Robert Plant Once Celebrated His Birthday in Schenectady! Were You There?
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will played Saratoga Performing Arts Center back on June 3, 2022. Did you know that Plant once celebrated his birthday in the Capital Region?
Plant turns 74 today, August 20, 2022 but in 1969 the former Led Zeppelin front man was turning 21 and ready to celebrate! London? Manhattan? Los Angeles? Nope, Schenectady!
Over the 40 year career of Led Zeppelin, the band played shows all over the world including the Aerodome, located at 1588 State Street in Schenectady. According to the Daily Gazette, Zeppelin played two shows on August 20, 1969. There was an 8pm show and 11pm show! Oh and it was Robert Plant's 21st birthday!
Tickets were $4.00 in advance and $4.50 at the door! Was 50 cents an incentive in 1969? To put this in perspective, by August 1969, Led Zeppelin's first album had only been out 7 months and "Good Times Bad Times" was the only single officially released to FM Radio.
*notice the misspelling of the band's name in this Gazette advertisement
LedZeppelin.com documents the set list from the shows in Schenectady:
- The Train Kept A-Rollin'
- I Can't Quit You Baby
- Dazed and Confused
- You Shook Me
- How Many More Times
- Communication Breakdown
What is interesting about the list is that "Good Times Bad Times", the band's only single, is not on the list. Even though Led Zep didn't play it live very often you would think it would be part of their first North American Tour.
Based on the Wikipedia article, the Aerodome had a capacity of approximately 3,000 and held live performances by Janis Joplin, Billy Joel, Chicago, Jeff Beck Group, Vanilla Fudge and more.
Today, the address from the Aerodome location is approximately where Aldi is on State Street. Check out Led Zeppelin's 1969 Tour Book.