The Exact Moment Robert Plant Knew That Led Zeppelin “Might Mean Something”

During the 1960s, there were primarily two pivotal music movements that gave way to some of the greatest music of all time. The first one was the British Invasion, and the second one was the counterculture movement. One cannot talk about the counterculture movement without mentioning San Francisco, California. During the movement, the city helped bands such as the Grateful Dead, The Doors, and Jefferson Airplane get their start. Consequently, it was a sacred musical landscape, and to make it there meant you could make it anywhere, and that is exactly what Robert Plant thought.

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In 1968, Led Zeppelin embarked on their first United States tour. The tour lasted for roughly a year, and the band played in Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Boston, Detroit, and numerous other locations across the United States. While all those shows were vital to Led Zeppelin’s success, one show seemed the most important: their several performances in San Francisco.

After San Francisco, Robert Plant Knew Zeppelin Was Going to the Big Leagues

As stated previously, San Francisco was the home base for the counterculture movement of the 1960s. Other than the musical talent it produced, other artists and influential figures who called the city home include Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Wes Wilson, and Bonnie MacLean. In other words, the people of San Francisco were well acquainted with great art; hence, their judgment meant something to those trying to create great art.

Recalling the success of the show in San Francisco, Plant stated, “Bonzo and I looked at each other during the set and thought, ‘Christ, we’ve got something,’” per Led Zeppelin on Led Zeppelin: Interviews and Encounters. “That was the first time we realized Led Zeppelin might mean something. There was so much intimacy with the audience, and if you could crack San Francisco at the height of the [Jefferson] Airplane and Grateful Dead period, then it meant something.”

This feeling Plant shared with Bonham was spot on. Following that set of San Francisco shows and their inaugural United States tour, Led Zeppelin went on to become, well, Led Zeppelin. The performance in question was a rite of passage for Led Zeppelin. Again, if they could make it in the music city of the 1960s, they could make it anywhere. And needless to say, they went on to do just that.

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