As 1972 drew to a close, North East music fans could reflect on a year when a succession of chart-topping rock and pop acts had graced the stage of Newcastle City Hall.
The likes of Elton John, David Bowie, T Rex, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Free, the Grateful Dead, the Beach Boys, ELO, Lindisfarne, Santana and Slade had rocked out at the famous Northumberland Road venue - but none were bigger than the band who kicked off their UK winter tour there exactly 50 years ago with two sold-out raucous nights.
Led Zeppelin had supplanted The Beatles, who'd broken up two years earlier, as the world's most successful band. Comprised of two Londoners, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and two Midlanders, singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham, the quartet's uniquely compelling mixture of hard rock, heavy blues and acoustic folk had been showcased to stunning effect in a run of four eponymous albums, I, II, III and IV, which were all destined to become rock classics, and had sold in large quantities in the UK, Europe and, crucially, the USA.
