July 27th, 1969: The only time The Doors and Led Zeppelin performed at the same festival
Referred to as the forgotten Woodstock, the 1969 Seattle Pop Festival in Woodinville, WA, featured a performance from Zeppelin alongside artists such as The Doors, Chuck Berry, Vanilla Fudge, Guess Who, and others. Here’s one of the reviews:
“More than 50,000 rock fans gathered at Woodinville’s Gold Creek Park over the weekend for a practically non-stop three-day festival of music, events and exhibitions. The first annual Seattle Pop Festival was a marvel of crowd control and smooth organization.
Sunday night was supposed to belong to The Doors but it was stolen right out from under them by the great English blues group, Led Zeppelin.
Coming onstage about 11:30pm, immediately after the forced extravaganza of The Doors, the Zeppelin faced a jaded and uncomfortable audience that had been standing in the cold all evening. But the electricity of lead singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page quickly warmed them up.
Plant has a voice that is controlled hysteria. Anguish pours from his every note; his voice is an epitome of the blues.
Page is an amazing guitarist. His runs and fingering are magnificent, his control of the instrument pure genius.
They were aided by a fine drummer, John Bonham and bassist John Paul Jones. Few who experienced it will forget Led Zeppelin's performance, especially their smashing encore of Communication Breakdown.” [P. Macdonald, SeattlePost-Intelligencer. July 1969]
+ a few other wonderful article snippets:
“[…] some of the performers learned that audiences will dig almost any loud noise, at times. […] Towards the last night, however, things started getting a little relaxed. It all started with kegs of beer provided backstage in the artists' waiting room. Jim Morrison did his thing drunk on his ass, and the tight, big sound expected from The Doors just didn't come off.” -Unknown
“In spite of fears for the fence in front of the stage, there was no trouble as the group performed their rock masterpieces When the Music’s over and The End” -Michael Quigley
Tickets were $6 (around $51 now)
Anyways, this whole festival is super special to me as it occurred super close to my home, it’s just incredible to be able to visit the area knowing some of my favorite artists walked that same grass 🥹🥹
+ Bonus! My dad being evil and lying to me for fun:
