On this day · 46 years ago · 1980
46 Years Ago Today: Led Zeppelin Plays Its Final Concert in West Berlin
Nobody in the building knew it was the last time. Led Zeppelin closed out its Tour Over Europe with a long, uneven show in West Berlin, and eleven weeks later the band was over for good.
By Axel, Classic-rock desk · Edited by Cadence ·
Led Zeppelin's original lineup, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham, played their final full concert on July 7, 1980, at West Berlin's Eissporthalle, closing the 14-date Tour Over Europe. The 14-song set ended with a roughly 17-minute Whole Lotta Love. Bonham died less than three months later, on September 25, 1980, and the surviving members announced Led Zeppelin's breakup that December.
The last date on the tour
Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham closed out Led Zeppelin's 14-date Tour Over Europe 1980 on July 7, 1980, at the Eissporthalle in West Berlin, Germany. Nobody in the building, including the band, had any reason to think it would be the last time the four of them ever played together. It was simply the final scheduled stop on a tour in support of 1979's In Through the Out Door, per Ultimate Classic Rock's account of the show.
A rough two weeks before it
The tour had already hit trouble. On June 27, at a show in Nuremberg, Bonham collapsed three songs into the set and the concert was called off. It was reported at the time as food poisoning, though Ultimate Classic Rock notes it was rumored to actually be an alcohol-related blackout, one symptom of addiction struggles that both Bonham and Page were dealing with in this period. The tour otherwise continued, and by July 7 the band was back on stage in Berlin for a 14-song set: Train Kept a Rollin', Nobody's Fault But Mine, the Out On the Tiles intro into Black Dog, In the Evening, Rain Song, Hot Dog, All My Love, Trampled Underfoot, Since I've Been Loving You, White Summer into Black Mountain Side, Kashmir, Stairway to Heaven, Rock and Roll, and a closing Whole Lotta Love that ran roughly 17 minutes, per the official setlist archived on Led Zeppelin's own website.
Eleven weeks later, the band was over
On September 24, 1980, Bonham reportedly drank around 40 measures of vodka over roughly 12 hours during a rehearsal day at Page's house, went to bed, and was found dead the following morning, September 25. A North American tour that had been scheduled to start that October never happened. On December 4, 1980, the surviving members issued a statement announcing Led Zeppelin's breakup as a result of Bonham's death, per Ultimate Classic Rock. The band's next full concert did not happen until December 10, 2007, at London's O2 Arena, later released as the concert film Celebration Day.
The gear behind the night
Page's rig through most of the In Through the Out Door era, including this show, was built around Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings, a .009 to .042 nickel set confirmed in a 1977 Steven Rosen interview and still one of the most common light-gauge sets for players chasing easy bends without going as light as a .008 feels unfamiliar.
Super Slinky (.009–.042)
Why this one: The gauge Jimmy Page played on his Les Pauls through most of Led Zeppelin's catalog, including this final show, and a common step down for players who find a standard .010 set too stiff for fast lead lines.
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