Immigrant Song, a lost cymbal and a suitcase full of cash: Rare footage of Led Zeppelin on tour in 1972 has surfaced online

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By ( Classic Rock, Louder ) published

The newsreel footage was filmed by Dutch music show Popzien in 1972

Led Zeppelin soundcheck on stage at Oude Rai on 27th May 1972 in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Led Zeppelin soundcheck on stage at Oude Rai on May 27, 1972 in Amsterdam, Netherlands (Image credit: Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns)

High-quality behind-the-scenes film of Led Zeppelin on tour has surfaced online. The newsreel footage was originally shot for the Dutch music TV show Popzien in May 1972 as the band travelled to the Netherlands to play a show for 10,000 fans at Oude RAI Amsterdam, the first of two warm-up shows before embarking on their US 1972 tour.

The four-minute clip shows Led Zeppelin's touring party arriving at the airport in Amsterdam, where they're greeted by promoter and impresario Lou van Rees, who also organised Dutch shows by Deep Purple, Ten Years After, Black Sabbath and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

Van Rees explains that the band can expect a full house at the venue, to which John Bonham responds, "There'll be no full house without my cymbals. There's one missing!"

Also shown is a hotel room conversation between van Rees and Led Zeppelin tour manager Richard Coles, in which Coles is offered an advance fee for the band's performance, then slams what appears to be a suitcase full of cash shut.

The footage, which has surfaced previously in low-quality form, also includes the band's opening number, Immigrant Song.

Reviewing the show, morning newspaper Handelsblad noted, "To see Led Zeppelin working at full strength is a fascinating and exciting spectacle, especially thanks to the hyper-sensual singer Robert Plant and the no less theatrical guitar of Jimmy Page, combining theatre, music and elite sport."

The night after the Amsterdam gig, Led Zeppelin played a second warm-up show at the 8000-capacity Vorst Nationaal in Brussels, Belgium, before beginning their US tour at Cobo Hall in Detroit, MI, on June 6.

Led Zeppelin - Live in Amsterdam, NL (May 27th, 1972) - Complete 16mm Newsreel - YouTube Led Zeppelin - Live in Amsterdam, NL (May 27th, 1972) - Complete 16mm Newsreel - YouTube
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Fraser Lewry
Fraser Lewry
Online Editor, Classic Rock

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.

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