple of hundred over-eager fans stormed the gates of Boston Garden (now TD Garden) roughly a day before the show, which happened on this day, January 6, 1975.
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Most masses of people are often unruly to a certain degree and in a certain way. Though of all the unruly masses of people, a top five has to be rock and roll fans of the 1970s, particularly fans of Led Zeppelin. Well, thanks to that mob mentality, Kevin White decided to cancel Led Zeppelin’s show in Boston, as well as ban the band from playing in Boston for five years.
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As most loyal fans do, the night before Zeppelin took the stage, all of their fans waited outside the Boston Garden for tickets. Around midnight on January 6, 1975, an unknown fan broke into the Boston Garden, and consequently, a large majority of the fans waiting outside followed. Once inside, fans lit fires, broke concessions, and ultimately, did quite a number on the iconic Boston venue.
Furious with the fans and the destruction of the venue, Mayor Kevin White announced the cancellation of the show, as well as imposed a five-year ban on Led Zeppelin from performing in the city. Following that ban, Led Zeppelin never returned to Boston, as they broke up the year the ban lifted in 1980.
Following the cancellation of the Boston show, Led Zeppelin went on their merry way and concluded their North American tour which concluded in March of that year. That same year, Led Zeppelin intended to go on a world tour, but after Robert Plant was involved in a car accident in Greece, Zeppelin had to forgo those plans. While a major inconvenience, this accident led to Led Zeppelin’s iconic album, Presence, which went on to peak at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Nevertheless, on this day, January 6, 1975, Led Zeppelin made history, but not in a way you would expect. Also, it was more their fans than it was them. Though all in all, that is the name of the game; that is rock and roll.
Photo by Pete Still/Redferns
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